5 Party Planning Tips to Help You Be the Host with the Most This Upcoming Holiday Season

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Now that fall is here, you’re probably going to be attending a lot of holiday parties. You might even be thinking that you want to host one yourself. If you do, here are some party planning tips so you can host a great party without the stress that normally comes with planning.

Provide some entertainment

While guests tend to mingle, they probably aren’t going to want to do that for the entire evening. As the host, you should provide some entertainment for your guests. Games work well; according to the latest research by the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), tennis participation rose nearly 1% to 17.9 million players, so you might get some guests who would love to play table tennis (ping pong). You can at least play some sports on TV if you don’t have the setup for tennis or games indoors. A backyard football game is another good alternative since the sport is incredibly popular this time of year.

 

 

Practice kitchen safety

You’re probably going to be making a lot of goodies for this party, and you want to make sure you practice kitchen safety. For example, make sure you always cook with ceramic coated cookware. Ceramic is incredibly heat resistant, and the coatings can withstand temperatures of 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius), so you don’t have to worry about catching your equipment on fire. If you need extra burners because you’re making so much, you can always use a hot plate. Typically, hot plate operating temperatures vary from 100 to 750 degrees Celcius, and power requirements are usually 120 V to 480 V range. Use the proper outlets for power, and make sure you’re always wearing oven mitts when handling hot food and dishes.

Remain calm

To prepare for the party, you’re probably going to be cooking and cleaning a lot the day of. That being said, you should leave yourself an hour before your guests arrive to freshen up, put on your party clothes, and light some candles to add ambiance. You’re going to set the tone of the party as the host, so being calm will help your guests have a good time.

 

Be prepared with drinks

If you plan to supply alcoholic beverages to your guests, make sure you have enough. According to Eating Well, you should have four cocktail napkins and one pound of ice per guest. Expect to have one alcoholic beverage per guest per hour. Finally, if you have 12 guests coming, you should have six bottles of wine, one or two cases of beer, and six liters of water.

 

 

Send invites early

Finally, you want to make sure you send out the invitations early enough for your guests to be able to solidify their plans. The holiday season is busy, and you want to make sure everyone can come. According to Real Simple, you should send out the invitations at least six weeks early, or six months if your guests are coming in from out of town.

 

If you’re thinking about hosting a party this holiday season, remember these party planning tips. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, remember that the U.S. party and event planning industry employs nearly 134,000 people, and you can always enlist one of them for help!