It’s December everyone–the time for parties, presents, and good eats!  Milo and I hosted an amazing Thanksgiving dinner last week in our new home, and I am so excited to share all the tips and tricks that made hosting Thanksgiving a smashing success this year!  All of my family raved that it was the best Thanksgiving we have ever had, and I have to agree it was one for the record books.  I finally had time to sit down and think about what made this holiday so special, and I have put together a list of must-haves that will ensure your holiday shindig is out-of-this-world amazing and FULL of positive energy! 🙂

In order to host a successful holiday party, planning ahead is key. In this post, I will link to free printables from other amazing bloggers, inspirational pictures and pins, and key items that will help you as you plan your holiday party.  If you purchase items from any of the links in this article, I may receive a small compensation.  As always I promise to only include links to products that I believe in!  Let’s get started.

Tips and Tricks for your Holiday Shindig

Step 1:  Pick a Theme

The key to a successful party is to decide what kind of gathering you are hosting and support your party theme with lots of awesome details.  Is your party formal or more casual?  I have found that picking a theme for the party is a great way to narrow down what kind of party you are having and is absolutely essential in hosting an amazing holiday party.  As a list-lover from way back, I always start any party plan with a good, old-fashioned pen-to-paper list. Start big, and then start narrowing down.  Once you decide on your theme, you can start figuring out the details.  For example, this Thanksgiving’s theme was “rustic holiday.”  Once the theme was decided, I started thinking about the details that would support this theme:  burlap table cloth, real greenery decorations, rustic wooden coasters, real wood table, etc.  It’s much easier to narrow down details if you pick a theme first.

Step 2:  Pick out Supporting Details

After you determine your theme, the real fun begins!  I absolutely love pouring through pictures and ideas for party favors, decor ideas, place settings, center pieces, and games.  The sky is literally the limit when it comes to picking out supporting details for your party, but I would caution against going too over the top.  I am the queen bee of biting off more than I can chew, so I have created this “cheat sheet” to check off the essential details that will ensure party success.  If you tend to go overboard on details and get overwhelmed, I created this free Holiday Party Planning Essential List as a great tool to keep you on track.

For our Thanksgiving party, we kept the budget tight by using wine glasses, chargers, and plates from the Dollar store and green cloth napkins.  Milo built (yes, I said BUILT!) a 12′ by 4′ holiday banquet table out of pallets, plywood, and (2) old electrical spools.  For the centerpiece, we used a mixture of pine garland we bought at the Farmer’s Market and free garland we picked up at Lowe’s where they give away all the branches they trim off of Christmas trees (score!).  My crafty husband also made drink coasters by cutting slices of wood out of a small log left over from a Christmas tree (also free at Lowe’s).  Some of my favorite details of the entire party were these fabulous free printable place cards from Bloom Designs Online.  Jenny Raulli is an amazing designer, and I am so appreciative that she shared her editable place cards with the world!  Did I mention they are FREE?!  Click here to download Jenny’s awesome Thanksgiving place card holders.  She has lots of other great, free printables on her Facebook page.  I also used the “I Am Thankful For” lists which you can download here.  To finish out our table, I used a mixture of mini Christmas trees, candles, and silver candleabras that we picked up at an estate sale a few years back.  All in all, I was really happy with how the decor turned out.  Let me know what you think by commenting!

Milo made a banquet table so that all of our guests had a proper place to sit

The table was enormous!

Place setting, using Dollar store charger and plate. Check out the coaster Milo made from Christmas tree wood!

Place cards by Bloom Designs Online

Thankful lists by Bloom Designs Online

All our guests were delighted when they saw their name (Design by Bloom Designs Online)

The Centerpiece full of fresh greenery and candles

Candelabras added great, warm lighting

Dollar store Wine glasses looking fancy!

