you can hire a chef to prepare and cook a menu right in your location (home kitchen or kitchen at the location of the festivities). Really adds a lot to the experience
without adding on too much expense. you compensate the chef and his or her assistants (one or two usually only, depending on the size of the party) for their time.
The provisions should be at cost--either you provide them based on the chef's requirements or the chef will make the purchases and then give you the receipt to pay at cost.

I've had good ones who are able to balance between presenting the menu/meal and engaging with the party for a bit--and then fucking off to the kitchen to smoke all your weed and plan what items they're going to take with them when they leave out the back door later when everyone's too faded to notice the chef's crew walking off with a thousand dollars in cutlery.

This works best if it's a relatively smaller gathering of friends/family (between ~6 and ~60 people?).

you can squirrel away your good knives if you like. The chefs almost always bring their own everything and they do a good job cleaning up afterward--surprisingly. considering how fucking high they must be by the end of the night.

Just buy a few handles of Smirnoff like any normal Christmas party.

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Nice. Spread the gospel

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I went with Rosebud. They have a location down the street and had a nice menu. It was a bit pricey but it was a good year and I was ordering steak (skirt, I know) and salmon.

I might even cater in something next week.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.