Hosting a Family Christmas Party can be stressful. You want everything to be perfect, full of family tradition and holiday spirit in order to create those magical memories that will last a lifetime. So, we have some great tips and trick that will help you host a stress-free family Christmas Party. Of course, these tips will help in planning and in hosting any party!

5 Tips for Hosting a Stress-Free Family Christmas Party

With winter holidays straight ahead and drawing closer by the minute, we’re all looking forward to lip-smacking Christmas banquets and family reunions, right? Well, not exactly. Every time the season comes for Santa to slide down the chimney and deliver gifts, busy moms start bracing themselves for second helpings of stress and hard work required to host a pitch-perfect at-home Christmas celebration. Nevertheless, the fact that your whole family will be coming together to welcome Father Christmas in a few weeks’ time doesn’t have to be a source of angst or dread this time around. All you need to do is arm yourself with tried and tested tips on how to throw an unforgettable, stress-free Christmas party and act on them without delay.

1. Invitations Nobody Can Say No To

Before dashing off to decorate the dining table and whip up food for the Christmas party, pause for a second to do a brief guest count. Draw up the guest list and seating plan to make sure your party goes down without hitches or unpleasant guest table quibbles.

With the guest list in place, it’s time to send out invitations (preferably in the written, not digital form). You should send invites at least two weeks ahead of the celebration to allow your guests ample time to RVSP. Expert tip: be sure the invitations are so lovable your invitees can’t say No to them. If you hate the idea of DIY invitation crafting, you can find various printable Christmas party invites online. Use them to cheat your way to bonus party turnout.

2. Decide on the Food and Drink Menu

The next point on the stress-free Christmas party staging list, the choice of food and drinks you’ll serve your guests deserves an extra dose of attention. As a general rule, the party bar should contain both alcoholic and soft drinks, just to stay on the safe (and relatively sober) side of the dining table.

If possible, it would be a wise idea to check with the guests if they suffer from any food allergies or follow special diet plans: such a precious piece of info will help you stock the party table with delicacies all invitees will relish. If you don’t want to go through the food prep hassle, you can look up the offer of best finger food catering services in Melbourne and pick tasty bites that fit the party budget and your guests’ dietary preferences.

3. It’s Time to Dress Up the Party Venue

After you’ve sorted out the essentials for the Christmas party, you’ll need to dress the venue for the gathering. The rule of thumb here is that ornaments in red, gold, and green are best-suited to the biggest event of the winter season, but you can also use violet, blue, and orange details as accents.

To achieve a festive yet suave tablescape, you should bring out finest silverware and porcelain crockery: after all, Christmas is precisely the type of a special occasion that calls for such displays of elegance and luxury. For final touches, you can top the Christmas party table with fragrant candles, string lights nestled in jars, and a centerpiece in the form of an evergreen arrangement with red and white ribbon.

4. Devise a Fail-safe Entertainment Program

To keep boredom at bay and avoid awkward party silences, create a special playlist and pick a few games you and your guests will play after dinner. Christmas Carol Pictionary, white elephant gift exchange, and other themed games are a great entertainment choice, but you can also opt for non-Christmassy activities if your party crowd isn’t exactly a major fan of traditional festive amusement.

As far as music is concerned, you shouldn’t leave out Christmas melodies from the playlist, but you can structure it around handpicked non-seasonal tunes such as jazz, blues, R&B, and classic rock. Expert tip: melodies that make your guests’ ears prick up and set the mood to merry are a good choice of music for the Christmas party.

5. Party Favors, the Hospitable Hosts’ Way

No Christmas party is complete without gifts, but the Christmas tree shouldn’t be the only place for your guests to find tokens of appreciation, caring, and love. To bring home the medal as the most hospitable host ever, make cute party favors before the big event which you’ll place at the dining table.

Gingerbread cookies, lollies, tree ornaments, and chocolates in Christmas wrappers are just the tip of the party favor iceberg. If you want to go pro with the Christmas party staging, you can present the guests with personalized favors such as swag bags, printed mugs with funny slogans, spa and massage coupons, and creative cookie tins or favor bags which you can order online for bonus stress-free party organization.

No fret, no fuss – Host a Stress-free Family Christmas Party with these 5 tips! #Christmas #Party

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All set? Don’t forget to put on your finest party clothes, don a wide smile, and have tons of fun –after all, joy, laughter, love, sharing, and positive mood are the whole point of winter holidays. Enjoy your family Christmas party to the fullest. Merry Christmas!

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Who doesn’t love a party? Well, Regular Contributor, Calvalyn Day, shares on how she is getting paid to party!

Getting Paid To Party!

My Girls Want to Party ALL the Time

Growing up, I only remember a couple of my birthday parties. None were overly extravagant like what we see a lot of today, but most were pretty enjoyable. The added costs associated with birthdays or even just family gatherings, can put a major cramp in the budget. Especially as I work on stretching my families budget while I am building a business, but I’ve found a way to make it a little more affordable and fun.

Have you ever heard of www.Houseparty.com? This site allows you to throw parties for little to no money out of pocket, by partnering with manufacturers to promote their products. When you sign up for an account, you will give details about your family and interests that help you have an opportunity to host parties that are right in line with those interests. Every so often you will get emails that list potential parties, you can even log on to the site and request early notice about upcoming parties that you think you would like to host.

Get PAID to PARTY! Calvalyn shows us how. #Party #GetPaidToParty #HostParties

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I usually go for the kids parties, such as the kids award show party I hosted not too long ago. Like most “party packs”, our kit included reusable party favors–the photo booth props, posters, color change cups, and coupons for party snacks.

In the past, we have used House Party packs to supplement birthday parties with flatbread pizza or homemade rolls, or just stretch our regular food budget. One time, we got all of this for FREE. Most recently, my youngest girls had a great time with the latest doll sensation.

Through the years, I’ve picked up a couple tips that help you stand out and have a great time.

Only apply for parties you would enjoy hosting. There are tons of opportunities–some really connect well with your families and others not so much. The best parties are when you have a product you will enjoy and specifications such as date and time that work for your family.
Over invite. Having plenty of people participate in the party is important to protect your opportunities to host. Since last minute changes can cause guests to drop out, invite a few extra people just in case.
Get social. Some social media interaction is generally required, but it always helps your chances of hosting. In addition, there are often extra prizes for party hosts who are active on social media (Twitter and Facebook). You remember that award show party I hosted? I was active on Twitter that night using the required hashtag, and won a brand new video game system valued at over $500!!

The most important thing is that it’s a great way to have fun with friends and family. Remember to keep your budget intact. While you won’t get selected for every opportunity, I’ve found it relatively easy to get a party, when you meet the criteria. Be honest, willing to follow the rules, and obey the party pack.

Interested in partying yourself? Click this link (this is a referral link for Calvalyn) to join the site, there’s no cost, and new opportunities are added all the time!

Make your parties a little more affordable and fun – Get PAID to PARTY! #HostaParty #PaidToParty

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Have you ever hosted a house party? Share your favorites in the comments!