The phrase "a small dinner for" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to a modest meal intended for a specific number of people or for a particular occasion.
Example: "We are planning a small dinner for our closest friends this weekend."
Alternatives: "a modest meal for" or "an intimate dinner for".
A group of UN friends held a small dinner for her, nothing fancy, at a friend's house.
In a toast there, Ms. Wintour said she had been "quite flattered when Hamish asked me to host a small dinner for 20".
That evening, Sharp hosted a small dinner for the Libeskinds at Tamayo, a Mexican restaurant in the restored old buildings of Denver's Lower Downtown.
That June, her parents invited Ted Kennedy to a small dinner for their 40th wedding anniversary at Vicki's home in Washington.
Henri Barguirdjian, who heads the Graff United States operation, is planning a small dinner for 30 clients and friends on Oct. 25 in the Hall of Gems at the Museum of Natural History.
The ringmaster, Johnathan Lee Iverson, and his wife, Priscilla Costa, organized a small dinner for Alek in the "pie car," the circus canteen in what is one of the longest private trains in operation in the United States.
In the afternoon, Mr. Romney attended a large meeting with fund-raisers at Weil, Gotshal & Manges — a law firm on Fifth Avenue that was a finance team meeting spot during the campaign — and in the evening, he is expected to attend a smaller dinner for top fund-raisers and donors at the home of Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive of the Blackstone Group.
At the morning meeting where potential donations were being reviewed, Mr. McCardell asked his vice president whether heaters were in place on his porch for a small dinner of heavy hitters that night (a frost was predicted) and whether it might be better to serve a buffet to accommodate those arriving on a late flight.
I recently hosted a small dinner party for a friend's birthday.
This is the kind of free-spirited approach that works well when the goal is, say, throwing a small dinner party for six friends.
Mary planned a small dinner party for me at "21".
