How to Host an Upside-Down Dinner Party

With a trend for the surreal, an upside down dinner party sounds like great fun. Don’t worry you don’t have to dangle from the ceiling, (unless you want to!), but you can stil create a mind bending, gravity defing dinner where nothing is as it seems!  This whimsical event will leave your guests questioning reality while indulging in deliciously deceptive dishes.

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1. Set the tone of the party with the invitations

You could write the invitations backwards, or upside down, let the guests decode them! Use wording like “Join us for a dinner where up is down, left is right, and nothing is quite as expected!”
 Encourage you guests to dress in a wacky way, such as wearing their clothes backwards or inside out.

These invitations are available on Zazzle here.

2. Decorating for the party

Have fun here with some creative illusions. You may not be able to stick the table and chairs to the ceiling, but by turning some pictures upside down, perhaps hang a table cloth from the ceiling, or some stick on mirrors you will get an upside down look.

These stick on mirror tiles could add the desired effect. Available from Amazon.

Use dim, moody lighting, scatter some clocks around, but all set at different times. When you set the table, use odd plates, put out the cutley in the wrong positions, the napkins under the plates etc.

These upside down googles from Ravensburger would be an interesting challenge as you try to eat.

3. The Menu - A feast of illusions!

You want to prepare dishes that look like one thing, but taste like another. A quick search on the internet showed me a few recipes for free, such as ‘Tomato Soup’  starter that is actually Strawberry Puree, Cake that looks like steak, colour changing cocktails and more.

Some more impressive recipes where by Ben Churchill, and you can get the book here.

I particulary like the washing up sponge recipe!

4. The Entertainment

There are lots of games to play over dinner, such as ‘Reverse Answers’, where you can ask the guests questions but they have to answer with the opposite of what they mean.

This Backwards game from Amazon would be perfect.

A party photo booth is always fun. Here you could hang an upside down backdrop, if you have the guests lying on the floor, to look like they are lying on the ceiling!

I like these funny faces photo booth props from Etsy, they just add to the funniness.

5. The Dress Code

Ideas for the dress code include

✅Clothes worn backward or inside out.
✅ Mismatched shoes or socks.
✅ Half formal, half casual outfits.
✅ Optical illusion patterns.

This T-shirt makes the wearer look very hungry!

6. A farewell gifts - the final twist

It’s always nice to give guests something to take home. Perhaps some tiny bottles of ‘gravity reversing potion’, (some booze or juice!). Or maybe a mystery note written in reverse, only to be read using a mirror.