Tips For Hosting The Perfect Christmas

10 TIPS FOR HOSTING THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS DINNER!

By Nanise Mohamed

As the countdown to the best time of the year begins, and while going out for dinner is an inviting option, staying in to host a homemade Christmas dinner near your perfect Christmas tree is the ideal holiday ritual. That’s why we’ve rounded up 10 tips for you to perfect your family’s Christmas dinner.

PLAN AHEAD

If you really wish to master that special day, you absolutely have to plan ahead. We’re not talking two weeks or so, at least a month prior to Christmas day.

Write notes and organize your thoughts on what you need to buy and what you can utilize from your own household.

During those 30 days, you can gradually make up for what you don’t have at home and won’t feel like you had to spend a fortune at the supermarket in one day.

FOOD

Having an all homemade menu is great, but beware. Cooking 20 different dishes on your own might be a surefire recipe for failure. Try to pick the dishes that you know you always get right and simply order the rest from a reputable catering service.

Another important thing to keep in mind is the drinks. When a guest comes for dinner, they’ll first need refreshments. And after having dinner as well, basically all night long! 44 December 2020

DECORATIONS

Moving to the fun part, decorations. For your Christmas party, you might want to go with a theme like retro Christmas or maybe disco Christmas. OR you might want to leave it as a general Christmas theme. Which everybody loves, anyway!

MUSIC

At any given party, music is key to the success or failure of the event. You’ll have to put some extra thought in the playlist if you want your party to rock.

If you run short on time but still want to get it right, we always suggest the mix up approach. You can select some favorite pop songs and throw in some Christmas classics. And, keep them running throughout the night!

MIX AND MATCH

Another handy little tip you need to know about and that’ll save you a lot of money and effort is, mixing and matching.

And it’s all relevant. You can mix and match homemade candy with fancy store bought ones, songs as we mentioned before and even the food and drinks.

This way, the outcome would be more diverse, fun and fresh!

HAVE A TEAM

Alright, you need to hear this. No matter how good you think you are at the whole partyplanning thing, you still need all hands on deck.

This is not just a casual gathering that you’ll figure out as you go. So, we advise you to get as much help as possible. It’ll make things less stressful for everyone. Plus, any surprises or disasters can be contained!

ENTERTAINMENT

Throughout the dinner party, the last thing you want is the atmosphere falling flat. That’s why, in between meals and gifts, you need to have some activities going on.

Card games, movies, two truths and a lie; there’s plenty of fun party games that you can check online. No one wants people sleeping or making small talk after dinner!

BE MINDFUL OF KIDS

Here’s the tricky part, kids. If your guests happen to have kids, you will have them over as well since it’s a family holiday.

Keep things under control by providing them with a lot of candy, a little play area and a place where they can eat on their own without messing the adults’ dinner table.

CLEANING

Congratulations, you made it. But before calling it a night there’s still a lot of cleaning up to do. Now here’s a trick, you could make this a one step at a time thing. After dinner, take 10 minutes to clean up a little. And after the drinks and games too. This way, by the end of the night, you’ll only have so little to do.