If you’re hosting Christmas dinner, it’s a lot of responsibility to take on. Not only do you have to make sure that the turkey and all of the trimmings are cooked to perfection, but you need to ensure that your guests are comfortable and having a good time. Here’s how you can go about it.
Consider the room itself
Take a look around your dining room, is it an inviting space? Repainting the walls, having the floors professionally cleaned, adjusting the lighting and investing in some thermal drapes at the windows will keep the draft out and ensure the room is as cozy and inviting as possible.
If you have a formal dining room, chances are you don’t use it all that often, and it might have been last Christmas since you actually hosted anything in there. So have a look around and make any changes if it’s looking shabby.
Adding some speakers to the room to play some soft background music is a good idea and can improve the ambiance of your dinner parties. Brands like Sonos are known for their great sound quality, you can use the Alexa or Google Home voice activated feature to ask for any type of music, artist or album.
Or you could bluetooth a playlist from your phone directly to the speakers. A voice activated speaker also works well with smart light bulbs too, so you can adjust the brightness or even color warmth or coolness to however you want- based on the kind of atmosphere you want to set.
Decide if your table is up to scratch
The next step is the table itself. Your first step is to work out how many people you’re going to be feeding for Christmas. From there, you can work out how many seats you need. You might need to purchase a larger table, even if it’s to use for the one day. Large second hand table and chairs can often be found on marketplace, and you can always give them a lick of paint to update them if needed.
Another option is to purchase a smaller table for the children. This would give you more seating space at the main table. If you’re hosting for a lot of people but only have limited seating, another option would be to serve people at different times. For example, split your eighteen guests into three lots of six, and serve each group at a different time- leaving around twenty or thirty minutes for everyone to eat.
Find the right decorations
To make the table look festive and Christmas-y, of course it’s all about the decorations. Take a look on sites like Pinterest for ideas; don’t just buy things as you see them. First, have a theme or at least a color scheme in mind so you can be sure that everything coordinates beautifully.
Will you go with a classic ‘red, green and gold’ Christmas colors or will you go for something more modern light light blue or rose gold with silver? You could even look into monochrome Christmas tables and other unique ideas if you wanted to go with something a bit different! Purchase a table runner and some place mats. From there you can add things like name cards, napkin holders and perhaps a stunning Christmas table centerpiece.
Invest in nice crockery and glassware
It’s not just the decorations that can make the table look festive, the plates and glasses can also add to the theme! Gorgeous gold or silver rimmed glasses, metallic or festive patterned plates are all options. You can find these cheaply and go with plastic varieties, or spend a little more and bring them out each year. Once you’re done, package everything up carefully and put in the loft to use again next year.
Provide entertainment
Christmas crackers on the table, table games, and other simple form of entertainment are often usually enough to get guests mingling and laughing. If you or one of your family have a skill such as playing an instrument, this is something you could incorporate into the entertainment too.
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