While we might all have opinions on the stuffy hosted affairs of yesteryear—cocktail dresses, boring small talk, unseasoned side dishes, and all—dinner parties and supper clubs are back and more popular than ever, thanks to a revamp that focuses on having fun, good food, and perhaps a theme if people are feeling creative.
It’s almost as if everyone has collectively realized that staying in with close friends and family is more fun than going out. Who would have thought?
Though, there is a difference between a dinner party and a supper club, and it all comes down to logistics and intention. Read on to find out whether you might want to plan one or the other this year.
What Is A Supper Club?
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Supper clubs are a bit of a mix of a dinner party and potluck, but with more structure. Supper clubs tend to gather regularly and remain intact for years, sometimes even decades. It typically involves a mix of participants—whether a ladies’ group or couples’ group—that overall get along and have compatible expectations.
While there are no incredibly set rules for supper clubs per se, there is usually consistency on certain points, such as having members take turns hosting, allowing the host to select and prepare the main dish (the others provide sides, desserts, and beverages), and agreeing on a certain day of the month.
All in all, supper clubs allow for an expectation of regular—often monthly—socializing with the same group of people, which can be helpful to keep a friend group in touch amidst busy schedules. Having one non-negotiable dinner per month keeps scheduling easy.
What Is A Dinner Party?
Jennifer Davick; Styling: Elizabeth Demos
A dinner party brings a group of people together over a meal—much like a supper club—but it is usually just a one-off event scheduled for that particular date, with no established plans of regularly recurring. There is no social contract for the same group of people to have dinner again, though that does not mean it cannot be easily scheduled should everyone want a repeat.
Dinner parties have seemed to slowly overtake the concept of merely “going out” with friends to restaurants, since they are more intimate and allow for more genuine quality time with your closest friends without the hassle of making big group reservations and transporting to-and-fro.
What Is The Difference?
Alison Gootee; Styling: Raina Kattleson
Supper clubs and dinner parties are similar once everyone is at the event—socializing, eating, drinking—but the difference between a supper club and dinner party lies completely in the scheduling.
Supper clubs have the expectation that the same group of people will be meeting regularly, perhaps on the same night once a month, with certain guidelines to decide on who hosts and how often it occurs. Dinner parties, on the other hand, occur sporadically with more off-the-cuff planning. Often, the organizer hosts and either makes all the food, or delegates some dishes to others.
Moreover, the occasional dinner party is ideal for those who all have very busy or varied schedules, or those who prefer to just casually catch up every once in a while, or even those who already see each other frequently and do not need the structure of a monthly supper club.
Overall, it is always good to plan quality time with loved ones over a meal, no matter how it is hosted.
