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We’re adults now. It’s no longer enough to order a pizza in, get your mates to BYO their own goon.
Here is a fool-proof, step-by-step guide to throwing a dinner party and convincing your guests of your maturity.
1. Set the scene with linen that puts your grandma’s yellowed lace tablecloth to shame.
No one will know your dining table is some scrappy thing picked up from the side of the road during council clean up.
PRICE: $46.33.
2. Pick up a classic, minimalist glass vase for the flowers your mates bring that will eventually die.
But at least they’ll look beautiful for the millisecond they're alive.
PRICE: $19.95.
3. Use light-diffusing votive candle holders for ~aesthetic~.
Yes, it sets the mood — but it also makes food stains harder to spot. Win-win.
PRICE: $24.81.
4. Dress up your unremarkable white dinner plates with textured AF chargers.
Do they serve any obvious purpose? No. Do they give the illusion of good taste and sophistication? Yes, and that’s all we’re aiming for here.
PRICE: $41.48 for a set of four.
5. Replace the mismatched forks and knives with cutlery that shines with the strength of a million suns.
As delightful as it may be to eat with utensils that predate the moment of your conception, these are much more suitable for a schmancy dinner party.
PRICE: $50 for 24 pieces.
6. Find yourself some cloth napkins — a classic white or tonal colour that complements your table cloth.
Because paper serviettes only belong wrapped around a sausage sandwich.
PRICE: $27.36 for a set of six.
7. Play your carefully-curated playlist from a portable speaker (that doubles as a clock!).
To fill the silence when your guests are devouring your positively delightful meal.
PRICE: $41.36.
8. Build a cheese board attractive enough to tempt even the lactose-intolerant.
The rules of an excellent cheese board — something crunchy, something soft, something sweet, something sour. All atop a cheese board that looks like you might've carved it with your very own hands.
PRICE: $108.59.
9. Bring back wine buckets. Please, I beg of you.
Won't someone think of the sparking wine lovers?!
PRICE: $26.32
10. Serve a crowd favourite cocktail in glassware that's a little bit schmancy.
Or if you can't be bothered mixing a cocktail, Pinot Grigio always goes over a treat.
PRICE: $36.47 for a set of two.
11. Serve water from a carafe that is shaped like the horn of plenty itself.
Filling glasses from the tap just doesn't set the same mood.
PRICE: $30.62.
12. Make sure the content of your salad bowl is interesting. Yes, I know what I said.
Ever tried a rockmelon and mozzarella salad? Just please, enough with salads that are nothing but tomato and rocket.
The irony of this photo is not lost on me.
PRICE: $51.99.
13. Prepare your meal in cookware attractive enough to set down on the table.
Extra points for coordinating its colour to the linen and flowers.
PRICE: $27.25.
14. And lastly, a cake stand for that cake you maybe (definitely) didn't bake yourself.
Go for something simple like a vanilla sponge — they'll never know.
PRICE: $30.31.
It’s adulting week at BuzzFeed Oz! We’re celebrating everything it means to be an adult in 2019 — and discussing how to be a better one. Click here to check out more.
