I usually offer to bring a dish. Say a salad that is large/hearty enough I can eat it as my main course if necessary. My husband and I have been vegetarian long enough that most of our friends just know it and don't cook meat (even though i don't specifically ask them not to - in fact I usually tell people not to trouble themselves - if there are side dishes we can make a meal of those) But many of our friend and family have adapted to meals that can easily be tweaked too - a stir fry with meat added in separately, or burritos where chicken could be added separately. Also grilling is great - we have tons of side dishes and then people can have whatever they want - real hot dogs, tofu dogs, real hamburgers, fake ones, pork, veggie kabobs, etc. Pasta is another safe one, although it usually ends up super cheesy.
I'd say dining out is more of an issue with friends. I do need to look at a menu before hand and see if there's anything available for us. Bacon is such a huge trend right now that it's often added to veggie meals (mac & cheese with bacon!) I've found out the hard way too that sometimes the ingredients are premixed and can't be separated out, so I wind up with a sad side salad as my main course and leave hungry. In those cases I'll either decline the invite if they really want to go to that restaurant (maybe we can meet for drinks later?), or suggest an alternative.
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this is why I posted this question in the vegan/vegetarian section since people can view not eating meat or certain type of meats so differently- really, the topic can almost be as sensitive and debatable as just telling people you are on a "diet" 
