Maintaining the hosting trend that boomed last year, we’re hosting monthly themed dinner parties in 2026. The work that goes into planning, preparing, and executing a themed gathering can sour even the sweetest of occasions, so we’re breaking down each step to help you host the party of the summer effortlessly.
To kick off the season of smiles and sunshine, we’re drawing inspiration from the Amalfi Coast.
Related: 5 Better Homes & Gardens Finds That Give Your Table an Italian Summer Feel
Make a Mood Board and Choose Your Color Scheme
As you start planning this beginning-of-summer dinner party, create a Pinterest mood board to gather your ideas in one place. Think about the colors you want to see in your decor and on your table, and the details that will pull it all together.
To make the most of the first days of the season, we recommend an Italian-inspired theme that focuses on yellows, oranges, and reds in bold yet slightly muted tones. Our mood board is full of natural and whimsical touches, such as old wine bottles and tomato sauce tins repurposed as decor, offering a subtle Italian feel.
Add Italian Touches
Once you have an idea of what you want the party to look like, identify the elements you need to bring it to life. Focus on natural elements like wood and linen as the base of the look. If you have a natural wood table, leave it uncovered or add a simple off-white or rusty orange linen table runner.
Look around your house for empty wine bottles to use as taper candle holders. Cut short stems of white, red, and yellow flowers and use clean tomato cans as vases. For extra kitschy touches, thrift some yellow-and-red glassware and tomato-shaped vases or dishes for serving. A simple on-theme centerpiece idea: on-the-stem tomatoes and whole lemons sporadically placed across the center of the table.
Credit: Blaine Moats
The Taste of Italy
To start your meal off right, serve your guests an Aperol spritz as they arrive. If you want to add a fresh spin on the standard spritz, try substituting Aperol with a different liqueur, or make a mocktail version for your alcohol-abstaining friends.
The Appetizer
In addition to serving drinks, set out an appetizer for your guests to nibble on while waiting for dinner. For a beautiful Italian-inspired plate, we recommend putting together a caprese checkerboard salad. This geometric dish uses the classic caprese ingredients—tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar—except the tomatoes and mozzarella form a checkerboard design.
Cut a block of mozzarella into 1-inch cubes and slice cherry tomatoes in half. On a serving tray, alternate placing a mozzarella cube and a cherry tomato half, starting with the opposite when you begin the next line, until you fill the entire tray. Drizzle balsamic vinegar on top, and finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh basil.
Pizza Stations
For the main dish, make pizzas from scratch! It covers the meal, and is a fun activity for the night. Before your dinner party, make enough pizza dough for each guest to make their own small pizza. Then, as you’re preparing for guests’ arrival, set up the pizza-making station. Decide where you want to make the pizzas—like a kitchen island or a table separate from the prepared dinner table—and designate each station with a parchment-paper placemat and a ball of dough.
Set out small bowls of pasta sauce, a variety of shredded cheese, and various meats and veggies for unique pizza customization. Put the finished pizzas in the pre-heated oven as soon as they’re ready. This will prevent a backlog of pizzas waiting to be baked.
Finishing Touches
Serve your homemade pizzas with a side of prosciutto e melone—a classic Italian dish that consists of ripe cantaloupe and thin slices of prosciutto. Slice, peel, and seed the cantaloupe before wrapping it in prosciutto, and serve the dish with a drizzle of honey or a balsamic glaze. Finish off the classic Italian-inspired dinner with homemade tiramisu and a shot of espresso or limoncello as a digestivo.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
Dining and Cooking