How to host a Soup Night

We held another Soup Night here last night, and it seemed like most of the participants enjoyed the evening. (Sorry for the "pix or it didn't happen" crowd, but we were too busy making, serving and eating soup to pull out a camera this time.) We made three soups on this occasion: the ubiquitous Cinnamon Beef Noodles, Chicken Tortilla Soup, and Potato Cheese Soup. They weren't perfect -- I didn't fish the aromatics out of the CBN, so several people got star anise and cinnamon sticks in their bowls, and the Potato Cheese Soup was too salty -- but they were nonetheless well-received. People talked and knitted and sang and generally goofed off, and it was fun.

I've talked about Soup Night on several occasions on this blog, and it occurs to me that there may be other folks out there in the blogosphere who might want to put on a Soup Night of their own. It also occurs to me that a few friendly bits of advice on this subject would not go amiss. So here's what I've learned thus far:

1. "Audition" soups before serving them. You should know that the soup you're serving is delicious and that you can make it successfully. So whip up a small batch well before Soup Night and taste-test it.
2. Consider making at least one soup that handles special dietary needs. We usually make at least one vegetarian or vegan soup, and because some guests are celiacs, most of our soups are gluten free. Beyond that, we ask guests to inform us about dietary issues, so we can pick at least one recipe that meets their needs.
3. Ask people to RSVP. You need a head count to calculate how much soup to make. We assume two bowls of soup for every guest, and plan accordingly. We tend to overestimate, because we don't want to run out of soup before the evening is over. (This is why we now own three huge restaurant-sized cauldrons for making soup.)
4. Experiment to see how many guests you can host successfully. We have a small home, we aren't professional chefs, and we're both introverts, so the maximum number of people we can host here before everything descends into utter bedlam is 30. (FYI, last night was occasionally bedlam.) If you're an extravert with a big house and a tolerance for lots more people, you might be able to handle 50 to 100 guests. If you live in a little postage-stamp-sized apartment, you might limit your guest list to five friends. But do what works best for you.
5. Pick different guests for different nights. Not all your friends and neighbors will have personalities that mesh well -- although sometimes two very different people will surprise you by hitting it off. When you compose the guest list, try to make sure that some of your guests already know and like each other, pick guests you think are likely to get along, and encourage people to introduce themselves. This should make for a comfortable, happy mood.
6. Don't go overboard on the costs. Our Soup Night is, at its heart, a labor of love and some of the soups we make are a little pricey when they're scaled up to feed a crowd. But we don't hold Soup Night every week, or even every month -- so when it does come around, we can afford to make something special. And we usually make one soup that's economical but delicious, as with last night's Potato Cheese Soup. You don't want to spend so much and hold Soup Night so often that you get burned out and decide never to do it again.
7. If guests offer to bring something, let them help. We ask guests to bring their own bowls and spoons -- it indicates the homey informality of Soup Night, it's a necessity since we don't have enough bowls and spoons to serve everyone, and it means we don't have to wash extra bowls at the end of the night -- but some guests want to contribute more. Last night many people arrived with contributions -- bread, dip, cheese and crackers, desserts, folding chairs and, in one particular case, a guitar. These kind contributions made it possible for everyone to eat lavishly (and to sit and enjoy the music). It's been our experience that once people attend and enjoy Soup Night, they want to help make other such events successful. Let them help!
8. Don't serve alcohol. This isn't a hard and fast rule, and it's certainly influenced by the fact that we're teetotalers, but if you're not sure how all your guests will handle access to wine, beer or spirits, it's probably better not to offer them. At the worst, you don't want to be stuck cleaning up barf, breaking up a fistfight or calling a cab for someone who went overboard.
9. Soup Night is for the cold months. We have tried holding a Soup Night in the middle of summer, putting all chilled soups on the menu. It was the most anemically attended event of any of our Soup Nights. Soup is largely perceived as a cold-weather food, so autumn, winter and early spring are the best seasons for Soup Night. (If you want a summertime get-together, try Ice Cream Night.)

This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you're the Hostess with the Mostest or the Dude Slingin' Food, and you've discovered some useful advice regarding Soup Night or similar shindigs, please bring your experience to bear in the comments.