What is an International Themed Progressive Dinner?
A progressive dinner is not what you wish Thanksgiving would be but is actually a fun concept where you spend a meal traveling from one house to another for each different food course. You progress from one place to the next as each course of the meal progresses. Start with appetizers at one house, then move on to another for salad, then on to another for soup, then to another for the main course, and then another for dessert.
However, this party puts a unique twist on the progressive dinner: instead of progressing from house to house, you host everyone at your house for the entirety of the meal but progress from culture to culture throughout your meal. So maybe you start with samosas (India) and finish with crème brûlée (France) with other countries in between. The number of courses and the specific cultures/countries are up to you, but everyone will enjoy progressing from ‘country to country’ with their taste buds! Here we’ll get into the details of what you need to do to prepare and some fun ideas to make this an awesome party your friends won’t forget.
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How to Throw an International Themed Progressive Dinner Party
1. Plan Your International Menu
The first step to planning an international themed progressive dinner party is to plan which cultural cuisines you’ll embrace with your multi-course meal. You also need to decide how many courses you’ll include. Maybe you opt for an Italian appetizer course of an artichoke caprese platter or an artichoke and spinach dip pizza. Maybe you’ll enjoy a Middle Eastern dessert of baklava. Of all parties, this is the one where food is the number one way you engage your guests in the theme. So plan your menu with care and have fun letting your guests experience each culture through their sense of taste!
Have at least a few drink options such as sparkling waters, juice, or tea. Wine pairs beautifully with food, of course, and you can also invite guests to BYOB. Naturally, and as much as possible, include culture-specific drinks with each course. Mango lassi for an Indian course, Arabic coffee for an Iraqi course, or a margarita for a Mexican course. Do be aware of any invited guests’ dietary restrictions and provide at least a few decent food/drink options for them as well. The good news is that many international foods lend themselves to special diets like veganism and gluten-free fare.
2. Create the Scene with Décor of Each Food’s Respective Culture
Let’s say you want to start your progressive dinner with a delicious homemade appetizer course of guacamole with tortilla chips. You could decorate one room (or one section of your living/dining room) with a Mexican theme. String up garlands of mini sombreros or dried peppers, or hang mini piñatas. If your salad course is Greek, decorate another section of your home in blue and white with classic Greek decorations. Or combine your decorations and decorate your whole space in a fusion of several cultures!
Food and Dining Space
The most important thing to prepare for your favourite food potluck party (besides the actual food, of course) is the eating area. Whether you will fit everyone at a dining table with chairs or whether your guests will spread more casually along the couch and on cushions on the floor, you need to make sure each person has a comfortable place to sit while they eat.
Make food preparation and serving an efficient operation. Keep your kitchen tidy and clear a large area for placing various foods and drinks. You’ll also need to ensure plenty of space in your refrigerator. You may even want to stock up on mini aluminum to-go containers in case anyone wants to take home leftovers.
Save yourself the hassle of washing a kitchen full of dishes by stocking up on disposable ones (unless, of course, you corral your friends to help with the cleanup afterwards). Get plenty of paper plates – remember, each course needs its own plate. Have cups for everyone’s drinks and disposable utensils. You can find everything you need in any dollar store, but it’s extra fun if you can find serveware in the style of the culture you’re serving with any given course!
3. Play Music for Each Food’s Respective Culture
Aside from food, music is an awesome way to immerse guests in any given culture. Play each culture’s respective music while you serve its affiliated course. If the main course is an Italian dish, play traditional Italian music. If you’ll serve a course of latkes, play Klezmer music. There is much fun to be had with this! Just make sure you keep the volume at an agreeable level for easy dinner conversation.
4. Establish Guest Participation
Guest participation is optional and depends on how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party. A costume party requires a costume. A potluck requires that guests share a dish or drink. At an international themed progressive dinner party, you may have friends who identify with any of the cultures your menu embraces. If so, invite them to share knowledge about their culture with the group while enjoying the respective course. Everybody loves to hear about other people’s firsthand experiences, whether they are shared experiences or unfamiliar. Or maybe invite them to prepare the course that represents their own culture, or to contribute to it. Or perhaps they help prepare the food with you.
Another fun way to encourage guests to participate is to invite them to dress up in the style of one of the cultures you’ll taste during the meal. You’ll need to inform guests in advance of which cuisines they’ll enjoy so they know how to dress. So if one of your courses is Ethiopian, guests can opt to wear a beautiful Ethiopian dress. If another course is Irish, they can wear an Irish hat and wool sweater. Or maybe they mix and match clothing and accessories from several represented cultures. Plenty of creative liberty here!
Of course, always choose your guests mindfully and with their interests in mind. Prioritize friends who especially love cuisines from different cultures. This particular progressive dinner may not appeal to someone who only eats pizza and chicken tenders. But don’t shy away from people who may be unfamiliar with other cuisines. Some people are happy to try new things, and you never know – they may discover a new favourite food!
Checklist of Items You Need
These are the things you need for this progressive dinner party:
- Ingredients to make all of the various courses for this meal
- Drinks (non-alcoholic and, optionally, alcoholic)
- Disposable serveware (unless you enlist help for washing dishes afterwards)
- International themed decorations respective of the cultures of your menu
- Ample space for everyone to comfortably sit and eat (will determine your guest count)
- Extra serving utensils in case guests forget to bring theirs (large spoons also suffice)
- Mini aluminum to-go food containers for guests to take home leftovers (optional)
- International themed music playlist respective of the cultures of your menu
- Outfit of any respective culture of your menu (required if you invite guests to dress up, too!)
Preparation Checklist for Your International Themed Progressive Dinner Party
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date:
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort) as well as maximum number that you can comfortably seat (and afford to feed)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s)
- If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure calendar date for your awesome international themed progressive dinner party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning:
- Schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep (securing and/or making food/drinks, etc.)
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to prepare and set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- In your planned time slots, acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- In your planned time slots, set up decorations
- In your planned time slots, prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party (in your amply planned time slot):
- Prepare any foods/drinks that are too fresh to do any earlier
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare music playlist so it’s ready to go
- Dress in the style of a culture represented by your menu (or simply your favourite party outfit)
- Once everything’s ready, meditate or do any preferred self-care to get in a good head space. You want to be a relaxed, energized, and happy host – both for yourself and for your guests, who will pick up on your contagiously good vibe and automatically be happier as well!
This is a fun theme that everyone will enjoy. Because even if someone discovers that they don’t particularly care for a specific dish or style of cooking, any guest with a good attitude will still enjoy trying something new and sharing a meal with good company. Most likely, everyone will love at least some of the food you serve. At the end of the day, getting together with friends and enjoying homemade food is a beloved way to spend an evening. When you properly prepare and keep a flexible and positive attitude throughout the process, you can’t go wrong!
