Want to know the holiday entertaining tips everyone should follow?! These are the tested and approved entertaining tips that you need to know about.
Hosting for the holidays can be very exciting. However, if you are a little obsessive-compulsive like me, this can easily shift into an overwhelming sense of anxiety. As an avid Hoster myself, I am going to give you the top holiday entertaining tips that my family and I swear by.
You are going to learn about all of the holiday entertaining tips from party planning to simple menus, and more.
After learning about all of these helpful holiday entertaining hacks, you are going to be a pro and extra prepared for having your extended family and friends over.
This post is all about the best holiday entertaining tips that everyone should know about.
Best holiday entertaining tips:
1. Prep Early
This is one of the most important holiday entertaining tips that I can give you. Early preparation is key to ensuring that everything runs smoothly. For me, I like to write everything down, months in advance. One of the ways that I have found to be most helpful is getting a planner. I swear by planners because they keep me on track with “to-do” lists and expenses.
Check out my free holiday planner printable. This makes holiday planning a breeze, and even includes suggested holiday entertaining tips to keep you motivated. Another option is to Google holiday planners. Amazon has tons of amazing holiday planners that will help guide you through the event planning process.
It is ideal to prep at least three months in advance. This way we are not bombarded with other things life happens to throw our way. We all know that our schedules get even more hectic around the holidays. Whether it is a festive outing to see holiday lights or ice skating with friends, there is always something going on. So, the first thing you will want to do is set a date. This ensures that your guests will be able to attend. My biggest fear in regard to hosting, is throwing an awesome party and no one shows… What a nightmare!
2. Cocktails on Hand
Always make a signature punch, and name it something clever like, North Pole Iced Tea, instead of Long Island Iced Tea. Guests go crazy over small details like that, and it saves you so much time in the long run. Another option is to set up a bar cart and have guests serve themselves. I usually do a combination of both.
If you need some cool holiday cocktail ideas, I have a list of great holiday cocktails to choose from here.
3. Music
Every good party has a soundtrack, so be the DJ, I always knew you could be! Don’t bother with coming out of pocket for something that could be as simple as exploring playlist options on Pandora or IHeartRadio. I typically type in things such as, Mariah Carey Christmas songs, or party music, which typically gets the job done. I Bluetooth my phone to a radio that my mom gifted me a few years ago, and there you have it… Sound!
Another option, as many of us have smart TVs is to play YouTube radio on the TV and turn the volume up. Of course, this will depend on how intimate of a party you are having, so use your own discretion.
4. Theme
Choose a theme and stand on it. I say this because friends may try to sway you to choose holiday theme ideas that they prefer or flood your group chat with Pinterest ideas the week before your event. Although, I am sure they mean well, this can be overwhelming if you try to entertain their ideas. Now what you can do with all of those holiday theme ideas is make a list for the years to come. This way you will never run out of ideas.
Common holiday theme ideas include color schemes, favorite holiday songs, or even Christmas pajamas. For example, last year my family did Christmas pajamas. Our guests loved this because they usually buy matching family pajama sets anyway.
A budget-friendly option would be to shop your home. You could base your theme off of items that you already have on hand. When I got my first place, I literally did not have any Christmas decorations, except for the Christmas tree that my mom handed down to me. However, I decided to throw a house-warming party anyway on a college student budget and I had a blast. I figured it would only be a few close friends and my sister anyway, so who cared. Well, I did everything “Christmas tree” themed. From our place mats to the paper plates. I even had a tray full of cookies that were shaped like a Christmas tree.
5. Simple Foods
Do not stress yourself out with creating the perfect 4-course meal. In my experience, guess will eat pretty much anything that they didn’t have to prepare themselves (we want to be mindful of food allergies and religious preferences). My suggestion is serving an abundance of easy appetizers in visually pleasing bowls or on charcuterie style boards.
Have one main meal and serve this in a separate location. Guess can tend to bombard food if it’s all in one spot or served at the same time. This helps to keep the party moving, while still indulging your guests’ tastebuds.
Please note, that you do not want to have “just enough”. You always want to make sure that there is more than enough food for your guests. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Now you may have leftovers, but an easy trick is to offer cute “to-go-boxes”. After all, it’s all in the details.
6. User-friendly
Every host wants to throw an amazing party, but we have to be honest with ourselves and know what our limits are. If you have antique China that was passed down from generation to generation, I will not recommend using that for any gathering. Yes, it may be nice but at what cost. Do not feel an urge to go “all out” if it is going to cause you more anxiety in the long run.
However, if you feel that traditional paper products are a bit taboo and still want to uphold some elegances, there are plenty of beautiful options that don’t have to break the bank. I found some great plastic wear for less on Amazon. Unless I told you, you would not know that they were plastic (hit the Amazon link down below to view).
To help you on your search, I have listed a few places that have great options for any budget:
- Amazon
- Target
- Party City
- Oriental Trading
- Dollar Tree
Another thing that I would be mindful of is clean up. If you are a tad obsessive-compulsive like me, you hate when people just leave stuff around. I find that if I had several bins set up around my home, people are more likely to clean up after themselves. This also prevents the main garbage from overfilling and saves the hubby from making frequent trips outside and allows him to enjoy his self as well.
7. Let’s Make it a Tradition
I don’t know if anyone can relate, but my family is big on traditions! We have our annual Easter and Labor Day celebrations, that everyone starts to inquire about months in advance. Each year, our annual events get bigger and better from bouncy houses to DJs, to kid and adult easter egg hunts. We have something for everyone, but it took years to get to where we are now. It also took consistency.
Picking a set holiday to host, tends to be ideal. For instance, if you always host Thanksgiving, you can get a pretty accurate idea of how many guests and what those guests enjoy doing. This can make entertaining a breeze when hosting future events. Especially since most of the items that you will need, you will have already acquired from the previous years.
Family and friends like this because they have an estimated date each year that they can look forward to. As a family of 5, I love when I have events that I can mark off in my planner well in advance.
Moreover, when guests know that this is an annual event, they are more eager to help. Do not be afraid to let guests help. It does not show a sign of weakness but is rather inviting for many of your guests. Many of my friends and family love the idea of guests talking about their signature dish or being included in the “decoration committee”! Make setting up fun, with the help of your closest friends and family.
My children love the idea of being included in the up-coming plans. It gives them a since a pride when someone asks, “who made this, it tastes so good”, or “this looks so nice”, and they can say it was them.
