Dinner party planners
Host like a restaurant, enjoy it like a guest.
Printable planners and hosting tools for multi-course dinners at home. Plan backwards the way restaurant kitchens do, so everything is nearly done before the doorbell rings.
The method
Start at the finish line
Plan backwards
Choose when guests arrive, then work back day by day. Shop three days out, prep two days out, cook the make-ahead dishes the day before.
Shop by section
Sort the list the way the store is laid out: dry goods first, then produce, dairy and meat, with frozen last so it stays cold.
Get it 90% done
Every course is nearly finished before guests sit down. Between courses you only add the final touches, so you eat with your friends.
The Dinner Party Planner
Fifteen pages, from guest list to the last toast
Beginner-friendly, with level-up tips for hosts who want to take it further.
- Meet Your Host
- Guest List & Dietary Needs
- Plan Backwards
- Shopping List (3 pages)
- Plate Plan
- Menu Balance Guide
- Host’s Favourites
- Ambience & Dress Code
- Day-Of, Hour by Hour
- Rescue Tips
- After the Party journal
- Thank You
Instant download
Print at home on US Letter paper, as many times as you host. Perfect for Friendsgiving, Christmas dinner and birthday dinners.
Printable PDF · 15 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
Free tool
Party Countdown
Enter your party date and menu, split each dish into steps, and get a dated plan with a shopping list sorted by store section. Add it to your phone’s home screen and tick things off as you go.
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The planner that started it all. Fifteen pages to host like a restaurant.
See the planner →About
Hi, I’m the host behind The Raqi Edit
I threw my first Christmas party at eleven. I was in charge of cupcakes and simple bits while my grandma ran the kitchen, and I kept asking for more until, one year, the whole kitchen was mine.
In college, small dinners for friends turned into the thing everyone looked forward to. Then came bigger nights: Friendsgivings, Christmas dinners, and multi-course birthday dinners that are now a tradition every year. My biggest so far was ten courses for twelve guests, run like a little restaurant brigade.
By day I’m a scientist, so of course I plan dinners like experiments: decide early, write everything down, and get almost all of it done before anyone arrives. That’s the system in my planner, so you can host something that feels like a fancy restaurant and still feels like a friend’s house.
Outside the kitchen, The Raqi Edit follows whatever I’m loving at the moment: books, the moon and stars, and holiday keepsakes. Each one becomes its own little edit.
The Raqi Edit