Invites, Menus, & Place Cards Oh My!
Make your guests feel like one in a million with simple supplements that go a long way.
You know you’re about to experience dinner party magic when you walk in the door and the ambiance hits you like a brick wall — that feeling that’s nearly impossible to put your finger on, without-a-doubt felt by all guests, and leaves a lingering sense of joy even after everyone heads home (long past the curfew they’d set for themselves).
So, what is it that creates that incomparable, crave-able feeling?
Well, as ones who’ve been known to host a dinner party or two, we’ll answer it: it’s everything.
It’s the curated tablescape, the printed menus debuting the meal ahead, the anticipation of searching for your place card, and the theme through line that’s been drawn from invite to the centerpieces.
As we like to say, the “fine print” creates the building blocks for a party to remember. Often put off, easiest to add (thanks to our À La Carte sets), and most impressive to the guests, creating an invite, menu, and place card is the secret ingredient of the most veteran of entertainers.
When guests first receive that themed invite a few weeks in advance, their dinner party senses begin to tingle — meaning they know they’re about to deal with the hauste with the most. There’s simply something special about beginning the experience ahead of the festivities and building that excitement even before arrival.
Since we’re living in 2022, the digital invitation is the most practical but that doesn’t mean it can’t elicit the same tingly feels as described above. Curating a theme for the event and weaving that through the invites, menus, and place cards gives the guests (& you!) the full-circle, hit-a-brick-wall experience.
This enthusiasm with curating a personalized dinner table didn’t start with us. Our whole life, we’ve watched our mom press linen napkins, spend hours crafting intricate place cards for the table, expertly place florals, forego the paper plates for vintage porcelain & roast a whole chicken to golden brown perfection. While the crispy skin & juicy meat continue to wow every first-timer, it’s the entire experience that earned our home the place to be weekend after weekend. Good setting, good food, good company, and therefore, good times.
The secret ingredient to our mom’s entertaining success? The curation — the thoughtful planning that taps into all 5 senses so when guests float to their car at the end of the night atop cloud 9, they feel satisfied by so much more than the food. Their stomachs feasted on sweets & savories. Their eyes on beautiful aesthetics. Ears on easy background sounds. Minds on meaningful conversation with an un-stressed host.
See why we say “it’s everything?” While it might sound like a lot — which in all honesty, it is — we’ve been perfecting the craft of entertaining since we could recite our ABCs. And because we believe your time is better spent enjoying your loved ones and celebrating just for the sake of celebrating, we’re simplifying the path to the thoughtful parties that earn you the title of host with the most.
