Having everyone over for Christmas at your place can be stressful, especially if the guest list keeps growing and you begin to wonder if the turkey is big enough to stretch to everyone. But no matter how many people have RSVP'd, you can totally keep a cool head if you stick to these easy steps to hosting-at-home success...
Planning makes perfect
We all know one of those blessed people who never organise anything, but somehow fall effortlessly into success every time they host an event. For most of us mere mortals, however, that’s the surest way to failure on an epic scale. When you’re under the pump with Christmas fast approaching, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the flurry of things to do before the big day. Our best advice? Stop, breathe, sit down and put pen to paper. Consider how many people are coming, if any have dietary requirements and what your festive menu will look like. Plan how will you fit everyone in - do you have enough chairs or will you need a trusty trestle table to ensure everyone has a place at the table? The more you have straight in your head before whizzing around, the better – it is all about the prior preparation!
It's not just Santa who needs a list
Once you have Christmas dinner catering options clear in your head, make sure you create a list of everything you’ll need. By all means, order all the basics and non-perishables early online from your local supermarket to make things easier on yourself, but also have a day or two to pick up anything that doesn’t come through on the delivery, so you're not caught short. We recommend hitting your favourite market for the fruit, veg, meat and fish options. While getting there early is tempting, sometimes leaving it a little later in the day pays off with big discounts (but be mindful, the closer to Christmas day you get, the more likely everything will be long gone if you leave it too late in the piece). And if disaster does strike, don’t be afraid to reach out to your guests. Friends and family usually love helping out with an ingredient or a dish that makes them feel like they've contributed.
Set Santa’s elves to work
It’s so easy to go into hero mode and try and shoulder the burden of hosting Christmas alone, but if you have family and friends at your fingertips, don’t be afraid to put them to work. All the best party hosts know how to delegate, delegate, delegate. And that’s not just with whipping up the feast on the day. It’s also making sure your home is spick and span in the days leading up to the event, and decking the halls with festive decorations. Half the fun of hosting is pitching in together to transform your home into a magical wonderland as a team. Turn it into an annual tradition that you can all share pride in when the guests gasp at just how lovely it all looks.
Wrap up the look with little details
The easiest way to bring the Christmas cheer to your home and jazz up your table in a festive centerpiece. It’s also brilliant if the guests can see your Christmas tree from the table, which is really easy to achieve if you have an open-plan living area. But don’t panic if it’s away in another room. You can pop smaller trees on the table alongside any floral centerpieces, candles, bonbons and what not to bring that jingle bell spirit to proceedings. Even the smallest details, like ribbon to wrap linen napkins, can make a huge impact when you finally sit down together to eat. Pinterest has plenty of great inspo.
Makes sure everyone’s in a festive spirit
Whether your guests love to mainline the eggnog or are teetotal, everyone loves a little bit of fizz to toast the season at Christmas. If you’re going with bubbles of the Champers variety, keep your eyes peeled in the week leading up to the big day for some great deals. Whether at the bottle-o or online, special deals tend to drop the price tag in the final hours. Or you could go the extra mile and create your own Christmas cocktail to serve on arrival. We love this inspirational list of delicious tipple ideas from taste.com.au. And if you prefer the cheers to be alcohol-free, Taste has you covered in the mocktail department too.
Get the party started
When planning for perfection, it’s not just the shopping list that needs to be good to go. You’ll also want to tee up some top-notch tunes to make sure folks are having fun before dinner is served and in a dancing mood afterwards too. The good news is, you don’t need a DJ on duty all night. We love this Spotify playlist, and there’s a great one over here at Apple Music too. Pair killer playlists with a brilliant sound system (like this one from the team at Sonos), and the merry vibes will be flowing.
And if the kids think watching the grown-ups boogie is the most excruciatingly uncool thing they’ll see all year, then make sure you have plenty of fun games to keep them distracted too. You don’t even need a Jenga-like tower of boardgames at the ready, here are some fab Christmas game ideas you can throw their way thanks to realestate.com.au, some of which are totally free.
Keep an eye on the clock
No, not because your carriage will revert to a pumpkin at midnight, Cinders. But the best-laid plans can go totally awry if you leave one dish in the oven a touch too long, forget to shake up that cocktail or mocktail just before the guests arrive, or realise everyone’s been sitting in stony silence for an hour or more. So take a hint from Metricon’s seasoned party organisers and write up a run sheet the night before with alarms on your mobile that breaks down everything that has to happen and when from morning until night when you finally get to collapse into the sofa chuffed that you’ve just thrown the best Christmas Day party ever!
...and don’t worry if it doesn’t all go to plan – there is always next year!
