Organizing a Neighborhood Progressive Dinner

Here's how to get more hosts for your fun night.

1. Pick the host houses in the neighborhood for the evening.

2. Do not pick more than three homes. You want to allow for about an hour per home.

3. Choose neighbors you already know to make things easier. This way, the next dinner can be planned once you meet more neighbors at the first progressive dinner.

1. The theme can be related to a particular kind of food. Stick with foods that everyone will be able to prepare a dish for, such as Italian, American and French. Ethiopian food might be delicious, but the hosts will have a hard time coming up with a good recipe. Check out our article on Around the World Potluck Parties for food inspiration and great recipes.

2. You can also choose a theme by picking a letter of the alphabet that the food must begin with.

3. Neighborhood progressive dinners are perfect for the holidays such as Halloween , Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, the Fourth of July, and Valentine's Day

4. Finally, you can choose a seasonal theme. For spring and summer, focus on light fare such as seafood, fruits and vegetables. For fall, a Autumn Harvest theme is a good option.

1. Focus on three courses for the evening: Appetizers, Main Course (and sides) and Dessert. Assign one course to each host.

2. For beverages, you can ask each host to provide a specific drink. It works well if the appetizer host supplies alcohol, the main course host supplies regular beverages (sodas, lemonade, water, etc.), and the dessert host supplies coffee and hot chocolate.

3. The other option is to specify that guests BYOB, and only ask hosts to provide soft drinks, water and coffee.

1. The best way to encourage neighbors to attend the progressive dinner is to invite them in person. You might feel like a door-to-door salesperson, but the invitee will certainly feel welcomed and appreciated thanks to your effort. They are also most likely to come if they receive an invitation in person.

2. Put flyers up in the neighborhood as well as in each neighbor's mailbox. Make sure to leave contact info on the bottom of the flyer for any questions; ask guests to RSVP to you if possible. Also leave flyers with people who you've invited in person so they have the information to refer to.

3. Create a simple one-page website with all of the information and leave flyers up with the web address and what it is for. On the website, make sure to have information about who the hosts are, what their addresses are, and what he or she will be serving as well as who to contact with questions.

4. The day before, call to remind as many people as possible so they don't forget and make plans for the night of the dinner.