Rules for Entertaining - Part 2

You saw Part One of this series earlier this week. Now here we have part two - only one more to go. These are just a few rules/tips that we have learned over the years and hope they can help others. Let us know what tips you would give.

Number 4 – Ensure you have enough plates and glasses.

This sounds like an obvious one, but can sometimes get overlooked and give you unwanted panic. If you want to open a bottle of champagne or prosecco for your guests, what are you going to do when you realise you only have four champagne flutes but six guests? A mug just won’t suffice! If you had realised earlier you could have asked someone to bring two glasses with them, or you could have altered your idea for beverages.

Number 5 – Ensure your wine is of the same variety.

At my most recent dinner party I picked up 6 bottles of Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. I knew most of my guests liked this type of wine and so I wanted to ensure I had enough to keep us going for the night (it wasn’t enough) without having to switch to whatever I had in the presses. People don’t like to mix drinks and the same goes for wine. So ensure you can keep some consistency with the drinks you are providing.

Number 6 – Mind your money

Parties can cost a pretty penny, so you are best off thinking strategically/looking for deals when it comes to your main items – the meat, the dessert, the flowers, and the wine!

I had one party where the leg of lamb cost upwards of €40 and then another where the shoulder of pork cost me around €13. If you want to save the pennies then think about what you can do with the cost effective meats. For example chicken thighs cost about 30c each whereas a chicken breast could cost you €1 or more. That sounds cheap but it all adds up with each guest! If you want to serve fillet steak then that’s okay too (can I be invited to that party please?), but there are plenty of cost effective meats that work fabulously!

If you are using flowers for your centre-piece then check out places such as Lidl or Tesco. I have found Tesco flowers to be excellent and have maintained well. They are also about half the price you can pay in other higher-end supermarkets. I once picked up a bunch of flowers from the higher end supermarket and they were dead within days. I know this was also partially due to the weather at the time, but the quality of all the flowers they had even in the shop were not of a high standard.

Wine. There is so much choice with wine. All the supermarkets do such varieties and offers it is hard to choose where to go. You also must not forget about the off licenses and independent wine shops that also give a hefty bargain – you just have to do your research!
Lidl & Aldi generally have a lower price range of wine that does the job, but you probably need to search the web to see what ones have the best ratings, etc. (more on that later!). Supervalu often have a deal that if you buy 6 bottles of wine you get €10 off the price – which works out quite well if you are buying for a crowd. They also often have a French wine sale. Tesco & Dunnes do similar sales and lower prices on the shelves every so often for a sale. It benefits the consumer majorly – there seems to always be a bargain for us and our wine – just do a little research about where the sale is at the moment.

See Part 1 here and Part 3 is Coming Soon!