How to Throw A Shrimp-Themed Dinner Party

When Meredith Hayden of Wishbone Kitchen pinned shrimp cocktail onto a cone of frilly kale leaves, crowning the tree with a red and gold bow, she kicked off a genuine Shrimpmas Tree boom. Hayden credited her inspiration to an aunt who makes one every year, but it’s a project that dates back at least to the mid-sixties. In 1974 Bon Appétit’s version appeared complete with pimento-stuffed olives gleaming like ornaments. It’s a lot. So it’s perfect.

Shrimp decor didn’t go out of season with the holidays—perhaps because, no matter how luxe, it hurts to split a $36 plate of (at most) six prawns when you’re out to dinner with friends. At home, though, you can surround yourself with the stuff. So invite your crew to eat all the shrimp cocktail they want. Out of shrimp-shaped bowls. On a shrimp-printed table runner. Wearing glitzy shrimp earrings.

Service With a Shrimp

Two pink glass shrimp perch on the edges of Maison Balzac’s hand blown glass platter, as if to show you just how to deck the thing out with poached shrimp of your own. (I heard you like shrimp, so I put some shrimp on your shrimp, etc.) Fill the center with ice—or stack one of their matching coupes on top for a two-tiered affair. A few more coupes could hold cocktail sauce or remoulade, snacks like olives or shrimp chips, or ice-cold martinis.

Shrimp Couture

Nothing says, “my vibe for 2024 is lots of shrimp” like earrings dangling with beaded crustaceans, complete with a lemon wedge you could nearly squeeze. (Unfortunately the matching headband is sold out, but if you have $898 burning a hole in your pocket, you could always go more avant-garde with this full wearable shrimp-and-caviar plate.) Australia’s Prawn Cocktail has T-shirts covered.

Create a Shrimpscape

If you’ve been feeling like your dinner table could use more jewelry, start by dressing up your crinkled cloth napkins with bedazzled prawn-shaped napkin rings. While your guests assemble a shrimp-shaped puzzle over drinks and vuelva a la vida, offer on-theme beaded coasters or cocktail napkins. And while you may not desire a shrimp-scented candle, perhaps you need hand-painted shrimp-decorated tapers or perfect ebi nigiri in burnable form.