Wine & Waffles: The Power of the Rando Party

In 2018, we moved to a new neighborhood.  In an effort to meet the neighbors (and to put a deadline on unpacking), we decided to host a "rando" party where we invited complete strangers to our house!  

The theme was Wine & Waffles.  It was an open house style brunchy party where I borrowed my mother-in-law's prized waffle maker and pre-made the only waffle mix you should use.  It was fun to share waffle making with our new friends! 

Super easy waffles with toppings

I set out toppings like whipped cream and chocolate chips, sprinkles, berries, and bananas.  I made a big fruit salad.  Bought a few bottles of wine, champagne, orange juice and decided to actually use the china and good wine glasses mixed with everyday plates and mugs. We made a big pot of coffee.  We only use Millersburg Coffee and talk about incessantly. 

I love Walgreens photo department for same-day, super-easy invitations. They always have great discounts too. You can buy as few as 10!  We printed 15 invites for $5.50 and popped them in our neighbors' mailboxes.  Most of them text to RSVP and they showed up through the morning getting to know us and - shockingly - each other.  Some neighbors had lived on our street for years and didn't know each others' names!  

This little "rando" party where we invited new people into our home to build friendships and community was one of my favorite things and it inspired us to host tons of similar parties. 

We hesitate to call them dinner parties, so we call them micro-parties or "rando" parties.  Here are the rules:

• Limited to 8 adults (including us); 6 kids (including our 2).  Often it is fewer.
• Husband gets to invite some and I get to invite some, but they cannot already know each other.
• Simple food with clarity on what our guests should bring.
• Simple theme with one simple activity.

For example, Husband invited his sister and a new friend he met cycling in a neighborhood group and his wife.  I invited a new friend I met while serving on a community board and his partner and a colleague from work.  

We decided on Fajitas and asked our guests to bring the ingredients for a YouTube drink recipe of choice.  Then we spent time making and trying the different drinks like Spicy Pineapple Margaritas, Virgin Mojitos, and Homemade Spanish Sangria!

Now, these people who didn't know each other before are connected.  In fact, two are now, new business partners!  And we continue to connect with our friends, neighbors, and family in deeper ways.  

The constraints give us a framework to make entertaining this way easy for us to plan and execute, but there are limitless possibilities for creativity.