The Progressive Dinner - The Planning Begins

Thanks to everyone for your prayers for our friends. C has been providing updates on Facebook daily, so I’m hoping she has some good news to share very soon. I’ll be sure to follow-up with you once I hear something.

Onto the question of the day: Have you ever hosted a progressive dinner party?

I may have mentioned this, but Hubby and I were strong-armed talked into hosting a progressive dinner party with three other couples. The dinner party will be an auction item at our school's fundraiser next month. Hey, anything for the kids, right? Ugh.

Now, the pressure is on to make the event extra nice - worth bidding on. So, I'm a little uptight about the whole thing. Pleasing the auction winners, creating the right mood, serving the right food and drinks, worrying about how my house looks compared to the other, larger houses hosting the event. (The dinner will take place in mid-to-late April.)

We've opted to host the first part of the evening: cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. One thing we're going to do to take a little pressure off is hire a bartender. Oh, and did I mention that the group (before I was asked to join) decided on a Willy Wonka theme? Well, that came out of one mom's desire to host a candy bar at the end of the night. So, when I heard about it, I just nodded with my crazy-eye face. But, I have to say, it has added some creativity to the evening. Hubby has come up with some great signature cocktail names: The Wonka Whiskey Sour, the Veruca Salt Magarita, to name a few.

So, dear friends, would love to hear if you have hosted a progressive dinner, or attended one, and tips you would offer for its success. What did you do to prep your house in advance? Any dos or don'ts worth sharing? What were some of your favorite things about one you attended?

Thanks for putting up with my party-planning anxiety. Hope everyone has a great weekend!