Once a quarter my girlfriends in Columbia and I plan a dinner party for our group to gather, catch up and enjoy each other’s company. When Summer Supper Club hosted our latest event at the end of June, I got a lot of questions about how/why we do this and I realized it deserved an explanation because it truly has evolved over the years.
Still living in your college town comes with its own set of challenges, one of which being that most of your college friends move away. So after I graduated I met a small group of young professional women who were starting out in their careers– most of which had graduated from USC around the same time as me (even though I hadn’t known them). In an effort to “make our city fun” and establish new “adult friendships” we’d meet up each month for a happy hour. Sometimes it would take place at the common room someone’s apartment, other times at someone’s office, but for those first couple of post-grad years, we really did a great job with keeping it going.
Then– life happened. As it always does! We moved up in our careers, so we took on greater work loads. We each made more money, so we started traveling further a little more often. And we began to start families, so our schedules no longer belonged to just us. Needless to say, our monthly meet-ups were fewer and farther between.
That’s when one of the dearest members of our girl gang, @ashcaddsey, came up with the idea that became Supper Club! And the concept is super simple:
- Divide the members of the club into 4 equal groups. And decided which group gets Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
- Each group is responsible for planning/hosting one event that each member of the club is invited to (other invitees come at the choice of the hosting group)
- Members are only responsible for a personal buy-in at the party they’re hosting. This number should be determined at the beginning when groups are divvied, but isn’t due until your season of hosting. (We agreed on $150/person)
- Spend a year showing up to 3 fun, themed parties and enjoy yourself, stress free! And share the responsibility (and your personal buy-in) of planning one themed with a group of friends.
I ended up on the Summer Supper Club this year with my friends Chelsey, Alexandra, Charlotte and Sara. We hosted our dinner on the lawn behind Smoked and decided on a White Lotus Resort theme to really lean into the weather! (Spring Supper Club had an Alice in Wonderland theme!!!).
Because our venue had the space, and they aren’t typically invited, we chose to include partners to the invite list and each Summer Supper Club member invited another couple that’s not a part of Supper Club.
Alexandra Madison Weddings helped us achieve a beautiful, tropical tablescape. We also had a signature cocktail, boarding passes that helped you find your seat, a passport that gave menu and event information, and the opportunity to choose you very own table setting pieces so that your “resort character” really got a chance to shine.
Do you do something similar with your friends? Or would you be willing to start a Supper Club with a group of people you love hanging out with??
