Relax and enjoy yourself and others will too!
We've come up with a party guide to make sure yours is not only a great event, but planning it is stress free!
1.Get your home ready
You don't have to have a 3 floor, open plan dream house to hold a party. Presumably your guests will know you well, so it's not necessary to go to great lengths to impress them, they'll be grateful for the invite and pleased to have somewhere to socialise. Rearrange your furniture if need be, and you could always ask a neighbour or friend to borrow a few chairs so there's plenty of places for people to sit down.
2.Atmosphere
The great thing about holding a party at Christmas is you don't need to spend tons of cash on party decorations, a bit of tinsel and your Christmas decs will do just fine. Assign a room or space for coats and shoes so they don't end up in a pile in your hall. You could always suggest a fancy dress theme for your party. Find out if your guests are willing to do this before making it a requirement but if everybody's up for a laugh, fancy dress can add excitement and suprise to the atmosphere and really makes a fun night.
3.Food
If you're holding a family party which isn't too fancy, save on tidying and washing up by buying paper plates and cups. This will solve the dilemma of plates and bowls being left all over your house that you need to clean up, and you won't need to stress about getting everybody a glass. Simple buffet food, sausage rolls, sandwiches and crisps will suit fine and don't worry about buying or making too much, if there's plenty left, send your guests home with doggy bags or tub it away in the fridge and have the next day. If you're having a dinner party or something more formal, consider paying for catering or going to a supermarket to buy ready made buffet style plates of food so you're not up all night slaving.
4.Drink
If you're providing the food, it might be worth kindly asking your guests to each bring along some form of drink that they can drink themselves or share. Buying drinks, especially alcohol, can be really expensive and your guests won't expect you to dish out your whole liqor cabinet. There's a chance of spillages so have paper towels and stain remover on hand in the kitchen to jump to the rescue, should anybody accidentally spill.
5.Entertainment
If you haven't already got one, it would be good to get hold of a big music system or stereo to blast the tunes all night. If not, the music channels on your television could act as your stereo as long as you hide the remote so the kids aren't changing channels after every song! If you're feeling brave, why not try and get hold of a kareoke machine or a party game for the games console? Will keep the kids and the adults happy and occupied.
6.Music
Stock up on cheesy party cd's, which even though you'll cringe taking to the till, when your guests are merry and requesting the macarena, you'll be thankful. Choose a good selection (but not a massive pile as people will spend the night trawling through them) and have them out ready next to the stereo. Elect your partner, eldest child or willing friend to act as the dj - you'll be too busy entertaining to notice the same cd's been on for the last 2 hours.
7.Don't put too much pressure on yourself!
If your guests arrive in good spirits then ultimately it's down to them whether they enjoy themselves or not. You've opened your home and provided food, music and a place for them to have a great evening, leave the rest to them!
Alexandra Baracskai
Tagged in Stress