Being the host of an important dinner party can be pressuring. Especially if you are on a tight, shoe-string budget, you might get worried about entertaining your guests. Will there be enough food? How many kinds of wines should I get? Did I set out enough bar stools? Is this music apprpriate? The questions can go on and on. But if you are on a tighter budget than ever before, hosting a dinner party is not as hard as it may sound. Stick to these four guidelines.


1. Have your guests bring wine. This is the perfect money saver. It also allows other people to share their wine interests and to taste unique wines that they probably never heard of. If everyone brings their own wine, you will have a guarantee that everyone will like their drink. That’s a major plus.

2. Take it easy on the appetizers. Don’t overdo it. Cheese and crackers are just fine. You don’t want anyone to feel obligated to overeat just because you are worried about pounds of wasted foods. You also don’t want to be the one to blame when your co-workers feel like their bursting out of their pants. Keep snacks to a minimum and stick to bring your own wines, perhaps bring your own cheese would work too?

3. Make vegetables the centerpiece. Out of all the possible snacks for a dinner party, vegetables are by far the cheapest. They can also be the healthiest and easiest to prepare option out there. They can definitely work as double-duty. Not only can you simply organize and store the night before, but you can carefully place each broccoli and cauliflower in a way that adds a design element to your cocktail table. It will make everyone feel better and make you, the preparer, look better.

4. Gravitate toward the sales. Keep an eye out for those hot-item sales and spend some time cutting out coupons. You may even look into going to the farmer’s market because veggies are both plentiful and cheap.