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What to Bring to a Dinner Party
Host gifts and the small manners around them, so you arrive with the right thing.
A real, editable checklist below — tick, tap a line to rewrite, drag to reorder.
Tick the circles, tap any line to change it, drag the dots to reorder.
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A host gift isn't a contribution to the menu. The wine you bring doesn't have to be opened, and nobody's obliged to serve your chocolates that evening. Saying "this is for you to enjoy later" usually clears up what everyone expects. If you want to drink a particular bottle yourself, Lifehacker suggests asking the host first, if you want to be painfully polite. Wrap it, or bag it if it's a bottle, and choose for the host's taste rather than the price. This list covers gifts and the wrapping. It leaves out cooking for the party and what to bring if you've been asked to make a dish.
Why these items are on the list
- Host gift, chosen for them. Fit to the person matters more than price, and giving shouldn't be showy.
- Wine, if you know preferences inside out. A bottle can leave the host feeling they have to open it. Say "this is for you to enjoy later."
- Your own bottle for the meal. Asking the host first is the polite move, Lifehacker says. They may have planned a pairing or need something else.
- A box of chocolates. Per Rex London's etiquette piece, chocolates were the one gift Britain adopted when gift-bringing arrived in the 1950s.
- Flowers for the host. Hanson, a frequent host, finds them lovely but sometimes a tad uninventive.
- Bottle of Champagne. Same verdict from Hanson: nice to get, but it can feel like the usual choice.
- Good charcuterie or sausage. Sean Cannon, a charcutier, says good sausage is hard to get hold of and usually pleases people.
- Hard-backed non-fiction book. Etiquette writer William Hanson says Victorian middle classes brought one when calling on good friends for tea.
- Something they won't expect. Aim for a gift your host is surprised by, in a good way.
- Wrapping paper. Even a plain gift looks enticing when it's wrapped with some care.
- Bows and ribbon. They make even the most ordinary gift look enticing.
- Gift bag, acceptable for bottles. Etiquette writer William Hanson calls bags a lazy way out, though he accepts them for bottles.
Tick it off on your phone in the hallway before you leave, and whatever's still unticked is easy to spot. Share it with a partner so you're not both turning up with the same thing.
When to use it
Useful the day before a dinner party, while there's still time to shop and wrap.