How To Host An Easy French Dinner Party

So, if you follow or watch my Instagram stories, you may have seen that I hosted a dinner party! But it wasn’t just any dinner party, it was a French dinner party! I think when people hear the word dinner party, they think that it’s a lot of effort. However, if I’ve learned one thing about hosting a French dinner party, is that everything must look effortless. Surprisingly, this isn’t incredibly hard! So, I’ve put together some wonderful tips based on what I’ve read! Also, my mom attended a typical French dinner party years ago, so it was nice to have her experience as well. So, keep reading if you want to know how to host an easy French dinner party!

How To Host An Easy French Dinner Party

1. The Menu

In order to host an easy French dinner party that seems effortless, your menu has to be effortless. This means knowing when to buy pre-made foods. I found a simple menu that you can see here (highly recommend) and tailored it to what I was able to do.
This was my menu:
Aperitif– Peanuts & Wine
Entree (appetizer)– Shrimp Cocktail
Plat Principal– Salmon with roasted potatoes & zucchini
Cheese– Brie with crackers
Dessert– Assorted desserts from a local French bakery
Coffee– Bought from Starbucks and warmed in the microwave

A French dinner party is never complete without wine and a baguette. I was lucky enough to have a local French bakery, but I know that I’ve seen baguettes and brie in grocery stores.

Many of the items in my menu were bought pre-made. However, the only thing I had to cook was the shrimp for the shrimp cocktail and the plat principal. These things are extremely easy to do! Check out the shrimp cocktail recipe I used! As for the plat principal, I cook this kind of dinner for myself all the time. So, if there is a particular way you prefer to cook this meal, I say do what’s comfortable for you! And if you’re doing something that requires a lot of time, I would say to do it the night before and warm it up in the oven the day of. Remember, everything must look effortless.

As a side note, I do have a coffee maker, but it only makes coffee for one person. So, I decided that it would be easier to just get Starbucks.

2. Table Settings

From what I learned, the table doesn’t have to be perfect. For example, I read many articles that suggest the plates and glasses don’t have to match. Additionally, it seems that many French dinner parties have a white tablecloth. However, I found a couple of articles that loved seeing the wood on the table. Since I didn’t have a white tablecloth on hand, I decided to go with the latter.

I also did not have my glasses matching. This was actually by accident because I only have a few glasses of the same variety. Also, don’t forget the flowers! Every dinner party must have flowers and something edible (preferably a baguette) as a centerpiece.

3. Guests

Now, I’ve heard a bit conflicting ideas about the number of guests a dinner party should have. However, from my understanding, 6 is a good number. This makes it an easy French dinner party! For me, it was three of us in total because I planned this around the Thanksgiving holidays. That being said, it was still a nice dinner party. I think I would recommend 4 to 6 people because it is much easier to plan food for this many people. However, if you plan a French dinner party with more, then I would consider telling your guests to bring specific items to the party such as wine, olives, or cheese.

So, now you know how to host an easy French dinner party! Hosting a dinner party may seem to be a lot, especially a typical French dinner party. However, I hope these tips have helped you with your next festive affair!

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