Winter is a wonderful time to think about hosting your perfect dinner party. As the nights draw in, and the festive season looms closer, it’s a great opportunity to have a great social evening with friends, get dressed up and make it special. Why not impress by going seasonal with the menu theme, celebrating the very best that Winter has to offer, with comfort foods elevated to a special level.

Here are some planning tips to help you create the perfect and memorable event…

Numbers are important – as you need to be able to create a consistent quality meal experience for everyone. You need to be able to get all courses out to everyone efficiently, so no-one is left with an uncomfortable wait, or with a smaller portion. Do you invite close friends who will be forgiving of any mishaps, or be more adventurous?

Whoever you decide to invite, make sure you ask your guests if they have any special dietary requirements – not doing so could lead to unwanted embarrassment and disappointment on the night. This could also have a big impact on your dish selection planning.

Think about a time-line at this stage before setting the dinner party date, which allows you to comfortably go through all the below stages and be in total control. About 2-3 weeks from the invitation date to the party evening allows you to plan all details, and allow your invited guests time to respond.

If you love cooking, this is a fun part. It’s a good idea to select course dishes you have successfully prepared many times before. If not, why not try Siemens home connect recipeWorld which allows you to select from a large and delicious variety of dishes and send the settings directly to your oven straight from your phone, for fail-safe results. Finally, remember that fresh and high quality ingredients are an important part of ensuring you have great tasting dishes.

Think about how much of your menu you can prepare in advance of the evening, so you can balance time in the kitchen with time spent with your guests. Is your kitchen and equipment up to cooking all courses in a timely manner, so you have plenty of time to interact with your guests? Get the overall balance right - avoid too many heavy dishes and think about how they go together.

Decide on a budget you are comfortable with and create detailed lists for each of your course dishes and quantities. Look at where you can get the best quality ingredients that will be available for purchasing very close to the dinner party date.

Make sure you do not forget refreshments. A key part of ensuring your evening will be a great social success. Do some research on which wines work best with each course and plan an entrée drink like a impressive cocktail or G&T. Make sure you have different options available for some guests who maybe do not like wine – a nice stylish beer or cider for example. The Siemens aCool wine storage cabinet is perfect to chill both white and red wines to professionally controlled independent temperatures for both.

You will need to follow up with your invited guests to see if they can attend; you will need to plan shopping and collecting all your ingredients in advance. Remember to plan what you will wear on the evening so as not to end up spending the last minutes before your guests arrive hurriedly ironing a shirt. Should your party outfit still be in the washing basket, the Siemens WD14U520GB iQ500 washer dryer will wash and dry your clothes in just 60 minutes.

Allow time for getting everything pristine clean and then very importantly – create the perfect ambience in your kitchen and dining area. Think of every detail including dimmed lighting, a music playlist, flowers, table setting including glasses and cutlery, where each guest should sit to create a great social buzz as well as making sure everyone feels completely welcome and comfortable.

Get your kitchen planning perfectly set up, with all required pots, pans and equipment ready and have as much of the course dishes pre-prepared as possible. Your ingredients should be chopped up, dressings and sauces in place, dessert already prepared in the fridge possible. Individual portion dishes can look more refined than large sharing dishes. An exciting high quality cheeseboard selection can be very impressive and effortless.

Think about those little garnish touches for each course, such as a drizzle of olive oil or freshly chopped herbs, which add finesse and zest to the final presentation, and consider having a pre-meal snack and aperitif drinks counter or table set up ready for guest arrival – so no last minute panicking. If everything goes to plan you should have a few minutes to pour yourself a glass of wine and get some mental preparation in before your guests arrive so you can be as relaxed and be yourself.

A carefully planned event will ensure that almost all if not everything should go to plan, giving you and your guests a special and memorable social occasion.

Enjoy!