Key Takeaways
- Every competition has two key dates: the Submission Deadline and the End Competition date
- The Submission Deadline is when people can join — minimum 7 days from creation
- The End Date is the final deadline for all dinners, ratings, and winner determination — minimum 7 days after the submission deadline
- Between these two dates, participants schedule dinners, cook, host, and rate each other
- Choosing the right timeframes depends on your group size and competition type
When you create a competition on Dine With Me, you will notice there are two important dates to set: the Submission Deadline and the End Competition date. They might seem similar at first glance, but they serve very different purposes and understanding them is the key to running a smooth, well-organized competition.
Let's break down exactly what each date means, how they work together, and how to choose the right timing for your group.
Two Dates, Two Purposes
Think of a cooking competition like a sports tournament. First, you need a registration period where players sign up. Then you need the actual tournament period where games are played and a winner is crowned. Dine With Me works the same way, just with dinner parties instead of matches.
Submission Deadline = Registration Closes
This is the cutoff for people to join your competition. After this date, no new participants can sign up.
End Competition Date = Final Whistle
This is when everything wraps up. All dinners must be hosted, all ratings must be submitted, and the winner is determined.
The Submission Deadline
The Submission Deadline defines the window during which people can discover and join your competition. From the moment you create the competition until this date, your competition is open for new participants.
What happens during this period depends on whether your competition is public or private:
- Private competitions — You invite friends directly. They receive a notification and can accept or decline the invitation before the submission deadline.
- Public competitions — Anyone in the community can browse, discover your competition, and request to join. You can approve or decline requests until the deadline passes.
The minimum time between creating a competition and the submission deadline is 7 days. This ensures there is enough time for people to see the invitation, check their calendars, and commit to participating.
Once the submission deadline passes, the participant list is locked. No one else can join, and everyone who has signed up knows exactly who they will be competing against. Payments are also processed during this period, so all financial commitments are settled before the cooking begins.
The End Competition Date
The End Competition date is the grand finale. By this date, every participant must have:
- Hosted their dinner party
- Cooked and served their dish to the other participants
- Submitted their ratings for every other participant's dish
When this date arrives, the platform automatically calculates the final scores, applies tiebreaker rules if necessary, announces the winner, and initiates the prize payout. It is the finish line of your competition.
The End Competition date must be at least 7 days after the Submission Deadline. This guarantees enough time for participants to coordinate schedules, host their dinners, and rate each other fairly.
The Full Timeline
Here is how a typical competition flows from start to finish:
Competition Lifecycle
Set up your competition with name, categories, dates, and entry fee
Invite friends or let people request to join. Entry fees are collected.
Registration closes. Participant list is locked in.
Participants coordinate and schedule their dinner parties
Each participant hosts a dinner and serves their best dish
After each dinner, participants rate the dish across all categories
All dinners and ratings must be completed by this date
Scores are calculated, the winner is crowned, and prize money is distributed automatically
Ready to set up your own competition?
Create a CompetitionWhy the Minimums Exist
You might wonder why Dine With Me requires at least 7 days for each phase. These minimums are not arbitrary — they are based on what makes competitions run smoothly in practice.
The 7-day minimum for the submission deadline gives people enough time to:
- Discover the competition (especially for public ones)
- Receive and review the invitation
- Check their calendar and personal commitments
- Discuss with their partner if it is a couples competition
- Complete payment if there is an entry fee
The 7-day minimum between the submission deadline and end date ensures there is enough time to:
- Coordinate dinner schedules among all participants
- Plan and prepare meals
- Host each dinner party
- Submit thoughtful, fair ratings after each dinner
Rushing a competition leads to missed dinners and incomplete ratings. The minimums are there to protect the experience for everyone involved.
What Happens Between the Two Dates
The period between the submission deadline and the end date is where the real fun happens. This is the active competition phase, and here is what participants will be doing:
1 Scheduling Dinners
Participants coordinate with each other to find dates that work for everyone. Each person hosts one dinner where they cook and serve their dish to the group.
2 Cooking & Hosting
This is the heart of it. Each participant plans their menu, shops for ingredients, cooks their signature dish, and hosts a dinner party. This is what Dine With Me is all about — real food, real homes, real connection.
3 Rating Each Other
After attending each dinner, participants rate the host's dish across all the competition's categories (Taste, Presentation, Creativity, and any custom ones). All ratings must be submitted before the end date. Learn more about how scoring works in our Rating Categories guide.
Encourage participants to rate each dinner soon after attending, while the experience is still fresh. Waiting until the last minute can lead to rushed or forgotten ratings.
Tips for Choosing the Right Dates
The right timeframe depends on your group and the type of competition you are running. Here are some practical guidelines:
Casual Friends Group
If you are organizing a competition among close friends who already know each other, you can keep both windows relatively short. A 7 to 10-day submission window and a 10 to 14-day competition period usually works well since coordination is easier with people who already have each other's schedules.
Large Public Competition
For public competitions where participants may not know each other, give more time. A 14 to 21-day submission window allows for wider discovery, and a 21 to 30-day competition period gives strangers enough room to coordinate dinner schedules without stress.
Holiday or Themed Competition
Running a Christmas cooking competition or a summer barbecue showdown? Set your submission deadline a week or two before the holiday, and the end date a few days after. This way, the dinners naturally happen around the celebration itself.
When in doubt, add a few extra days. It is much better to have a comfortable timeline than to rush participants. You can always wrap things up early if everyone finishes ahead of schedule.
Not sure how to get started? Check out our step-by-step guide to creating a competition for a full walkthrough of the creation process.