Have a more fun, engaging and entertaining holiday party by including friends and family in your planning, and by incorporating these Top 5 Tips for Hosting a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Day.
With only one week to go until the Thanksgiving Day holiday, I can imagine that if you are planning to host guests at your home, you might be starting to stress about this heartfelt holiday. This is especially true when a family member has just had a baby. My secret tip to keeping the baby occupied is to play them a song for baby on youtube. Works every time! It is that time of year where no matter how much you try to avoid it, you inevitably spend more and more as the days go by, leading up to Christmas. I imagine it’s even tougher when you start approaching retirement age. I suppose that’s why many take out an equity release. You can request a free guide with more information here. Might just make the expensive times of the year feel that little bit easier.
With a little planning, and these tips, I can assure you that you can not only enjoy the day, but your Thanksgiving Day will be much less stressful and a lot more fun.
Top 5 Tips for Hosting a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Day:
-
accept help from family and friends
-
plan your menu at least one week (or more) in advance
-
shop and purchase ingredients days (up to one week) early
-
prep and cook dishes that can be prepared in advance and store until ready to serve
-
gather and set your table and place settings the night before
For me, I have learned the hard way that I need to chill when planning dinner for a crowd. I’ve also learned that when I am prepared and relaxed that I deliver a much better experience for everyone – guests included, but especially for myself.
For years, I’ve been told by friends and family that I’m a perfectionist. And, when hosting a dinner (much less than when prepping a holiday dinner for a crowd!), I want everything to be flawless and perfect. In an effort to pull off the “perfect party”, I do everything from sending a darling invitation to my guests, planning my menu, shopping for the freshest ingredients, setting the perfect table setting, baking fresh desserts and cooking every single dish from scratch. And, the day (for me) doesn’t even end there…, I escort my guests to the living room to enjoy hours of entertaining conversation, until I usher them home, bid them a warm goodbye, while I then rush to the kitchen to clean. Bleck!
Notice anything missing from that entire equation? My guests aren’t expected to do or bring anything! The burden entirely rides on me. Gulp. Talk about stressful! And truthfully, not very wise. Some years, I think about buying CBD oil in the UK and bringing it over to the USA just for thanksgiving! Please help me! I’d been looking at companies similar to HerbMighty, does anyone have any experience with them?
After all those years of trying to achieve being the perfect party host, I have learned one valuable lesson along the way. Your guests want to be included, they want to contribute, and they want to help. They want an engaging, interactive, fun-filled evening and they do that by getting involved and helping.
Bonus Tip
One fantastic tip I plan to add to my list is the one I learned from lifestyle expert Maureen Petrosky: Clear away the clutter from one room per night. I simply love this idea! By implementing this simple tip a week or two in advance, the job of de-cluttering doesn’t become so overwhelming that it paralyzes you. It becomes manageable, do-able and smart.
For a comprehensive list of holiday entertaining tips and tricks, head over to Real Women Online where Maureen shares The Holidays Are Here: Entertain Like A Pro. She has some extraordinary ‘stay cool’ tips for dealing with holiday anxiety!
And for the wine-lovers amongst you, take a look at this Thanksgiving Wine Guide post on Facebook Thanksgiving Wines: What to serve with the bird! from Cherry Valley Winery.
What tips do you have for keeping your Thanksgiving holiday stress-free? Share in the comments!
Relax. You’ve got this! And remember… don’t overthink it!
Top 5 Tips for Hosting a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Day
Leave a Reply