Stress-Free Tips for Hosting Holiday Parties at Your Waterfront Home
It’s time to get ready for the holiday parties you’ll be hosting at your waterfront home for sale in Pittsburgh PA. If you’re dreading all the stressful preparations such as making home-cooked meals, decorating the home and checking the guest list, don’t fret. Here are a few tips to help keep stress at bay when hosting your very own fun and festive holiday party:
Before the Party:
All party planners swear by this - make a list. From the names of guests you’ll be inviting, to the decorations you plan to use, to the meals you want to include in your menu, it helps to have a checklist of things you need to accomplish and see for yourself which of the items on the list you can do by yourself and which items you can delegate to other people. Never be afraid to ask for help because this makes guests and family members feel more involved in the whole party itself. Another thing you can do before the party is to cook as much as you can ahead of time and stock up on appetizers and drinks. Some recipes you can prepare days ahead are the quiches, stews, soups, and tarts. As for the decorations, it works best when you have a theme in mind that you can follow. Before you go shopping for decorations, though, make sure to rummage through your cupboards for old decorations that you can tidy up and use for this year’s party - old and still working Christmas lights, vintage ornaments, holiday-themed candles and more. You don’t have to go all out when decorating the space because sometimes, all you really need are a couple of vases and bowls filled with flowers and ornaments, some dim lighting, and a mix of seasonal tunes to create the perfect ambience for a festive event.
During the Party:
When hosting a holiday party at your waterfront home for sale in 3 Rivers Pittsburgh, you need to learn to be flexible when it comes to certain unavoidable situations. Did someone unexpectedly drop by without an RSVP? Are guests not eating a particular dish? Do you have guests who brought their pets when you said it was strictly no pets allowed? Don’t lose your cool. Be a gracious host and offer your guests contingencies such as extra seating on the table, other food on the menu that they aren’t allergic to, and using an old bowl or tray to share some of your dishes with your guests’ furry friends.
After the Party:
Instead of having a ton of food leftover to tide you and your family through until the first week of the New Year, prepare Ziploc bags and plastic food containers for guests to use and place leftovers in. Also, make sure to have a designated spot for guests to leave their empty plates and glasses by the sink so that after-party cleanup is easier for you. In this day and age, sending hand-written thank you notes might be considered old-school, but a handwritten note shows says so much about you and gives your guests a warm feeling of appreciation for coming to the holiday party at your home for sale on the Allegheny River PA. If handwritten notes aren’t your thing, a simple thank you message on their Facebook walls or Twitter mentions will do.
Above all, remember to give yourself a rest every once in awhile so your body can recover from all the stress-inducing preparations. It is important that you keep in mind the essence of the holiday season and the joy it should bring. For even more helpful tips for the savvy homeowner, visit http://www.SoldByConnie.net.
