EXPLAINERFebruary 25, 20264 min readDine With Me

Understanding Competition Deadlines — Submission vs End Date

A clear explanation of the two key dates and how they shape your competition timeline.

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 submission
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. Understanding them is the key to running a smooth, well-organized competition.

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 tournament period where games are played.

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 submitted, and the winner is determined.

The Submission Deadline

The Submission Deadline defines the window during which people can discover and join your competition.

Private competitions — You invite friends directly. They can accept or decline before the deadline.
Public competitions — Anyone can browse, discover, and request to join. You approve requests until the deadline passes.

Good to Know

The minimum time between creating a competition and the submission deadline is 7 days. This ensures people have enough time to discover, review, and commit.

The End Competition Date

By this date, every participant must have:

Hosted their dinner party
Cooked and served their dish to other participants
Submitted their ratings for every other participant’s dish

Important

The End Competition date must be at least 7 days after the Submission Deadline. This guarantees enough time for participants to coordinate schedules, host dinners, and rate each other fairly.

The Full Timeline

Here is how a typical competition flows from start to finish:

Create Competition — Set up your competition with name, categories, dates, and entry fee
People Join & Pay — Invite friends or let people request to join. Entry fees are collected.
Submission Deadline — Registration closes. Participant list is locked in.
Schedule Dinners — Participants coordinate and schedule their dinner parties
Host Dinners & Cook — Each participant hosts a dinner and serves their best dish
Rate Dishes — After each dinner, participants rate the dish across all categories
End Competition — All dinners and ratings must be completed
Winner Announced — Scores are calculated, the winner is crowned, and prize money is distributed

Ready to set up your own competition?

Create a Competition

Why the Minimums Exist

The 7-day minimums are based on what makes competitions run smoothly in practice. They ensure people have time to discover, plan, prepare, host, and rate — without feeling rushed.

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:

1Scheduling Dinners

Participants coordinate with each other to find dates that work. Each person hosts one dinner.

2Cooking & Hosting

Each participant plans their menu, shops for ingredients, cooks their dish, and hosts a dinner party. This is the heart of Dine With Me.

3Rating Each Other

After attending each dinner, participants rate the host’s dish across all categories. All ratings must be submitted before the end date. Learn more in our Rating Categories guide.

Tip

Encourage participants to rate each dinner soon after attending, while the experience is still fresh.

Tips for Choosing the Right Dates

Casual Friends Group

Keep both windows relatively short. A 7–10 day submission window and a 10–14 day competition period usually works well.

Large Public Competition

Give more time. A 14–21 day submission window and a 21–30 day competition period gives strangers enough room to coordinate.

Holiday or Themed Competition

Set your submission deadline a week or two before the holiday, and the end date a few days after.

Pro Tip

When in doubt, add a few extra days. It is much better to have a comfortable timeline than to rush participants.

Not sure how to get started? Check out our step-by-step guide to creating a competition.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE