Hosting for Holidays

Christmas coziness – there’s an image that sends waves of happiness through your body, right?

Several days off, shopping for gifts, eating delicious food, getting a little carried away with quality wine, snuggling with a loved one under a warm blanket and watching TV, knowing that you don’t have to wake up early.

For some people the picture is complete when they have dear family or friends they haven’t seen in a while stay with them during the holidays. Though it is certainly fun hanging out, remembering the good old times and resolving to meet more often in the future, it still requires some work on your part. You can’t really spend days in your pyjamas, eating only cookies with guests staying over.

Here’s a few things you need to consider before guests arrive:

Where guests will sleep. If there are a lot of guests, you may want to consider inflatable beds. Rules of etiquette suggest you offer your guests the most comfortable mattresses in the house.
Clean the house. They deserve to spend their holiday in spotless environment. 
Buy presents for your guests. It doesn’t have to be something expensive; people appreciate the gesture alone, especially if it is wrapped nicely…

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Plan all your meals and shop before guests arrive. Prepare some meals in advance and freeze them, so that you wouldn’t be swamped on the day of celebration. Also, plan to make simple yet delicious meals. Even sandwiches can be special if you arrange them nicely, cut them in triangles the size of one bite and put colourful toothpicks on each triangle. Truthfully, no food can be bad served on a festive table like this…

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And Now, the Fun Part.
Once the tedious part of expecting guests is over, you can sit down and start planning the more exciting events: how to entertain guests and what to do when party day comes. First, plan to decorate around the house using nice ornaments…

 
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You and your guests can go through stuff you don’t need and try to come up with creative decorations using unexpected objects. You can even make a competition out of it, with the winner getting the biggest piece of cake in the evening.

After you decorate the tree, you can start making your party play list. Everyone can write 10-20 song titles to be included in the list. Each of you can have one “veto” reserved for a song on the playlist you especially dislike. Make sure there’s enough dance music for that time in the evening when everyone has drunk enough to hit the dance floor.

Some other ways you can have fun with your guests:

• Go outside and make a snowman, or have a snowball fight
• Play old fashion board games
• Sing karaoke
• or finally, sit next to the fireplace, drink wine and enjoying the company

Thanks Eva Stephen for the post!