My company is having a holiday party for our local business contacts and major clients. The party is during normal dinner time, but we won’t actually be serving a full dinner. There will definitely be enough appetizers to go around though. What should the invitations say? “Lots of Hors D’Oeuvres” or “Light Buffet Dinner” or something else …?
Admin Assistant Extraordinaire
Well, Admin, since you’re not exactly serving a dinner, buffet or otherwise, I’d forget that option right off the top. If you’re particularly worried about people running to get dinner beforehand, or making later dinner plans and leaving early, you could say something like, “a wide variety of hors d’oeuvres will be served,” but I don’t even think that’s necessary. Simply noting “hors d’oeuvres will be served” should be sufficient.
Assuming there will also be drinks served at the party, I think most people will assume that if you say “hors d’oeuvres will be served,” you are at least providing enough food to help balance out the drinks.
Generally, unless you specify “light hors d’oeuvres”, and schedule the party in the early afternoon or well after the dinner hour, people will arrive without having eaten, and will be quite delighted to see a generous assortment of finger foods available.
Many professionals are quite used to making do with what’s offered at a networking co*cktail party, and will wait until a respectable time to leave if they feel the need to eat a light dinner later. Since it sounds like you’re providing enough “grazing” foods to more than satisfy, I think your biggest worry is already behind you!
Simply noting “hors d'oeuvres will be served” should be sufficient. Assuming there will also be drinks served at the party, I think most people will assume that if you say “hors d'oeuvres will be served,” you are at least providing enough food to help balance out the drinks.
Your gift to us is just your presence and for you to purchase your own meal. We have included a menu for the night and would appreciate if you could please pre-order when you RSVP. This will make the night run smoothly.
I would just say we are all paying for ourselves. If you are putting it in writing on invitations I would say; We will be enjoying a meal together at 'restaurant name' in honor of 'whoever's birthday' on 'date' at 'time'. Please understand that each guest will be paying for a meal and/or beverages of his or her choice.
Be direct and to the point. You don't want guests to be uncertain about your meaning. For example: “Food at our wedding reception will be provided to guests at their expense. The cost per guest is (price per plate).
“In return, the guests bring good cheer and conversation, along with — typically — some sort of thank-you gift for the host(s),” Farley says. Providing food is implicitly part of the deal of hosting, and it's up to the host to stay within whatever budget they have.
This is a very polite way of saying, “What is in this dish?” or “What are the ingredients in this dish?” Generally, in casual situations, we just say, “What's in this?” or “What's in this dish?” If you want to sound more polite, you can use this question, “What does this dish contain?” This could be really important if ...
When each of the guests at a party brings a dish for everyone to share, that's a potluck. If you're invited to a potluck, you might want to bring your famous macaroni and cheese.
What Is Food Presentation and Plating? Food presentation refers to the arrangement of food on the plate in a way that makes it appealing to the diner. A plate should engage your diner's senses and draw them into the experience as much as a painting in a gallery draws in the observer.
Introduction: My name is Kimberely Baumbach CPA, I am a gorgeous, bright, charming, encouraging, zealous, lively, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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