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Soft lighting, batch cocktails, and menus that don’t put last-minute stress on the chef—these are just some of the makings of a good dinner party, according to Chelsea Fagan. As the co-founder of The Financial Diet—and author of the novel A Perfect Vintage—Chelsea has made her name dishing out savvy budgeting tips and financially conscious lifestyle advice. But in her spare time, you can find her serving themed drinks, charcuterie boards, and homecooked meals at the cocktail hours, dinner parties, brunches, and other get-togethers she hosts in her New York City home. We talked about her secrets for being the host with the most.

How’d you get into hosting? Is it something you’ve always been into?

Growing up, my house was always the hosting house. My mom especially really loves to host—her mother was a big hostess. We did not have a lot of money growing up. So basically all of our meals were home-cooked, and as far as social activities went, it was always a lot more cost-effective to stay in than to go out.

We would do a lot of themed parties, game nights, and potlucks—a lot of it could be very DIY. From a very young age, my whole life was centered around people coming over and having to clean—which was not fun as a child—and prep and everything. It was just a big part of my life.

When you're hosting people, what's your plan of action? I know that you're someone who really enjoys cooking and can put together beautiful meals—what are the other elements of throwing a good dinner party?

There are a few things. Part of it is cooking, but I have plenty of gatherings where I don't really cook at all and do catering or it's more of a potluck. The bigger part of it is being really intentional with how you prepare. I'll think about things like getting nice napkins and straws and swizzle sticks and toothpicks—all the things that make it feel very special. I don't have a lot of fancy table-setting-type things. When I do a centerpiece, I'll do fresh fruit or flowers, candles, shells—things that are free or cheap or that you can eat after. It's all a matter of making it look like you have thought ahead.

Similarly, I always set up a beverage station rather than serve people their drinks because I think people like to assert themselves and make their own concoctions. Also, the more stuff you do ahead of time, the more you're able to really enjoy your own parties. I used to be the kind of person who would not enjoy her own party because I was running around the whole time.

Are there certain themes that you've done that you really like? Are there kinds of themes that you gravitate toward?

It totally depends. Sometimes I'll theme it around a movie, sometimes I'll do it around a person and their tastes. Often, for bigger parties, I'll do a book swap. So sometimes I'll pick a theme that applies to the books—like historical romance will be the theme and then I’ll serve something like crustless tea sandwiches. It could really be about anything. Sometimes colors are a really fun theme to go by. I’ve also done astrological signs.

I love that. How often would you say you're hosting people?

I probably have people over to some capacity two to three times a week. I have been lucky to have friends who live pretty much in my neighborhood, so I'll have friends just stop by for coffee or do a simple movie night.

Are there things that you always have on hand just to be prepared if you want to have company over?

I like to have cute serving platters and dishes. Those are great to get thrifted or on Facebook Marketplace. I get a lot of them as gifts. I always have cute napkins. I use cloth napkins for dinner and paper napkins for cocktails. Although, if it's a small group, I also have pretty embroidered cocktail napkins. I have straws and stirrers—anything you'd really need for a drink.

As far as food goes, I like to always have fresh citrus—because you can use it for all kinds of drinks—and jarred cherries. I always have a couple of different sodas and seltzers for nonalcoholic drinks or as mixers. I always have a bottle of sparkling wine. My bar cart is always insanely stocked because people bring us so much stuff, and we never make it through, but I do think a few supplies for spirits are always good to have. I always have cheese and crackers, chips and nuts, jarred olives, and pickles—just things that keep basically forever and can always be put out onto a serving platter.

If you're having a brunch or a dinner party—times when you're serving a meal—are there dishes that you think should be off-limits? Or are there things you serve that are pretty much always winners in those situations?

If I'm hosting a big dinner party, I almost always make something that can either be made ahead and reheated or braised, so you don't really have to do anything. For example, I love cooking a lot of Chinese foods, especially Sichuan foods, but I very rarely make them for a dinner party beyond four people because there’s not much you can prep ahead. I find that you spend a lot more time in the kitchen with that kind of dish.

