The Guide to the Perfect Christmas Party
By admin
Issued on behalf of Eventute Ltd
Chipped wine glasses, mismatched chair heights, a stressed-out hostess, and running out of wine are all classic ways to ruin a Christmas party – but thinking like a professional is the key to becoming the perfect festive hostess, says Karen McGrath, Managing Director of Cardiff-based, corporate event specialists, Eventure UK Ltd.
Planning is the most important factor in making any event successful, whether it’s a corporate party, or Christmas dinner for family and friends. Plan everything, to the extent of having a timeline for the day written down – when the turkey is due out of the oven, when to change the background music and lighting the candles. Planning also extends to the invitations, send them out early and include an RSVP note.
It may sound boring, but if you are organised, you can enjoy the Christmas party as much as your guests, rather than spending the day on the brink of nervous collapse.
Event organisers always look at where to bring in other professionals to help. You may think your budget doesn’t stretch to it, but using outside help for just one element of the party can make all the difference, and needn’t be too expensive. A top tip is to hire banqueting chairs for the day – they are designed for big events and are smaller than ordinary chairs, so the table that you thought could only seat six, will now stretch to eight.
Think about how people are seated, and use place cards. For example, seat a younger person next to an elderly relative to help them with heavy serving dishes. If you have guests who don’t know each other, think of interests and experiences people have in common beforehand and bring them up over dinner.
Make sure a Christmas meal is timed well – a good idea is to prepare a cold, light starter beforehand and keep it cool in the fridge. These can then be quickly dressed with a garnish.
Never rush through a meal, let guests know there will be a break between each course, and maybe have a festive quiz prepared for the gaps. Making the meal last longer makes your party more manageable and encourages conversation.
Everyone likes some festive cheer, but if the drink is flowing to fast and full, most of your guests will be drunk or asleep before you’ve set the Christmas pudding alight. Keep plenty of water at the table, with the appropriate glasses.
A great tip is to think of your guests as your events team – professional party planners always delegate tasks. Pick someone with a steady hand to be the wine waiter, or ask a friend with great taste in music to be the DJ for the evening. People will be flattered to be asked, and it frees you up to play hostess and speak to all your guests.
Have a contingency plan in place for what might go wrong – red wine on the cream carpet is not the end of the world if there is carpet cleaner on hand, or even think about buying some cheap carpet to place over your real flooring if you’re having lots of people over for a party, and borrow a safety gate for the stairs if guests are bringing small children.
Finally, always be creative with a Christmas party, and don’t forget that it’s the little details that people remember. Candles, table confetti, a colour theme, and ‘favours’ on the table can create a fantastic festive ambience at a tiny cost, and leave people with a wonderful overall impression.
Karen’s Top 10 Tips to make your Christmas party stand out from the rest:
- Create your own menu for the table on your home PC and have some fun with it. Instead of writing ‘Beef served in Beer’ call it ‘Drunken Cow’! It’ll break the ice and get people laughing.
- Scatter tiny bottles of bubbles in the shape of Champagne bottles around the table or in bowls if it’s a drinks party, they’re cheap and easy to find.
- Serve miniature scoops of sorbet between the starter and main course in glass tea-light holders with a cranberry on top.
- Give your guests a fabulous first glimpse of the party by lining the way to the house with outdoor bags – cut out star shapes and fill with tea lights. It’s another cheap and easy way to get a great festive effect.
- Make your own place cards, or even name tags for a drinks party, and be creative. With digital cameras and PCs it’s really easy to create some beautiful or funny place cards.
- Devise you’re a game or quiz before the party that involves every guest- a murder mystery game can be a great way to break the ice.
- Create your own ice cubes for a drinks party by adding whole pieces of fruit to the ice tray such as strawberries or purple grapes.
- Instead of serving coffee with mints, give your guests Florentines in festive shapes for something a bit different.
- Make mini Christmas cakes and decorate with silver balls for favours on the table or to scatter on plates around the room.
- Provide every guest with a goody bag containing a disposable camera and a sprig of mistletoe – perfect Christmas party essentials!
