Let’s begin with a little history of our neighborhood Progressive Dinners. The first dinner was held in April 2005 and the second in November of the same year. I was a participant in those first two dinners, not a planner. I became involved in planning by the third dinner, held in April 2006.

The one person who has planned these events for all nine years is my friend and neighbor, Ronnie. She is the real expert in how to pull off a successful Progressive Dinner, but since I have a blog and I’m the one writing this … I shall be your expert for today.

Last Saturday, we had our 10th Neighborhood Progressive. Here is a list of the ten we’ve had thus far:

As you can see, a couple of times we held two in one year and then there were a couple of years we missed getting it together.

It takes a lot of work and organization to put on a party of this nature for a large group. We have 118 homes in our neighborhood and every single household receives an invitation. If everyone showed up, there would be over 300 party-goers. That has never even come close to happening. I believe our largest group has been about 58 participants or 29 households.

The most difficult task is picking a date. It works best in the spring or fall. We generally avoid the winter since the holidays are already jam-packed and the summer as well because it is not only too hot but also too many people are out of town.

The problem with the spring is working around the various school spring breaks and the fall becomes difficult because around the time the nights get cool enough (late October) it seems as though the holidays are right around the corner and people’s calendars fill quickly.

Once you get over that hurdle and you have your date … here is our organizational structure and our step-by-step instructions:

We begin the evening all gathered at one home – this is the “Appetizer House.” The Appetizer Hosts provide bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages. Additionally, they decorate according to the theme and set the ambiance with theme-appropriate music and such.

Each participating couple brings a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine along with them to the Appetizer House. A few select couples are asked to bring two cases of beer (light and regular) instead.

When the invite is sent out, there is a call for “Dinner Hosts.” Participants can check this box if they would like to host 10 people at their homes for dinner. They set the table and ambiance and let the party come to them. In the past, we haven’t required the Dinner Hosts to provide any of the food, but we’ve decided to change that and will now let them have the first choice at what they would like to provide, instead of being assigned a dish, which is how all other participants discover what they will be bringing.

Finally, there is a “Dessert House” – this is where everyone joins back together after being divided up for the dinner hour. The Dessert Host is responsible for coffee, and liquors (if desired) and for making sure the leftover beer, water, and other beverages from the Appetizer House get to their house before everyone descends upon them after the dinner hour.

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