How to Host a Cannabis Dinner Party

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn

The relaxed dinner party—it’s what everyone wants and few achieve. Small talk, forced mingling, and social anxiety are frequent guests, but they can be ushered out the door with one welcome addition.

Cannabis is medicine for modern get-togethers. This herbal ingredient has the power to relax guests, cue meaningful conversations, and bring some laughs to the communal table. Here’s how to pull off a cannabis dinner party while maintaining your chill.

Plan your menu.

Cooking with cannabis takes a bit of experimentation to achieve the right amounts of THC, so if you’re new to the game, why not start with premade edibles? Infused honey, chocolates, or nuts roasted in cannabis oil can all be easily integrated into a dinner menu.

If you’re a little more adventurous, seek out new recipes or hire a cannabis caterer. A few of our favorite resources are:

Altered Plates: If you’re in Los Angeles, you can join this members-only culinary cannabis club and hire them to design your dinner party menu. Chef and gangier Holden Jagger is to weed what a sommelier is to wine.

Laurie + MaryJane: Since 2015, chef Laurie Wolf has been “elevating the edible” from her home base in Portland, Oregon. She sells delicious treats, and she offers up loads of guides and recipes online.

Bong Appétit: This ViceLand show is like Chef’s Table for the cannabis crowd. Watch celebrity chefs create elaborate dinner parties with multi-course meals, and learn all about cannabis-infused ingredients.

Serve everything in moderation.

You’ll want guests to consume small amounts of cannabis, so the party ends on a high note. (Paranoid rants don’t make for great dinner conversation.) Make a menu of THC dosages, so everyone can know how much they’re consuming.

For an average person, a dose runs anywhere between 1mg (for first timers) and 20mg (for seasoned users), so a well-balanced menu might look like this:

Appetizers

5mg of THC per serving

Samplers and starters with a light lift   

Entrees

7mg of THC per serving

Main courses with a balanced buzz

Dessert

10mg of THC per serving

Sweet treats to keep the party going

Next-level your night.

If you really want to pull out all the stops, dress your tables in cannabis leaves or set up a bar where guests can sample strains. Put pipes at each place setting, or give guests stash boxes as party favors. Scatter cannabis candles around the room—and enjoy the glow of a good high.

Hire a budtender.

Set up an open bar with a selection of flowers, and staff it with a budtender (or put your most knowledgeable stoner friend on duty). The budtender knows each strain, and can give guests a high that’s tailored to them. He or she is also a master joint-roller.

Create centerpieces with cannabis.

Keep things simple, with a few leaves in glass jars, or go all out and create fully styled floral arrangements. For inspiration, check out Amy Merrick’s cannabis ikebana arrangements for Broccoli Magazine.

Craft a signature cocktail.

Mix together bourbon, simple syrup and your favorite tincture for a cannabis julep. Or, blend gin, tonic, lime, and a tincture for a gin-and-tonic with a twist. Garnish with your herbs of choice and a few cannabis leaves for a final flourish.

To pace your party just right, you might want serve uplifting sativa edibles at the beginning of the night and calming indica blends as guests wind down. At the end of the night, schedule an extra hour for anyone who may have imbibed too much—the symptoms will usually dissipate by then, followed by sleepiness. Make sure that high guests don’t drive, and send them home with a car service and a takeaway treat. Or host a slumber party—sweet dreams, indeed.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.