How often do you have people over for a meal?

[Tiqtaq]

For me maybe once a month but that's mainly lunch for a friend or a roast with siblings and parents.

I never do big dinner parties and wonder if other people still do? My parents had people over to eat way more often than I do.

So, I'm interested to know, how often do you have people over for a meal?

i think twice in 10 years.

I hate hosting and cooking for other people and find it too stressful. Happy to have people round just for coffee or drinks and do that quite often.

Used to do it regularly, couple of times at least a month. However for sick of DH wanting to do it, wanting everything to be fab eve food/wine but doing sod a towards any of it including getting up and going to sport in a Sunday morning. It's a shame as I live cooking and hosting but felt/feel bitter and resentful at the lack of teamwork.

Well, I'll bite, although you're obviously just trying to be nasty.

Not burgers/sausages to differentiate between "hosting a dinner party" and dumping something from the freezer on the BBQ. I wouldn't call burgers and sausages dumped on a BBQ "hosting a diner party", in the same way as I wouldn't call chicken nuggets and chips in the airfryer served to one of my DC's friends coming back after school as "hosting a dinner party".

A marinated rotisserie chicken cooked on the BBQ, served with chargrilled veg and buttered new pots, on the other hand, is "hosting a dinner party". The OP asked how often people have "big dinner parties". I was answering the question posed, in the spirit I interpreted it to be intended.

Hi, OP here, to clarify I'm interested in how often people have others over for a meal - interested in dinner party invites and also interested in casual dining!

Well I don't dump my burgers and sausages onto a BBQ. I place them on. I'd just never really thought there was a BBQ dinner party etiquette. Now I know.

Well, in that case, several times a week. There's often a visiting child joining us for dinner, or a friend who popped by who stays for a sandwich, or someone who stayed over who has a bacon sandwich for breakfast etc. But this is all just popping an extra portion of normal family food in the oven etc. Not planned for, specially shopped for, or requiring any effort - just ad hoc.

Hosting that takes effort - "hosting a dinner party" - about once a month. A mixture of 3 course meal type dinner parties and more fancy roasts in the winter, a mixture of 3 course meal type dinner parties and more fancy outdoor cooking in the summer. The dinner parties always require planning, prep, extra shopping and involve more special/fancy food, and are very different to someone just happening to be around over a meal time.

Parents once or twice a year, otherwise never, just how I like it

We probably host about once every few months for dinner with friends. We usually go all out, choose a theme for the dishes, get some nice wine in, etc. We're a huge group though so we tend to rotate the guests! We could do with a bigger dining room.

2/3 times a month. Either formal dinner parties or BBQ or just sunday lunch. We're very close with sisters and my best friends and I do dinner every week. We have a big dining table and outside space so as many people as we can fit in!

3-5 times a year probably and that's me done. I couldn't cope with more than that. The thought of a couple of times a month makes me recoil in horror. Some people are more social than others and I'm the type who would rather chill at home with DH, or have friends over for drinks only.

Never. DD1 is autistic.

Rarely, and even then it's generally my parents. We don't have a great deal of dining space and with three children there's a lot of chaos.

I envy my friend's converted barn, with her flagstone floors and seating for 12. Sounds like it came right out of a Jilly Cooper novel but I love going to hers!

Probably averages out at once every 3 weeks across the year, but tends to be pretty much every week in the summer & less often in winter.

DH is Aussie so bbqs are just a way of life. We do very impromptu bbqs regularly with neighbours & will have friends round for a roast a few times in the winter too.

I'm in the 1-2 times a month. I really enjoy cooking and hosting people, and it makes me happy when everyone is sitting round the table tucking in and chatting. We moved house last year and recently bought a much bigger outdoor table and chairs, so we can host in the garden as well. My bbqs are epic (and may well feature sausages and / or burgers!)!

Loads. I love the sound of a group around the table, and the feeling of creating a sociable atmosphere. Luckily most of our friends feel the same so we go through phases of being guests a lot more than hosts. Very rarely go out to a restaurant instead of to someone’s home.
This has been the case for the past 30 years, even when our kids were babies, and with both of us working FT, I have always invited people around to eat. It gives me huge pleasure!

About 6 times a year - we seem to have acquired several single male friends (in their 50s and 60s), so I usually invite them around for their birthday dinners, and our birthday dinners, too. Once or twice a year we have a fondue evening, too.

Family come round on a weekly basis, but as pp says we are really close and don't really stand on shoŵ, it's more a case of cooking more of our regular meals so they can join us. In terms of guests that we actually host more like monthly or six weekly in winter.

Not very often now.

My dad comes over for dinner every couple of weeks but I don't do proper dinner parties any more. When the dc were little we would put them to bed and have friends over but would tend to go out these days. We have one set of friends we have over for a meal at Christmas.

Twice in the past 2yrs.

I grew up in a house where my parents were always throwing dinner parties. I rarely do it as I don’t think I’m a good enough cook and I can’t be arsed with various dietary requirements. I’m always happy to host so it’s not the hosting bit, I just can’t be bothered to cook. We always tend to eat out with friends it’s just more convenient.

Christmas that's it and I bloody hate it!

Wow, it would be interesting to know if the people saying that they host several times a month have kids and if they are hosting other families with kids; we only have 1 DC but whenever we try to arrange any kind of social occasion with other families with kids it is generally arranged months in advance as that is the only time when both of us have a free slot at a weekend (weekday evenings are taken up with activities and/or being too tired after work to consider entertaining).

So I am genuinely amazed, and not in a Mumsnet "I just can't understand how people do that" sort of way. Is everyone who is posting that retired with no kids at home??

I work full time have had 1 Dd (single parent as well!) if I want to socialise I need to do it at mine. Doesn’t take a huge amount of planning - text my friends, order food to be delivered morning of, Dd helps prep and then if it’s a lunch thing she eats with us, if it’s evening I put her to bed and cook.

Sometimes we do a bring a plate dinner so I barely have to do anything then. But I really do enjoy it.

A few years ago it would have been once every couple of months. Since covid, it's probably a couple of times a year. Partly because we haven't got back into the swing of it, mostly because the friends we used to have round most often have left the UK.

Never, I’m amazed at how many people regularly host dinner parties or have groups of people round!. I don’t really enjoy cooking, I don’t have the time or money to test receipes and I worry too much that people won’t like my food / we won’t have enough drinks / my house isn’t clean / decorating isn’t finished and lounge looks rubbish etc. plus kitchen is small and we just don’t have the space for lots of people. And we have a 3 and 5 year old and we’re often not finished with their bedtime until nearly 9pm. All in all it just seems expensive and stressful. :)

I would love to love entertaining, I just don’t sadly. Maybe if we had a bigger kitchen and better entertaining space inside and outside we would, and could do a weekend bbq instead of evening meals so we don’t have bedtime stress (but I do like having people round for coffee etc / playdates for the children just not the meal bit).