Hey guys, Masha here from Masha Plans.

Today we are talking about planning a dinner party.

If you’re planning for it to be an unforgettable event - it really might take a lot of effort. 

However, I got you covered with these 3 checklists that will make sure you think of ALL the details.

Let’s take a look at some of the supplies before we get into planning out the pages.

SUPPLIES

A5 Archer and Olive journal - you’ll of course want to start from having a place to write on and of course I always choose to do it in your Bullet Journal. Or your other type of journal, like I here used my creative things notebook.

Journal Cover - this is not a must-have but I personally can’t imagine having my journal without one. It helps me to keep it safe, and with the transparent cover I use here I can still enjoy the beauty of my journal cover design.

Black Pens - of course a staple of every page is your black pens. I’ve been using Pitt Artist pens by Faber Castell and loving those.

Acrylograph Pens - if you want to add some color to your pages - no better way that use acrylograoh pens. I’m still obsessing with acrylographs from Archer and Olive and Plant Based Bride collaboration, so these are the ones I’ll be using here.

If you ever decide to get anything from Archer and Olive, you can get 10% off your order with my affiliate code MASHA10. A discount for you and a great support for me.

DINNER PARTY PLANNING TIPS

I know, I know I promised you 3 pages to rock party planning, but I thought I’d start with a few simple tips.

Party planning can be very stressful, but hopefully these tips will help you even more to have fun and not stress out.

1 | Keep your food simple

I know it’s pretty tempting to surprise your guests with some exotic dish. But try to avoid that.

Choose instead something you’re confident in cooking, as long as food is delicious your guests will be happy.

2 | Choose what you can cook in advance

Pretty basic tip - when you set your menu try to make sure you have some dishes there you can  prepare in advance. You don’t want to be cooking ALL the food on the day of.

3 | Take it easy

I know I’m a huge planner and always expect things to be Buckhengem palace level. But that’s no good - you’ll just end up being stressed and not having any fun. This is a casual meet with your friends, so don’t overstress and don’t overdo it.

4 | Think of playlist

This is a step I usually miss but it’s a very important one. The right music will help you set up the mood and get the party going.

5 | Prepare extra ice

At a party there is no such thing as extra ice - there is usually never enough. So be sure you stocked up on enough ice for a siberian winter.

These are probably my top 5 tips, so let’s finally get into  the pages themselves.

DINNER PARTY PLANNING

You’ll definitely want to have a page with an overview of your party and the main details.

I recommend including things like date and time, guest list, food and drinks and maybe decoration ideas.

Adding a playlist can also be fun. But let’s be honest - you’ll probably just start adding one to your Spotify.

GUEST LIST

I know I already mentioned adding your guest list to your party overview page, but it’s kind of important to have a separate list with more details as well.

You can write all the names, but also include more information - did they RSVP, any food allergies or restrictions, who should you sit them next to.

HereI just combined all the extra information in the notes section. 

MENU

The final spread is of course the soul of your party - food. 

Since you really have to think through what food to cook and how to match it properly it can be very helpful to have a spread like that when you plan.

This gives you an overview of all the food and drinks so you can tweak it if necessary with ease.

I also want to mention that even if everyone drinks alcohol, it’s still a good idea to have some non-alcoholic beverages and refreshments.

FREE PRINTABLES

Out of these 3 pages I found that the menu one is probably the one that will see the most corrections, so I decided to turn it into a printable and you can get it here:

That way you can print it out, make your corrections and print it out again for the final version.

I also made it in the US Letter side, not A5 like my usual spreads.

Share with us if you decide to use any of these pages in your journal and tag me @mashaplans and @archerandolive on Instagram, we would love to see your creations.

Keep Bullet Journaling and Don’t Be A Blob!