WHY DINNER PARTIES SHOULD BE A THING

It all started with Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine. I devoured that book (pun intended) in a matter of days, and as soon as I closed the last page, I thought, I want to host a dinner party. I didn't know how or when, but all I knew is I wanted to see a table full of my favourite people in my home, eating a glorious meal, swapping stories, and enjoying plenty of laughter (the best). 

Life went on, but the back of my mind continued to chant dinner party, dinner party, dinner party. Finally, the opportunity presented itself. My Texas-dwelling friend, May Michael, decided it was high time to come visit, and after a flurry of texts and a last-minute change of plans, the date was set and only a week away. For a moment, the idea came that her visit would be the perfect excuse for an elaborate, lavish dinner party that would make Bread and Wine proud. 

but things didn't go exactly to plan. 

That week was the busiest I'd seen in a while, and time to plan was nonexistent. But after mentioning May's visit to some other dear friends, Jordan and Emily, we thought, hey, we can totally make this dinner party thing work for Sunday evening. Jordan, who also recently finished Bread and Wine, suggested Shauna's bacon-wrapped date recipe for the menu, but that was about as far as our planning went. (Completely on top of things, we know.) 

My week just kept getting busier and dinner plans were pushed to the back burner. (Is that another pun? I'm on fire today.) I was gone three days and had an article for Grafted Magazine to finish (I literally made the final edit exactly half an hour before May Michael arrived). So when Saturday came around, I suddenly realized the only thing we had planned for our dinner was the dates. Procrastination had expired; it was time for action. After consultations with May Michael and my mama, we went for the quick and easy route: the aforementioned dates, plenty of coffee and iced tea, and a pancake bar with strawberries and ricotta cream (because who doesn't love breakfast food for dinner, am I right?).

it turned out to be perfect. 

Though, I must admit, it was not what I originally had in mind after Bread and Wine. There were no elaborate decorations or exotic menus or long guest lists or fancy table settings or tall glasses of red wine. Instead, it was a close group of friends flipping pancakes and slicing fruit and stuffing dates with goat cheese, sipping iced coffee out of plastic cups with paper straws. We gathered around a full table of iced tea and peanut butter and chocolate chips, talking about Jesus and life and love and relationships. We shared stories and made each other laugh until we couldn't breathe and just thoroughly enjoyed each other's existence. We talked about our struggles and innermost goals and appalling secrets (heh heh). We ate too much and consumed an illegal amount of coffee and watched Audrey Hepburn and took pictures. 

Now I'm just further convinced dinner parties need to be a regular thing (and I'm determined to make that happen). Ours was small and impromptu and a bit unplanned and last-minute, but in the end, details weren't important. What mattered was that friendships were made stronger, good words were shared, and the beauty of people, life, and the love of our Jesus was celebrated to the full. 

and it included some pretty darn good food.

So tell me... have you ever hosted a dinner party? Was it fabulous? Disastrous? Or is it something you'd like to try one day?

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