Party Planning Tips For Hosting Potluck Parties

Party Planning Tips for Hosting a Potluck Party

The words "potluck party" probably conger up visions of your grandma or the old ladies
from church having a party; however, in today's busy times having a potluck can be a
great way to get together with friends without anyone having to do too much of the work
themselves.

Just as you are busy each day dealing with getting the kids to school, going to work,
shopping, running errands, taking the kids to their own activities, so are most of your
friends and family. But, if you want to get together and enjoy each other's company for a
day or evening, having a potluck party might be just the answer. A potluck allows the
work of the party to be spread amongst many guests and a get together is much easier to
plan this way.

However, to have a successful potluck, you need to do a bit of pre-planning upfront to
ensure that not all of your guests all bring the same food, or the same type of food, to the
party. While your guests might have no idea what they will bring, try giving each of
them a category and ask that they choose something. Even going with random
suggestions of drinks, main course, desert, or salad can help to ensure that you have
enough variety in your foods so that everyone can enjoy their meal.

In addition to the course suggestions, there are a few other things which can make your
party go much more smoothly. They are:

1. Ask all of your guests to prepare their dishes in advance and bring them in need of
nothing more than a simple reheat in your microwave or oven.

2. Ask all of your guests to bring their dishes in containers which are easy to handle and
will fit within the table space you have.

3. If you will be having a lot of people for your potluck, remind your guests that they do
not have to feed everyone there, a normal family or 4 or 6 meal-sized portion of their
food will be plenty. Most people will only take a small amount of the choices to be able
to sample everything they want without being over-full.

4. Let your guests know that any simple dish is fine. Many people love to try other
people's family recipes and these work nicely for a potluck party.

As the potluck host, you will want to set up the table for all of the food. This should
include both linen as well as potholders for your guests to set their hot dishes on. In
addition you will want to have some extra serving platters, bowls, baskets, and serving
utensils available as not everyone will come with their dish ready to be served.

One important thing which you do not want to forget is the beverages. You can either
provide these as the host, you can ask everyone to bring their own, or you can have one
person who will only be bringing the drinks.

In addition to the above, as the host of the potluck you get to choose what you will bring
to the party. If you are hosting a large party, simply providing the location, plates, and
silverware, should suffice. However, if you are having a smaller get together, then you
will want to provide a dish as well. Many times the host will provide the main course,
such as a turkey or roast, and ask the guests to bring along other foods such as salads and
desserts.