Let’s Party, Melbourne: Catering, Hosting, And Entertaining At Home Tips

For a lot of people today, the best way to have fun and party is to just stay home - and revel in the company of good friends and loved ones, great music, and fabulous food. Alongside current lifestyle choices such as simple, sustainable living and reconnecting with the community, entertaining at home suddenly seems not-so old-fashioned anymore. Plus, it’s relatively cheaper than going out to eat or hanging out in a club, and with the current budget-conscious climate, people have reinvented ways to relax and have fun without spending too much.

The concept and rules of entertaining at home have also been reinvented. As a hostess, you’re not expected to wear a tiara and sashay around the room with a long cigarette holder in one hand (although you still can, if you’re a true-blue Holly Golightly fan). Guests will not be looking for a pristine-perfect table setting or checking around to see if you have cleaned your bathroom thoroughly. Don’t think you’re required to slave over the stove all day and home cook everything - especially if you know that’s not your forte. You could always call up a Melbourne catering company to provide wonderful food for you and your guests. Lifestyle divas may announce certain rules or trends, and you could take or leave them as you see it.

Want to know about a fun way to plan and host a party? Loosen up and break some rules. For instance, the rule about matching sets of plates, drink ware and tableware you see in magazines featuring dinner party tables? Try to go the other way. Mix and match your sets and see if you could come up with a charming, intimate setting. An afternoon tea party with vintage, colourful and mismatched teacups looks more precious than a stuffy carefully coordinated china set.

Another party rule-breaking feat is to skip the main course. Shocking, right? Call up a Melbourne catering company and order a delicious menu of fancy finger foods. Gourmet mini-pies, tiny nibblers and dainty desserts pretty up your table, can still be satisfying, and are fun to eat, especially while your guests are working the room or grooving to the music. When you call people to gather and eat at your table, it doesn’t mean they will be eating just the food you cooked. You can prepare your specialty, such as a dish or two you know very well, and talk with your caterer to fill the menu up with wonderfully satisfying food.

And should you decide to add your own home-cooked specialty, remember the words of Julia Child as a parting note: Don’t apologise for your cooking! If your guests are having a great time as much as you do, a little too much sugar (or salt) won’t be a problem. Let’s party!