A Dinner Party Directory for Fall and Winter
Creative concepts for hosting during the best season for gathering.
Jenna O’Brien is the writer and designer behind Feeling! Magazine, a best-selling Substack publication about the intersection of design and joy. Her work details whimsical ideas for turning home into a place of creative play, and encouraging you to become the creative director of your own space...and dinner parties. You can follow her work on Substack and Instagram.
This is a unique list of dinner party and hosting ideas for anyone looking to draw guests indoors this season. My aim in creating this resource of ideas was to tap into nostalgia, whimsy, and ideas that you have yet to see online. Something fresh and intentional.
These ideas are specifically designed to create genuine connection and sweet memories. Hopefully, one of these prompts will strike something creative in you and inspire you to gather a group together as you host.
Apple Cider Night
Plan an evening centered around apples! A warm and deliciously red evening of light bites and delicious drinks. The menu consists of a homemade apple cider (or store-bought on the stove with some cinnamon sticks thrown in), hot toddies, caramel-covered apples, and a rustic galette or a classic apple pie. You could prepare a board with sliced apples and sharp cheddar slices for a taste of something a bit savory.
Make the scene come to life with gingham checkered tablecloths with red accents, and plenty of apples (of every shade) as decor. Warm candlelight covers the evening, and a gentle folk playlist strums in the background. Ask guests to arrive in cozy fall attire like cable-knit sweaters, flannels, or denim. For a touch of whimsy and nostalgia, add an apple-bobbing station!
The Great Dessert Bake Off
Invite your friends over, but with a challenge! Everyone must bake something to share. Make sure guests know this is no normal potluck, it is an intense competition and they need to bring their A-game. Prior to everyone’s arrival, prepare tasting plates, scorecards, and select secret judges. Before desserts arrive, assign each one a number and keep the baker’s identity a complete secret. You can add multiple categories in the competition — “Most Creative,” “Best Flavor,” “Most Aesthetic,” etc.
Feel free to offer judges palette cleansers, like sparkling water, in between dishes. Draw on the anticipation and make the whole group wait for the final tally and reveal of the winner. Be sure to plan a prize for the master baker — an apron is a sure memory-maker.
After the winner is declared, slice up everything and serve in celebration! You could hand out superlatives for everyone as an extra treat, so no one leaves empty handed.
A Fantastic Mr. Fox Soiree
A cozy movie night can make it really feel like autumn. I recommend Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film’s warm palette, apple themes, and charming family dialogue embody the autumn season itself. Prepare chilled apple cider in glass bottles, caramel popcorn, and some salty snacks for guests to graze on during the film.
Fluff up some extra blankets, or have guests bring their own! Rearrange the furniture a bit to make a cozy movie pit with extra pillows, blankets, and all the coziness you can muster. Invite guests to wear pajamas or cozy sweats. Then start the fall film — it’s perfectly imaginative, funny, and engaging.
After the film, pull out extra snacks and keep the conversation going while wrapped in blankets, by asking guests about their favorite characters, scenes, and interpretations.
Casual Parade & Pajamas
Host a cozy morning gathering on Thanksgiving Day to watch the Macy’s Parade together. This is especially perfect for friends who might not be traveling home for the holiday, or who want to start Thanksgiving morning in community before heading to family obligations. Start the morning around 8:30 AM, but there is no need for anyone to wear anything but pajamas. Make it feel like a family gathering!
Prepare something really simple for breakfast, like cinnamon rolls (even from the tube). And set up a simple coffee bar with a few options for milk, sugars, and flavored creamers. Make the seating casual, around the television, with couches slid together and lots of blankets. Keep the morning unhurried and welcoming for guests to come and go.
Ready to throw one of these parties? I partnered with Evite to design the perfect invitations… and they are all available for free now here!
Cozy Soup Night
Consider this like a cookbook club, but just for soup. Everyone chooses a soup recipe to bring a pot of and share with the group. Challenge yourself by making something unique and different from what you’ve tried before.
Provide ladles, napkins, spoons, and bowls for guests. Set the table, with the pots of soup going down the middle of the table. Having soup accompaniments is essential: crackers, sourdough, shredded cheese, sour cream, crispy bacon, and croutons. Everyone can choose their own soup adventure.
This gathering is extra communal — everyone learns new recipes, tips & tricks for cooking, and of course, gets to take home leftovers!
A Swanky Hot Chocolate Cafe
Host an evening soiree complete with a hot chocolate bar, jazz music, and rich, chocolatey brown accents for decor. For this event, presentation really matters. Use your most chic mugs. Fill glass jars with different sizes and flavors of marshmallows.
Make a topping bar with chocolate shavings, whipped cream, milks, crushed candy cane, sea salt, crushed graham crackers, cinnamon sticks, espresso powder, and even cayenne. The menu is simple, but the display can be extravagant.
Create ambiance with jazz music, candles, and cozy seating arrangements. Allow rich chocolatey drinks and rich conversation to intertwine, and make the focus of the night getting to know one another more deeply. This event works for mixed-age groups from children to grandparents, and is sure to delight any guest who attends.
Gift Wrapping Work Party
Turn the tedious task of gift wrapping into something joyful and communal. Invite a select few friends to bring their gifts over and wrap them together. Turn your dining table into a wrapping station wonderland! Everyone can contribute rolls of gift wrap and ribbon, just leave out some extra scissors and tape as a courtesy. Ensure guests have some space to spread out and wrap their gifts.
Create a festive atmosphere with Christmas classics playing, and some simple refreshments available. Think of snacks that won’t make fingers sticky or stained — vegetables and dip, cookies, crackers, and cheese. Have some drink options on the counter for self-service — cider, cans of festive soda, or sparkling water. You can even find some YouTube wrapping tutorials to watch to challenge yourselves to elevate your skills.
The best part of this event is that it makes something tedious and time-consuming something memorable and shared. Everyone can catch up, chat, or just work in quiet as the carols play. At the end, each person goes home with beautifully wrapped gifts.
Après Ski Evening
If you have a fireplace, it’s time to light it up! You don’t need a mountain or a lodge to bring the après-ski experience to life. The menu should center around French mountain cuisine, think: fondue, a massive charcuterie board with salamis, pâtés, cornichons, and grainy mustards, roasted potatoes, crusty bread, and perhaps a simple green salad to balance the richness. For drinks, think about what would be delicious fresh off the slopes. Serve warm cider with orange and cloves, hot toddies, and classic cocoa.
If you don’t have a fireplace, create the effect with string lights, a TV screen saver, and plenty of candle light. Drape plush blankets over furniture, scatter faux fur throws. Encourage guests to dress the part with cable knit sweaters, fair isle patterns, turtlenecks, vests, or flannel. If everyone participates, you will immediately feel like you’ve been transported to a ski lodge.
Add a touch of pine branches to the table. If you have skis, pull them out and prop them in the corner. Allow conversation to be the main event, with some lodge card games on the table — just in case.
The Invitations
Ready to throw one of these parties? I partnered with Evite to design the perfect invitations… and they are all available for free now here and at the links below!
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This was so fun to put together and I’m so excited to share the invitation designs with everyone too! :)
This Apple invitation is amazing. I love it. It's so magical. And the colours are so pretty.