How I Conquered Holiday Entertaining
I must have had a momentary lapse in sanity. But early last month, in the midst of preparing for the holidays, I told my husband "we should have a New Year's Eve party." As if decorating my home for Christmas, buying the kids' gifts, shipping relatives' gifts, baking, some school events, a company party, and tons of other stuff wasn't enough, I decided to host a few dozen of my friends at my house to ring in the New Year.
Well once I told some friends, it was too late. I was on the hook, especially for those who were saying "Oh thank goodness! Something to do! Yes, yes, yes, we'll be there!" Oh dear. What had I done?
So I decided to get very organized and make this as painless as possible. I created invitations with Microsoft Word, using some super-cute, pre-made templates and clipart from the Microsoft Office Online Home Page. I use these all the time, and they are really great time-savers. Plus I think they just look better than anything I would have come up with on my own.
I also decided that I didn't want to put out a buffet for the party, because it's just too darned much work. I was expecting anywhere from 30-50 people, and the thought of cooking that much really stressed me out. So I decided to throw a "Dessert and Cocktails" party and asked guests to "bring a dish to share, if you'd like." Of course, every last one of them did bring something. I also began that party at 8 p.m., so people would know to have dinner before they came. Or else their dinner would consist of pie and cookies and truffles.
For décor, I kept it simple. I'd taken down my tree the day before because of the massive amount of pine needles accumulating on my floors. But I left up the holiday cards to keep it festive. I used lots of candles, and filled my fireplace with scented pillars and lit them all for a nice, warm touch. (It was a bit too warm that night for a real fire.) I checked out HGTV and got some ideas, then created a few centerpieces with fresh flowers and other materials. My daughter and a friend created little place cards and wrote a name or short description for the desserts we made and those brought by guests. Incredibly, this was the one thing many people seemed to comment on. It seems people really like to know what they're having before they put it in their mouths.
So, the night, by all accounts, was a smashing success. And I owe it all to the one concept I kept chanting to myself over and over the month, week and days preceding the party: SIMPLICITY. Keeping it simple is how I conquered holiday entertaining.
