A 1980s dinner party and do people still have them?

[Comedycook]

So I was reminiscing with my sister earlier.

Growing up in the 80s, our parents would host "proper" dinner parties.

The table would be set, prior to dinner, drinks and nibbles would be provided in the living room, a three course dinner would be served in the dining room, then afterwards more drinks would be served in the living room...brandies and whisky I presume.

The men would wear suits, children would be sent to bed or left with babysitters.

Do people still do this nowadays? When we get together with friends now, the whole evening is so informal in comparison. My parents dinner parties seem very grown up in comparison!

So just wondering if people still have "proper" dinner parties? Is it just very posh people or is it stuck firmly in the past?!

Just imagine the atmosphere if the hostess had demanded that the guests remove their shoes on entry.

Will you be my friend 🤣

Yes we do this all the time. No suits though, unless we are being semi-ironically formal.

I love good food and seeing the table set with silver and crystal, lit with candles. If that’s formal and old fashioned I can live with it and so can my friends, apparently! As long as there is plenty of nice wine..

one of my groups of mum friends does dinner parties, we take it in turns to host, probably once every 2 months. We are rural, & it probably does replace the going out for drinks I used to do with my mum friends in the city.

thinking about it though, DH & I don’t really have people for dinner parties as a couple, more informal suppers & BBQs.

Where we are, the two are entirely different.

We do minus the suits. I like cooking and was GF for a long time so actually just a sneaky way for me to not have to try and deal with food restrictions in restaurants. Regularly have dinner for 10.

I think it was quite a middle class thing. My folks went "down the club" aka working man's club on a Saturday night while I stayed with Granny at home ans prepped the veg for Sunday dinner.

Every now and again my folks would have people round but it was never dinner. Just cans of lager, bowls of nuts, they even had optics in the kitchen for "shorts" as they were known then.

Yes. I love dinner parties.

I remember my parents hosting loads of these in the 80s/90s. I would be the waitress, bring people theirs pre dinner cocktails etc. I even fiddled in the haggis for Burns Night! I’d actually quite like to do this sort of thing now. But we’re lazy, house not fit for purpose and kids too exhausting. Maybe in a few years!

CaronPoivre We do and most of our social circle do. I’m planning one for ten days time so I can get my orders submitted in time. I don’t perceive them as ‘80s’ just a pleasant way of spending an evening with friends.
I think we’d be a bit askance if someone wore a lounge suit. DJ for dinners (obviously) but just chino’s or dark cord and a blazer for a kitchen supper.
Younger neighbours do likewise. Maybe it’s regional or even down to parochial norms

Oh! for a pre-covid kitchen sup, lit only by the gentle glow of a sheep wrapped in fairy-lights ouside on the main sward.

I did, before COVID. haven’t had once since.

We definitely didn’t wear suits and the wine consumption was rather alarming the morning after.

I love having friends round for dinner and really making the effort to cook and to prep the table. I no longer have a dining room, we eat at the table in the kitchen diner but I make sure the music matched the mood and food and wines. Pubs and restaurants are too crowded and noisy now and I get a huge amount of joy listening to my guests having discussions and enjoying themselves. They all reciprocate and I enjoy hosting and being hosted.
My father was a Freemason so we had a fair bit of formality at times!

We do this with a particular group of friends but it's informal, no suits.
We have cocktails
and canapés, two course meal with wine and more drinks after.
My MIL looks after DC at her home so we haven't got to worry about disturbing them.
We also do cheese and wine nights (everyone brings a cheese & wine) and curry nights for rugby events.

Sorry what is a sward? It’s not a term I am familiar with. How would one eat a sheep if it was decorated in fairy lights; it would be a nightmare to carve, surely?

I'm craving pavlova now.

We did before covid but haven’t really got back into the habit - I would like to now you remind me though! No one wore suits though…

Love a dinner party (we’re quite posh/rural). Suits definitely optional though

We did it in our 30s when we all lived quite close together. Now it would mean people staying over as my friends have all scattered, so we don't tend to do it.

There was also the hollandaise incident...

Your op takes me back. Grilled grapefruit with sugar and a bottle of Black Tower are the 2 things I remember most!

We have dinner parties with nibbles, three courses and lots of wine.

But we don't dress up in suits and even when the kids were smaller they used to be plonked in front ot the telly with a pizza.

Surely the footmen would bring the food up in heated trolleys. Pretty bad form otherwise!

We have friends over for dinner, quite similar to your parents but a lot less posh and no suits or brandy (although I love the sound of both of those).

Do tell...@MaChienEstUnDick

I don't do dinner parties (terrified of poisoning people 😂). I do invite people round for drinks and I'll put nibbles out.

My parents never had dinner parties either - we're working class though. Don't know if that has anything to do with it? Although, I've inherited my cooking skills from my mother so maybe that was why!

My parents did this. They had a serving hatch between the kitchen and dining room that they used on these occasions. They also didn't smoke themselves but had ashtrays for the parties which were always very smoky.