Fear of Breaching Pot Luck Etiquette

are they more trouble than they are worth?

Lately I keep threatening to host a pot luck supper at my home. It all seems so easy and simple on the surface, but I had a lot of questions about the issue.

First of all how do I ensure that people all won't bring the same thing? Is it rude to assign items to people? Should I assign a category like salads and desserts to people? What if the person in charge of drinks flakes at the last minute? These are all issues to take into consideration so I did some investigating.

My first pit stop were the message boards of one of my favorite online zines GET CRAFTY. I posed the question and sat back and let the answers come rolling in.

I posed under the name of Ms. Mona and typed in my post...

I am planning a pot luck with a theme, Greek. My question is this...Is it tacky to ask people to bring certain things? I am afraid of ending up with 12 different bowls of humus. Is there a tactful way of asking people to bring certain things, or maybe getting them to sign up for certain items to ensure there are no repeats on the menu. Also, would a suggestion list be bad? I need opinions.

Pot Luck Ideas...

Mexican, Gourmet Pizza, Thai, Elvis's Favorite Foods (of course play nothing but Elvis music all night), Indian, Bring your Speciality Signature Dish, Greek, All Deserts, Itialian, Chinese Take Out, Vegetarian, Breakfeast Food (who said a pot luck has to be at dinner time), Sushi

Not exactly food, but everyone is still bringing something for everyone:

Beers of the World, Red Wine Tasting, Exotic Mixed Drinks (everyone bring a bottle and mix)

The overall consensus: Not Rude or tacky, actually they would not mind at all.

Some girls suggested the office route where you assign people to a genera, Sammy Jo Jim Bob you bring meats and Crystal Darlene you are in charge of the bread group. That kind of thing.

Another girl suggested first tactfully asking what people were comfortable with making and then going from there.

Basically everyone just said suggestions as to what people should bring are not rude, they even thought they would be helpful.
Another issue that I think was distracting me was I was trying to invite too many people. the more people you invite the larger the dish people need to bring. It is not very nice to ask anyone to cook for 20, it's your party afterall. I think that 6-8 people are a good round number, especially if you are going to do a pot luck with a fairly limited theme. Just any old pot luck could feasibly include more people.

At a Potluck do you get to take your left overs home?

From what I have read and researched yes. The best thing to do would be to offer to leave some for the host/hostess, but it is your food to take home with you.
The best thing to do is not be a freak like me. Just stick with inviting your friends that like to cook anyway, and not too many of them (unless you opt for one of the above non-cooking suggestions, then all those cute boys are game as invites). All should be well if you follow these few pointers, and a good time should be had by all!

When leaving the pot luck, do I take my dirty dishes or leave them there to be cleaned and returned to me later?

If the hostess had a lick of sense she would hand each person back their dirty dish the minute they started to head for the door. According to Ms. Manners, this is the right thing to do and if the hostess does not think to hand over the dirty dish the host should be considerate enough to take it himself. Accidents happen, and if the dish does get left it is the guests responsibility to come and retrieve their dish rather than expecting the host to return it.