Throwing a Holiday Party

People like to get together to celebrate cultural and religious holidays. If you're on tap to plan one, here are some things to consider as you plan.

FOOD

Will you prepare it all yourself? Have the party catered? Meet at a restaurant? Organize a potluck? What kind of food will you have? Is it a barbecue, a sit-down dinner, a buffet?

Some celebrations come with their own standard menus. Thanksgiving has turkey, Easter has ham or lamb. If you're preparing the main course, be sure to plan enough time to have it ready to eat when you want it: it might need to be thawed, marinated, seasoned, or browned before you start cooking it. Especially if you are also preparing other dishes, try to pick recipes that don't need to be tended often as they cook. Slow cookers are great for this. Whatever you can make ahead of time, do. Most cookies and breads can be frozen for several days and thawed before the party, for example. Non-perishables, like nuts and chips, can sit in their serving bowls with a dishtowel covering them for a few hours while you get other things ready, and cut fruits and vegetables can wait in the fridge on their serving trays until the meal starts.

If you hire caterers, be sure they know the right address to come to, and that they can work with whatever dietary restrictions you need addressed. Find out exactly what sorts of serving items they provide. You might need your own plates and utensils, for example. 

For a party held at a venue, reservations are a must. Especially at busy holiday times, you simply can't expect a restaurant or hotel or other place to accommodate a crowd at the last minute. Make the reservations well in advance. My husband is taking my mother-in-law to a fancy restaurant for Mother's Day (May here in the US), and when I made the reservations in December, there were already almost no slots left. And that was just for two people! Some venues offer special menus for holiday brunches; check to see if yours does, because if the only reason you want to eat a particular place is the dish that isn't being served that day, you'll be disappointed. As with caterers, you'll need to be sure dietary restrictions can be worked around. A steakhouse might have few options for a vegetarian, and a Thai restaurant with peanut sauce on everything could be problematic for someone with allergies.

If everyone is bringing a dish, check that all your bases are covered. You don't want to end up with eight kinds of pie but no main course (or maybe you do, but then you'll want to coordinate different kinds of pie). You can assign people dishes based on last names (e.g.; A-M brings a side, N-Z brings a dessert, you provide the main course), generations (e.g.; grandparents bring snacks; parents, aunts, and uncles bring sides or main dishes; cousins bring desserts), their specialties if people are known for certain dishes, or if everyone's communicating have a list of what foods should be brought and have people sign up.  Potlucks work best with lots of communication.

ACTIVITIES

For a lot of parties, socializing is plenty entertainment for everyone. Especially if it's a group that rarely gets together outside of the holidays, catching up is great fun. In those cases, the only things you really need to think about are whether you need a space for kids to play, somewhere for pets (either yours who might be overwhelmed with the crowd or guests' animals), and enough places for people to sit.

If your party is centered around an activity, be it more passive like watching the Super Bowl or more active like a family golf tournament or baseball game, you'll need to plan a bit more. Depending on how involved the activity is, you need to have a timeline of when events should be starting, and an idea of how flexible you can be with the schedule.

If you want activities for only some people, like a cookie decorating area for kids at a Christmas party, you will probably need to have someone keeping an eye on it throughout the party. That person won't be able to socialize as much, so if you can't swap out now and then, you might consider hiring a sitter. I knew a family who loved hosting holiday parties, and there were always about a dozen kids between the ages of two and seven. They would hire me to stay in the large downstairs playroom with the kids so the adults could chat more easily (and they paid very well, plus the other parents usually tipped--I never minded being called for a party!). The parents were right upstairs for any children who needed to sit in Mom or Dad's lap for a bit, and the parents knew their children were safe and having fun.

GIFTS?

If the holiday you're celebrating is a gift-giving one, you need to decide how formal you want that to be. Most people enjoy watching others open the gifts they've (hopefully) thoughtfully selected. 

If you have a gift exchange with "stealing" rules, you need to make sure everyone participating is in the room. Before the party, you should also have made sure everyone knows the expectations of the gift exchange. The most important parts are the upper and lower cost limits, whether it should be a gag gift or a serious gift, when to open the gift (at the end of the game or immediately after picking it), and whether people can "steal" a gift someone else already selected.

When people are giving gifts to specific recipients, there might a large pile to sort out. How do you want to do this? Do the gift-givers pass out their gifts en masse? Do you designate one or two people to pass them out (don't pick the same people every year unless they like it)? Is it a free-for-all? The group you're celebrating with will dictate what works best for your situation.

TIMING

If you need the party to end by a certain time (whether because you'll want to have your home to yourself again or because the venue will close), make that clear from the beginning: "The party will be from 2:00 to 8:00." If it's open-ended, just tell people it's a open house (specify when you'll be ready for guests, though). Be clear in communicating what needs to be done by certain times, if there is anything; for example, when the fireworks show starts or how late you'll keep the buffet spread on the table.

MISC

Make sure that wherever the party is there's adequate parking. If some guests have mobility issues, allow them priority parking and be sure they have a place to sit. 

If you're hosting at your house, let people know any codes they might need for gates or doors. Have a place for people to put away coats or change into swimsuits as needed. Stock extra toilet paper and soap in the bathrooms, and have a plunger at the ready just in case. Depending on what sort of food is being served, you might want to consider a spill station too, with club soda, towels, and other things to mitigate stains. Close doors to rooms that are off limits, and while I hope you won't have to worry about it, consider whether you should lock up any medications, sensitive paperwork, or valuables. 

If you expect people to take food home with them, have foil, plastic wrap, plastic bags, or plastic containers for them to use. One of my aunts keeps the resealable plastic containers some lunch meats come in, and has a stack of them by the buffet table after parties (clean, of course).

When the party's done, be sure anyone who needs to be paid (caterers, venue operators, sitters) gets paid. Clean up what you need to if it's not at your home. If it is at your home, do you want guests to help clean up? Many will offer to help with dishes or other clean up, but if you thrive on the specific order you keep your home in, you might not like the help (one of my grandmothers was this way; we could help put the food in dishes to store in the fridge, but she was particular about the rest).

Hosting a party is a big responsibility, but if you're organized as you prepare for it, it will go smoothly and your guests will have a good time.