For brunch, something really good to make ahead is a quiche or any kind of egg bake—a frittata, that kind of a thing. Similarly, for dinner parties, pasta: You can make the sauce ahead of time and just cook off the noodles. A salad you can always make ahead of time. It's just generally about thinking about the kinds of foods that will allow you to enjoy the party in the moment and keep the actual last-minute cooking time to 10 minutes, max.

Another part of hosting is curating the social environment—is there anything that you do to ensure the conversation is flowing?

A dinner party should always have a cocktail hour—at least one or two hours—so everyone can mingle. For a seated dinner party above six to eight guests, I do placecards, and I typically put couples across from each other. I think people, if they're right up against their partner, will keep more to themselves. So I like to mix it up that way.

If I'm trying to get people to socialize in mixed groups, I typically keep that to a cocktail-style event, and I won't do a seated event because if someone is seated across from the wrong person, it can be very dull for them.

I think for most people, the most fun part of any evening is the pre-dinner cocktail hour because you get to eat what you want, move where you want, and talk to who you want. I think that's something you never want to skip.

Are there little touches that you think can take a dinner party to the next level, whether that's the right playlist or a specific drink that you really like to serve, or an order that is always a crowd-pleaser?

People love boards—any kind of cheese board, charcuterie board, tinned fish board, or vegetable board. Arranging stuff on a board in a cute way automatically elevates it, and people love it. They get enthralled.

For drinks, I always usually do one batched alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage, and obviously, people could spike the non-alcoholic if they want to. But I like to have at least one signature drink for each event. Especially bigger parties. Typically, one of my two drinks will be a punchbowl of some kind. There are endless kinds of punches that you can make with fancy ice cubes and citrus rounds and fruit—it's a very underrated way to not only serve a bunch of people easily but also to make the drink feel really special.

As far as little touches and details go, I love really cute cocktail napkins—paper or fabric. You can get great ones on Amazon, but you can also find them thrifted. I love a nice combination of a cute cocktail napkin, a cute paper straw, and a cute stirrer. On my drink station, I always put out a dish of garnish—it’s very low effort but very fun.

How do you do invites?

It depends. I’ve done paper. For a bigger event, I'll usually do Paperless Post. If it's a more informal thing, just text.

Are there any things that you think are intimidating about hosting that you might assuage someone's fears about?

I think people think that you need to have a lot of money to do it. And I think that’s such a misconception. So many of the things that are the biggest hits at my parties are the things that cost little to no money.

The great thing about having people over is you can outsource things. For example, I hate baking. I have several friends who are really good bakers. So I will outsource the dessert every single time, and they're delighted to do it and love serving their desserts.

This is one thing that cannot be overstated: Lighting is key. I never ever turn on the big overhead lights.

I hate the big light.

Me too. I have gone to dinner parties where the food was good. The drinks were good. The people were good, but the lighting felt like a dentist's office. People should feel attractive in your home. So definitely have diffused lighting and lots of candles.

Critical! I'm curious to hear a little bit more about what you feel like you emotionally get out of hosting. What do you love about having your friends over at these dinner parties and the process of putting this kind of event together?

I definitely have a sense of pride about it. I love it when people have a good time in my home or enjoy my food. I think that's really important. I mean, I love going out to restaurants—don't get me wrong. But I just don't think there's that same level of intimacy and closeness that you get when you have someone over. I love going to my friend's homes. For a lot of people, there’s an inherent vulnerability to having people over in your space. I really enjoy that, and I think I used to be kind of insecure about my space and my capacities as a host. Over the years, the self-confidence that comes from people seeing the “real you” and having a great time cannot be discounted.

What would you tell people who are thinking about getting into hosting?

First and foremost, make sure your lighting is on point. That's number one. As far as preparing goes, what I would do first is make an inventory of the serving supplies that you have—how many plates, how many wine glasses, how many serving dishes, all that kind of stuff. If there are things that you would like to serve with, hit up some thrift stores, flea markets, Facebook Marketplace, and find those things so that you feel like you're well stocked. It's always a stressful feeling to not have enough of what you need.

Start your hosting more on the potluck side. You could definitely make some dishes, but outsource things. I have a lot of friends who really enjoy bringing something! Don't put all the pressure on yourself to do everything yourself the first time. ▲

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