Secrets for Party Planning in the Holiday Season

Dec 21
00:36

2008

Sandra Olivier

Sandra Olivier

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Planning an entertaining party, a menu, and an evening with guests can be fairly daunting. To take some of the guesswork out of planning your own fete, we've chosen our favorite party planning tips to share with you

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The festive season is a constant frenzy of social events and parties. The planning of an entertaining event,Secrets for Party Planning in the Holiday Season Articles with the right menu that all would enjoy can be scary. To assist you with the task we have put together a list of our special party planning tips to ensure you have great fun at your parties this year!

Plan Ahead. Don't forget to ask your guests ahead of time if they have special dietary requirements or preferences (allergies, vegetarian, etc). Decide ahead of time what you want to cook, and ensure that you have all the ingredients on hand. You can even go as far as to cook some of the meals beforehand and thereby save yourself a lot of stress.

Try Fewer Side Dishes. Cutting down on the side dishes can save yourself quite a bit of time and effort, there are loads of creative recipes for this time of the year. Bake some home-made bread, pick a salad or two and make a lot of them. This will mean that there's plenty of food even though there is less variety.

Let Others Help. Another fun way to simplify your meal is to let others help with the cooking. Ask friends to make a favorite dish and bring the recipe to share. You'll have dinner taken care of and plenty of new entries for your cookbook. In this way it save you a lot of time and effort and everyone feels good that they've contributed to the joy of the party.

Use clay pots to hold bread, a birdhouse feed to hold napkins or a child's inflatable water ring to hold plates. This will make for a more interesting table, using usual things in unusual ways.

Welcoming guests in person at the door makes everybody feel at home instantly. This will remove any uncomfortable moments where the guest wonders if they should just come in, where to put their items, etc. Give them a brief tour of where the food, smoking area, and restrooms are and then direct them to where you want to maintain your guests. Most people will choose a living room or parlor, though with warmer weather, you may choose an outdoor party.

Make sure you also consider the designated drivers and non-drinking friends! Keep a supply of fun and festive non-alcoholic drinks on hand.

Set up a drink and dessert bar. Do it ahead of time and it allow your guests to help themselves.

Allow yourself sufficient time to dress and relax before your guests arrive and your party begins and remember most importantly have some fun!