My 5 Top Tips for Holiday Entertaining will turn you in to the host with the most this season and beyond! I’m sharing my years of experience hosting cocktail parties and dinner parties, right here.
We’re hosting our annual Christmas cocktail party this Saturday, and I still have so much to do to get ready – like get the tree decorated! I’ve hosted this party so many times that I’m not stressed about it anymore. I’ve learned what’s important for me to take care of, and what I can let go of. With that in mind I thought I would share my top 5 tips for stress-free holiday entertaining.
My 5 top tips for holiday entertaining will guide you through the season and beyond.
1. Choose a focal point for you party layout and decor.
Our party layout spans 3 rooms: the dining room is set up with cocktail party food, the breakfast area has the bar, and the living room has a secondary wine/champagne bar with some snacks placed near seating.
With each room having a “purpose” and a focal point it makes it easier to decorate. If you don’t have time to decorate every nook of your house just focus on sprucing up these food & drink stations by adding a tablecloth in a festive color, displaying ornaments in a bowl or glass jar, and adding a little bit of fresh greenery cut from the Christmas tree, a holly bush, or an evergreen in the yard.
2. Follow my tried and true food formula for the perfect cocktail party menu.
I’ve always followed a food formula for my cocktail parties. It’s the best way to cover all my bases and please multiple palates.
Some of my proven menu items are: cocktail meatballs in sauce, shrimp cocktail, a chicken or pork based appetizer, something with spinach {cold spinach dip, baked spinach dip or artichoke dip, or spinach canapes}, something cheesy {a prepared cheese ball, topped cream cheese or cheese tray does the trick}, and a veggie presentation always rounds out the menu.
Once you have these basics you can add on other foods you like. But this is great for covering the meat lovers as well as the vegetarians, and it’s hearty enough to satisfy women and men.
It’s also a great idea to have a close friend {or two} make a food dish for you. You can assign them the recipe, or let them bring their specialty. This can be a HUGE help.
3. Cocktails get the party started and should be ready to pour as soon as the first guest arrives.
Christmas is the time we provide an open bar, and over the years I’ve observed what gets used and what doesn’t. For our crowd I stock up on bourbon, vodka, rum, and GOOD tequila. If I want to add more I’ll include Spiced Rum and Coconut Rum. They always add an extra festive flavor to cocktails.
For soda mixers we can usually stick to ginger ale/7-up and coke/Pepsi, as well as sparkling mineral water. We’ll have several juice flavors like orange juice, cranberry, and V8 fruit fusions.
Round up similar items on a tray, and pour juices into pitchers. Individual sized cans or bottles of soda look better than 2 liters, plus you can save what doesn’t get opened for later.
I always like to serve a signature party punch and a variety beer too.
For the secondary bar in the living room I place bottles of wine, and champagne in an ice bucket. Some years I like to change it up and serve mini champagne bottles. It’s a novel idea for guests to carry around their own little bottle and sip it through a straw. You can buy these by the case from your grocer. Just put in an order with the wine manager and you can usually get a 10% discount for the large volume.
4. Prepare a little bit every day for a week leading up to the party so you’re not scrambling last minute.
To keep from getting overwhelmed with my To-Do list, I like to do one major cleaning chore each day the week leading up to the party. For instance, picking up the clutter on Monday, dusting on Tuesday, mopping on Wednesday, clean the bathroom on Thursday, setting up your play list on Friday, and vacuuming on Saturday.
Make sure your Christmas play list is set up and ready to play.
Speaking of play list, we start out with Christmas music playing low in the background, and then change it up to some lively dance music as the night progresses. I love all the standards sung by Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Fank Sinatra, as well as the newer versions by Mariah Carey and Michael Buble. Kenny G. and the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack are favorites for instrumentals, and I adore the pop tunes that came out of the 80’s like Wham’s Last Christmas, and The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping. I like to set up the play list so the slower tunes play in the beginning and build up the tempo as the party grows.
5. Set up a dessert station in a separate space from the buffet and bar.
Holidays and baking go hand in hand. We never have as many sweets in the house as we do at Christmas time. You’ll need to have a couple of treats for your guests at the party and I like to offer 3 or 4 different mini options – tartlets, parfaits in a shot glass, and cookies or bars do the trick. Baking can be done several days ahead of time. Or you can save all those treats from the cookie exchange and serve those! As I’ve said many times before, I like to serve a variety of flavors so something nutty, something chocolatey, and something white {vanilla} or fruity is a good combination.
I hope these top tips for holiday entertaining will serve as a ‘quick reference’ for your Christmas party planning. They can guide all your parties year round too!