The step-by-step plan for a perfect birthday dinner

Organizing a dinner can already be quite stressful, let alone preparing your own birthday bash down to the last detail. But if you follow my step-by-step plan, it's quite doable. Here too, preparation is key.

The nicest people at your birthday dinner

Well, let's start at the beginning: how many people do you want to invite? Think carefully about the space you have. Are you celebrating at home and do you live small? Then don't invite more than 10 people. Do you live large and get a lot of help from friends and family? Then it's quite doable to invite more people. My experience? Before everyone arrived, a friend helped with cooking and during my dinner itself, 3 friends helped with serving. 20 guests was a perfect number for me.

Who do you invite?

At a dinner, it's important that only pleasant people are at the table; you sit close together for a few hours and engage in conversations. It's nice if everyone has a bit of the same vibe. That fails if you invite people who don't quite fit in. Trust your gut feeling and don't invite anyone just to be nice.

What birthday dinner theme?

Oooooh, the theme – the key to a perfect vibe. You certainly don't want one group of friends to show up in sweatpants while the others are dressed in their finest dresses. To avoid this awkwaaaard situation, you need to think carefully about the theme and dress code of your dinner. No inspiration for a fun theme? I had an ‘everything but black and white’ dress code and decorated the table in a chic, boho, and minimalist style. Need more inspo? Here you go: Garden party, Peaky Blinders, Glitter and glamour, A touch of red, Hollywood, White party, Bohemian chic, Formal chic, Black tie, Pink and gold, and a pajama party.

Send out the invitations for your birthday dinner on time

Next, one of the most important things: inviting people. And how fun is it to do this in a special way, making your guests feel truly special. No one likes a “I-just-quickly-call-you-because-uhm-it's-my-birthday”-invitation that comes a week in advance. No, girls, send your invitation about 4 to 5 weeks in advance. And my tip: arrange with your besties in advance which date works for all of them, so you can consider the people you really want there. Through Canva you can create the cutest invitations, send them around, or even better: print them out and give them personally. Do you find all this too much? Then create a group chat with everyone and send a sweet message with the time, place, and of course the theme. That group chat is handy anyway, so everyone can share the fun photos and videos after the party.

Decoration for your dinner

Phew, everything is arranged, now you can breathe, but not for long. It's 2 weeks before your birthday and now you really need to start fixing the table decoration. Ask your grandma – she was also my lifesaver – for white tablecloths and dive into the city to buy the cutest table decorations. Arrange enough plates, cutlery, glasses, and napkins. Don't forget the balloons and streamers, because that dinner is and remains your birthday party, right? Tip: you can also rent plates, tables, and chairs. They pick them up the next day, unwashed, so that saves a lot of work.

Fix an outfit (for the stress bunny this is step 1 of your step-by-step plan)

The dress – where it can all go wrong. If you're someone who always chooses an outfit at the last minute (yes, I speak from experience), then choosing a dress should actually be at the top of your step-by-step plan. I made this mistake and only arranged a dress the day before, not fun, I can tell you for your stress level. Choose something in which you feel a hundred percent like the birthday girl, and hey, you are the birthday girl, you can stand out, so you can deviate from your theme, right?

The menu - what your birthday dinner is all about

What are you going to cook? Okay, I know, this is the moment you really need to think about. Keep it simple, you have to make everything yourself, right. Here find a delicious birthday menu for your dinner and check Pinterest for more inspo. Make sure to have an appetizer, main course, and dessert. Tip: a charcuterie board as an appetizer is easy and delicious. So this is how you make a perfect charcuterie board. Want to really impress your guests? Serve a spoom between the courses, it doesn't get fancier than this. And of course: print the menu via Canva and place it on the table in holders or lay it on each plate. Buy dry products in advance, buy the perishable items a day before.

Only fun at your birthday dinner

Everything is bought – now it's time for the finishing touch: the table. You've already gathered all your decorations, so it's time to beautifully decorate everything the day before. Are you sensitive to stress? Two days in advance works too. Think carefully about the layout of the table. Make cute name cards and place your friends next to each other in a tactical way, this way new friendships might form. What you can also do: switch chairs every half hour, then everyone has to sit in a different chair, this way you prevent it from getting boring. And if you want to do something a bit extra or want the table to look neater: this is how you fold napkins so that the cutlery can lie nicely in them. Cook your birthday menu in advance.

Cooking at your party itself? That's a real no-go. Most dishes can be easily prepared in advance. If you're serving pasta, you can make the sauce the morning before, so you or your friends only have to cook the pasta and pour the sauce over it. Chill drinks, and make sure your friends who are helping know where everything is.

Enjoy your birthday dinner.

Tadaaa,

you did it. Don't forget to laugh, chat, and especially take lots of photos (yes, those photos with a, retro camera are always the best). After-dinner activity.

Whether you choose to just enjoy some after-dinner conversation, transform your living room into a dance floor, play a game of “Who am I?”, or for all the party animals among us: a cozy afterparty in the city. Make sure you know when the dessert will be served and think of something fun to do after dinner. This is called an after-dinner activity and it's there to keep your party from dying down.

this is how you organize your birthday dinner step-by-step plan.

Image: Netflix