Start your Preparations Early for Stress-free Holiday Entertaining

Staying organized is key when it comes to entertaining around the holidays. That’s often easier said than done and almost always involves multiple to-do lists and shopping lists for me. I thought I’d share a checklist that I follow when I’m getting ready for holiday entertaining (really most entertaining for that matter).

The week before:

Decide on colors/style. These gorgeous cocktail napkins I happened to find over Thanksgiving break inspired our Christmas party décor. I just loved the greens and reds with a hint of gold. They were the perfect starting point to figuring out all the rest. I complemented the colors and the fun, preppy feel by pulling in bright red Kate Spade tablecloths, antique brass candlesticks for that preppy old-is-new feel, and pearl toothpicks.

Menu plan. I usually plan out my menu at this point based on how many guests we’re expecting. I also decide if I’ll be serving a signature drink (which is almost always yes) or not. My best advice when it comes to menu planning for a party is to make sure and factor in time. A new, advanced dish might not be the best choice if the evenings leading up to the party or dinner are going to be busy ones. If I’m expecting around 30-40 guests, I normally plan on 2-3 proteins (sliced beef tenderloin, cocktail shrimp, meatballs, charcuterie board, etc.), a dip or two, almost always a cheese/charcuterie/dried fruit tray (see this post for things I always have hanging around during the holidays), a veggie tray, snacks to place at the bar and around the seating areas (cheese straws, roasted nuts), and a few desserts.

Map out your spaces. It’s most helpful during this step to think about how I’d like the party to flow. We often place a main bar in one area of the house and a smaller one in another area. If I’m serving a signature drink, I’ll move that station to a different area. Same goes with food (and dessert tables). Spacing these items out helps spread out your guests and avoid any bottlenecking. I also mentioned in this post how it’s important to create little spaces with chairs and end tables for conversations to happen. That’s something to take into consideration at this point, too.

We set up our main bar downstairs for our holiday party. Upstairs, there was a styled bar tray with the fabulous vintage glasses from our friend Nancy (below from The Hour in Old Town Alexandria) with our signature drink: a sparkling cranberry punch.

Our sparkling cranberry holiday punch (recipe in this post):

Five days out:

Polish and iron. This is the when I get all of our silver polished and our linens ironed and ready.

Store runs. I also aim to get almost all of my store runs done at this point. Doing this now frees me up for any last-minute items that inevitably always come up. I’ll take time to go through the menu again, making sure I’ve got anyone’s allergies or aversions taken into consideration. From there, I’ll draft up two grocery lists: a “buy now” list and a “buy the day of or day before” list. I also stop to make sure I have enough cocktail napkins, toothpicks, etc. I’ll add these to the “buy now” list.

Centerpiece and flower arrangements figured out. This is also the perfect time to knock out my centerpiece and floral arrangement planning. Since I was working off of the reds, pinks, greens, whites, and golds from the Caspari design for our holiday party, I opted for simple yet chic red, pink, white, and green flowers. Given the time of year, poinsettias were plentiful, so we bought a few large ones for the base of the tree, downstairs dessert table, etc.

1-2 days out

Set the stage. I try to set up as much as I can a day or two before the party. This helps tremendously, as I mentioned in this earlier post on dinner party tips. I’ll set up the tables with their tablecloths and arrange serving pieces and their accompanying serving utensils. I often write post-it notes for each dish and place them on their respective serving pieces. This is extremely helpful if you’re working with your significant other, friends, or party co-hosts. It helps keep everyone organized.

I’ll also try to make as many things as I can in advance. Cookies? Absolutely yes. Biscuits and cheese straws? This is their moment, too.

Favors and anything for guests to take home can be wrapped up during this time as well if they haven’t been already. For our holiday party, we decided to all give back. We set up an area near our entryway for guests to drop off nonperishable goods to be donated.

The morning of

I’ll usually run through my lists over coffee the day of the party to make sure I have everything. I also make sure to charge my phone in case folks call or text for directions or have any last-minute questions. This is a “pull together” day and truly the test of your organization, time management, and “staying calm under pressure” skills.

I try to wait until the morning of to buy my flowers and pick up any goods that couldn’t be scooped earlier, like baguettes, some pastries, etc. I also always try to remember to buy an extra bag of ice. Trust me. I always find that I needed that extra bag. I feel like time always starts to fly by the day of a party once noon hits. But relax, you’ve got this. Now sit back and have a ball!

Cheers, and happy hosting!