From cooking dinner for a large group of people to decorating your home, there’s a lot to think about when you’re hosting on Christmas Day.
Check out my tips for stress-free Christmas hosting!
Just to let you know that – at no cost to you – I will receive a small commission on some products purchased via affiliate links on this page.
Plan in advance
By planning as much as you can in the weeks and days before Christmas, you can make your life so much easier.
The more prepared you are, the less stressed you’ll be on the day – and the more enjoyable the day will be for everyone.
Deciding how much you can spend, then picking menus, decorations and entertainment are all key tasks to get done early on.
Set a budget and stick to it
Christmas is always an expensive time of year, but this year is set to be tougher on all our pockets due to the cost of living crisis.
It’s so easy to get caught up in your desire to provide the perfect day and go over budget.
But if you’re stressed about money your guests won’t have a good time and all your efforts will have been wasted.
So before you do anything else, work out how much money you can afford to spend – please don’t be tempted to put it on a credit card and end up paying over the odds for it later.
Create a simple menu
Keep the food simple, make something you’ve done before and do as much of the work as you can in advance.
If you cook something you’re familiar with, things are less likely to go wrong and you’ll have more time to spend with your guests on Christmas Day. Less is most definitely more!
You can make things like stuffing, desserts and accompaniments such as gravy a couple of days before and either chill or freeze them to keep them fresh.
If you’re struggling for oven space and you have the budget for one, an electric plate warmer will come in handy – and you can use it year after year.
Delegate and delegate more!
When you’re hosting Christmas, it’s easy to feel like you have to do everything yourself and no one else should have to lift a finger.
But if you delegate tasks to friends and family, it will not only take some of the pressure off you, but help everyone feel involved and enjoy the day even more.
Ask people to bring along an element of the meal, such as dessert, nibbles, or cheese. This will also help if your budget is tight.
And if anyone is hanging around in the kitchen, getting in the way while you’re cooking, give them a job to do!
Streamline your decorations
Decorating the whole house can feel overwhelming, so it can help to concentrate on the rooms that your guests will spend the most time in.
Or you can go super-streamlined and focus on creating a stunning Christmas tree centrepiece and a decorated dinner table, including a beautiful festive tablecloth and scented candles.
Create a seating plan
People deciding where to sit at the dinner table can cause chaos and strife just when you’re wanting to serve the food before it gets cold.
Get around this by creating a seating plan – and add place cards to your table decorations for an extra sense of occasion.
Zoe Sugg provides even more Christmas hosting tips in her brilliant book, Cordially Invited.
Have fun!
The most important thing is that everyone has a good time, including you! So try to relax and enjoy yourself.
If there are any hiccups along the way, try to move on and not worry about it – good friends and family will just appreciate your hosting efforts and enjoy the day even more.
If you’re hosting on Christmas Day this year, I hope these tips help you plan as stress-free a day as possible.
Do you have your own strategies? Let me know and I’ll share them with the Christmas Organised community!