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Writer's pictureKaitlyn Field

Make Your Holiday Spectacular And Simple: Budgeting, Planning, Meal Prep & More

The holidays can be stressful, and hosting is a whole other level am I right??

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Having hosted my fair share of Friendsgiving's and a few Thanksgiving's under my belt I was always fascinated by other's high stress around this time of year, and I NEVER wanted to feel that. The Holiday Season is one to be enjoyed and I just felt people were missing out on all the joy and the true meaning, all because they were worried about hosting, planning and preparing a great Holiday for their loved ones.



I think my first bit of advice would be to set your boundary. This is your home, your event and you have every right to set the rules and blueprint of the festivities.


For us we require from every family attending, to bring a dish: rolls, sides or dessert. We always make one side and the main course (typically the turkey). This takes the pressure off of you to make every dish and feed everyone. And allows all the guests to try a dish they might not regularly make.


Making fewer dishes is also great for the wallet and leads me to my next tip: Budget.


With the holidays, comes this enormous need to give of ourselves. If you're like me, this is a hard thing to balance, but bigger and more is not better. Be conscious of your budget, there is no need to purchase all new seating arrangements for a meal you host once a year.


I get my invites out early enough so we can all get a date down and have it in our calendars, giving everyone ample amounts of time to respond, giving you time to get a headcount and plan how big your turkey needs to be and how large of a side you need to prepare.


A few weeks before, I have everyone in a group chat, and provide the details of the event ( time, food provided, headcount and what the guests might want to bring) Then I ask for them to respond in the chat with what they would like to bring. This ensures we don't get any repeats and all the information is in one place.




Next tip to lower your stress this season is to Pre-Prep.


The day or night before my event I prepare my turkey: rubbing my seasonings onto the skin and my go-to side dish is green bean casserole. I'll mix the beans, cans of soup, cheese and mayonnaise into my baking dish the night before and put it into the fridge, covered.


This means that all I have to do is set the items out for 20 minutes on the counter to reach room temperature the day of, pre-heat the oven and let my turkey work it's magic while occasionally basting and rotating the pan.


I make things easier on myself as far as table set-up by arranging seats and place settings a few days before. Then I officially set my table(s) the night before, leaving time for rest the day of the Holiday!


When I host I love planning ahead of time. I always want my guests to feel welcome and at home. Chris and I don't have any kids yet, but I have a few booster seats for kids ready at our house. I also got an activity table cloth for the kids to occupy themselves at the dinner table.


As far as set up of food:


In years past I set things up "family style," but as the years go on and families get bigger, I have found "buffet style" works easiest in our home.


Because of the kids and the busyness of the day, we don't really account for game playing, we are just glad to catch up and get wrapped up in good conversation but if you are hosting a mostly adult dinner you can absolutely pull out a few board games and set them to the side.


Remember, this is you holiday, your event, your home! You are the hosts and it is up to you what is done in your home. Inform the guests that you have some games and ask if anyone is interested in playing. Or maybe you want to take everyone for a stroll to see the twinkle lights in the neighborhood. You are in control of maneuvering your event.


I hope you found this helpful and that you find yourself at peace this season, and lean into what matters most: Time with family and friends!


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