Stress-Less Entertaining: Have an Open House

If you're a dinner party newbie, the idea of preparing an elaborate dinner and inviting a bunch of guests over to eat it might feel a little (or a lot!) intimidating. Here's a low-key idea to help ease you into entertaining at your home: throw an open house!

We recently had an open house ourselves, and we were really surprised at how stress-free the whole event turned out to be. Normally, we're rushing around, trying to get everything finished just as guests are arriving, and then we watch anxiously for reactions as plates are passed around the table.

With the open house, we felt none of this pressure. We invited guests to stop by starting at a certain time and set out a buffet table with food and drinks. We prepared a number of dishes in advance, so there was no last-minute scrambling this time. We even managed to make a few simple hot dishes throughout the course of the open house as the energy ebbed and flowed.

An open house definitely has a more casual and laid-back tone, and we think it's a good choice if you're not quite up to a full-on dinner party!

(Image: Flickr member joebeone licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (9)

Although i would never call it an "open house", this is pretty much all of my parties.

...i'm a grad student.

posted by kittystockings on May 22nd 2009 at 1:32pm
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what do you call it?

posted by missmarie on May 22nd 2009 at 4:36pm
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"Open house" to me has the same sort of feel as "luncheon". It sounds like a party but less fun. That's just me, maybe there were too many open houses in reference to afternoon church functions in my past...

posted by tarah on May 23rd 2009 at 12:38am
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It helps to have multiple smaller platters ready to go with the same type of finger food. That way, you can quickly whisk away one platter & replace with the new one. It looks much nicer than a huge platter with just a handful of snacks left. And when I prepare only 3 or 4 different items, just loads of them, it makes an open house party easier to prepare for & therefore easier to enjoy.

posted by tallsarah on May 23rd 2009 at 11:26am
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no but seriously, what do the non open house people call this?

posted by missmarie on May 23rd 2009 at 11:43am
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i mean i did this for my 30th and none of my frinds turned up their noses at it...it was awesome in fact. but another name suggestion, that conveys the exact same idea so that in the explaining of the day to them I dont have to say, "..you know, like an open house". haha

posted by missmarie on May 23rd 2009 at 11:45am
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isn't this just a party? it's a table of food, mostly appetizers and one or two hot dishes, a bar and music.

posted by niche on May 23rd 2009 at 6:05pm
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Yeah, all our parties are "open house" according to this definition.

posted by buda on May 23rd 2009 at 6:29pm
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Yeah, I would just call it a party as well. "Open house" reminds me of elementary school when parents were allowed to visit the classroom and see what the students were doing...or house tours when selling a house.

posted by jamiealyse on May 24th 2009 at 6:19pm
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