Hint: be the person who arrives bearing gifts and helps clear the dishes; not the one who brings a Tupperware and drinks all the wine.
1. Make your host an edible giftIf you know your way around a kitchen, that is. Something sweet is always good: fudge, chocolate truffles, a bottle of cordial or jam. If they’re not into sugary stuff, a jar of pâté, spiced nuts or herb salt is good too.
2. Bring wine, lots of it
What’s better than bringing one bottle of wine? Bringing two! You’ll be a legend, and, big surprise, it won’t go to waste. If you’ve brought your host a particularly good (read: expensive) wine that you know he or she likes, let them know to save it for later, lest the Philistines get into it in the wee hours.
3. When in doubt, bring flowers
There’s nothing wrong with a forage in your own backyard (don’t have flowers? A couple of beautiful branches off a tree is cool, too) but you’ll definitely earn bonus points for rocking up with a stunner of a store-bought bouquet last especially long thanks to the retailer’s cold chain, but your host doesn’t need to know that).
4. Be helpful
If you see your hosts are swamped, jump in and top up guests’ glasses and pass around the snacks. You don’t have to offer to do the dishes, but you can totally help to clear the plates.
5. Check your bad mood at the door
This is a dinner party. No-one’s that keen to hear a blow-by-blow account of your builder’s latest blunder. Almost everyone will appreciate a well-timed YouTube clip of those dogs barking the theme song of Game of Thrones.
For gorgeous seasonal bouquets and other hostess gifts, visit Woolworths