For many, brunch is not simply a meal that you can partake in if you wake up late and miss breakfast, but is still too early for lunch.
It is a special meal during weekends that allows people to enjoy great food and amazing beverages, and connect with their fellow diners.
And for most people, the perfect brunch is held at restaurants and cafes. However, if you want to take a shot at hosting this meal in your home, you can do so successfully and with as little stress as possible with the right strategies and tips.
Below are six tips that will help you host a fun and memorable brunch party at home for your family and friends:
1. Create your guest list and budget.
A brunch is supposed to be an intimate affair wherein you and your guests can catch up, engage in plenty of meaningful conversations, and enjoy delicious food and beverages. For this reason, inviting everyone you know to your party is not advisable.
Additionally, you also have to consider your dining area and even your overall space. If your home and garden are spacious, you can think about adding plenty of people to your guest list.
If not, you have to limit your guests to close family and friends that you want to be part of your party.
Once you have your guest list, ask yourself how much you want to spend on the food. Your budget should include the ingredients, ready-to-eat products, utensils, beverages, and alcohol home delivery in Abu Dhabi, among others.
By setting your budget ahead of time, you can avoid spending more than you need to host a great brunch party.
2. Opt for a customisable menu.
Once you have your guest list and budget, you can start thinking about planning your menu.
The perfect brunch menu consists of the right balance between sweet and savoury items. This is an important concept to remember since you have to satisfy the taste buds of all your guests.
However, it doesn’t mean that you should limit your menu to items you find at fancy restaurants and cafes. Since you might end up preparing all the food by yourself or with only one person to help you, you will do well to choose simple dishes and treats.
A simple hack you can follow is to prepare a wide array of foods and arrange them bar-style. This means setting up a waffle, pancake, bagel, or toast bar.
Simply arrange the waffles, pancakes, bagels, and toasts and their toppings and spreads, such as jams, syrups, cheese, butter, cold cuts, scrambled eggs, whipped cream, fresh fruits, and other fixings together.
With this setup, you elevate your spread to a gourmet level. Moreover, you allow your guests to customise their plates according to their preference.
Also, don’t hesitate to get bagels, muffins, doughnuts, and other kinds of pastries from your favourite bakery to diversify your buffet table. It is a simple and cost-efficient way to add more variety to your menu.
3. Don’t forget the drinks.
One of the best things about brunch is that you and your guests can also enjoy a variety of beverages. As such, ensure you have a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on your menu.
Champagne, mimosas, bloody Mary, and orange juice are brunch staples, so make sure you have them on your menu.
You can also spice things up and give your guests more options by preparing martinis, sangrias, and other classic cocktails. Ensure you don’t alienate the people who don’t drink alcohol by having different types of fruit juices and the ingredients and recipes for one or two mocktails.
Don’t forget to have coffee and a selection of tea bags ready for your guests who want to drink something hot.
4. Consider using paper and plastic dining ware and utensils.
Plates, bowls, cups, glasses, and eating utensils can quickly pile up in the sink when you have 10 or more guests for your brunch party. Don’t forget you also have the frying pans, spatulas, whisks, serving trays, and kitchenware you used in preparing your dishes already waiting to be washed.
Whether you have a dishwasher or not, it will take you at least an hour to wash all the dirty kitchen and dining ware – time that you can use to socialise and talk with your guests or rest after the party instead.
To have more time for socialising with your guests, enjoying the party, and relaxing after the event, skip bringing out your regular and fancy dining ware and use paper plates and paper cups and eating utensils.
After the party, simply throw away the used plates, cups, and utensils. This means you will spend less time cleaning up.
5. Set the brunch table and dining area the night before.
Rushing around and feeling stressed out are the last things you want to experience on the day of your brunch party. You can avoid this tense situation by arranging the brunch table and dining and entertainment areas the night before.
Following this tip can help you visualise the space better and may even inspire you to add a few more decorations to make your home more conducive for the party.
These can include adding area rugs, placing vases with flowers on tables and shelves, and covering dining tables with tablecloths or runners.
You won’t go wrong with arranging the plates, bowls, cups, eating utensils, and napkins on a table beforehand as well. Doing so will save you plenty of time in the morning, allowing you to focus on preparing your dishes and beverages.
As an additional tip, prepare any dishes that can be reheated or served cold on the night of the party. These can include baked pastries such as muffins and brownies, and even some of your cocktails and mocktails so that you can spend less time prepping them during brunch.
6. Create a warm, relaxing brunch party atmosphere.
Lastly, if you want your first brunch party to be truly memorable, you need to set the right tone for this event.
The right décor can give your home a warm, welcoming, and relaxing vibe. This will allow your guests to feel comfortable and get into a festive, socialising mood throughout the party.
You can set this tone by selecting earth tones or pastel colours for the tablecloths and napkins.
If you are hosting the brunch party outdoors, ensure the sun provides the right amount of light. If it is an indoor gathering, keep the curtains open to let the sunlight in.
Turn on your artificial lights if the sunlight is not too strong on the day of your event.
Don’t forget to play the right music for your brunch party to set the right mood. Instrumentals, gentle acoustics, and classic soft rock and pop hits are perfect for this type of intimate gathering.
However, ensure the music is discernible and can be heard by your guests, but not too loud that it overpowers everyone’s voices.
Hosting your first brunch party at home can be nerve-racking. But if you follow these tips, you will have an intimate event that your guests will love and remember — one that you will look back on fondly and want to throw again.