Step 3:  Decide on a Menu

Determine your menu well in advance of the party so that you have plenty of time to make dishes ahead of time and you don’t spend the entire party in the kitchen preparing food!  Also, don’t be afraid to ask family and friends to bring side dishes to the party to alleviate your stress in the kitchen.  It’s always a great idea to have an area designated just for food so that you don’t “messy up” your table with lots of mismatched dishes and bowls.  We used the bar in our kitchen to create a buffet for everyone to serve their plates. Since it was Thanksgiving, we stuck to the traditional fare:  Fried turkey, honey ham, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, apple pie, and Gran-Gran’s biscuits and cornbread (last two items furnished by the legend herself 🙂 ). My Mom also brought some delicious macaroni and cheese bites, her famous Mexican dip, and butter beans and peas.  YUM!

The star of the show was, no doubt, Milo’s succulent fried turkey. He injected the turkey with some crazy concoction of marinade deliciousness and fried it in an electric fryer on our back porch.  The result was picture-perfect and beyond tasty!

Whatever your menu is, enlist help from guests and try to make as much as possible the day before.  For fun ideas on bite-size party foods, check out my Pinterest board, “Party Bites.”

Step 4:  Create a Signature Drink

Every party needs a signature drink, and it doesn’t have to be alcoholic to be delicious!  For our Thanksgiving soiree, our signature drink was a virgin sparkler so that the kiddos wouldn’t feel left out.  For the adults, we had vodka available that turned the sparkler into a yummy cocktail!  It’s always a good idea to pick a drink that fits the holiday you are celebrating, and nothing screams Thanksgiving like cranberries!  My stepdaughter Madison had such a great time mixing up the drink and even more fun getting to drink out of a fancy wine glass like the big people.  See the recipe below:

Thanksgiving Sparkler

(2) 3-L of Sprite

(2) Bottles of Sparkling Apple Cider

(4) Cans of Cranberry Concentrate

(2) Bags of Cranberries

Pour soda and sparkling cider into a large drink holder (I really like this one because you can write the name of your drink on the chalkboard sign and it’s elevated so it’s easy to get a cup under). Add the frozen cranberry concentrate and cranberries and watch your drink turn a beautiful, deep red color.  The cranberries float to the top and are the perfect embellishment.

Step 5:  Entertain your Guests

All good parties have good entertainment.  Break out the karaoke machine, bust out the board games, and get ready for some good, wholesome fun.  If you are musical, feel free to bring out the guitar and turn on the vocal chords to offer a little free entertainment to your guests.  If you don’t have any board games, Charades never fails!  For our after dinner entertainment, we decided to have a surprise birthday party for my Gran-Gran who turned 80 the day after Thanksgiving. Rather than play games, we all wrote things about Gran-Gran that we are thankful for and sealed them in envelopes to give to her.  We also showered her with presents and had a birthday cupcake tower full of candles!  The smile on Gran-Gran’s face was entertainment enough for all of us.

Let me know your party entertainment ideas by commenting!

Step 6:  Set the Atmosphere

Whenever you are planning a party, make sure that you set an atmosphere that appeal to all (5) senses:  sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.  When people walk into your party, you should have something to delight all of their senses.  Your party eats and signature drink will cover the taste element and your amazing decor will be a feast for the ideas, but what about sound, smell, and touch?  Here are some of my tips on appealing to the other (3) senses:

1. Smell- Don’t ever underestimate the power of smell!  I am a candle fanatic, and I have them burning in every corner of our home even if we aren’t having a party.  To me, there’s nothing to beat comforting scents that match the season.  For holiday parties, scents like fresh balsam, apple cinnamon, and warm vanilla are homey and comforting for your party guests.  If candles aren’t your thing, throw some cinnamon sticks, orange peel, star anise, and cloves in a pot of simmering water on the stove.  This warm, spicy scent will fill up your whole house and bring smile to your guests’ faces.
2. Sound- Music is one of the best ways to set the atmosphere for your party and add to the ambiance of your holiday party. For our Thanksgiving party, I chose instrumental holiday music and linked up my iPod to speakers throughout the house and on our porch.  My favorite portable bluetooth speaker is the JBL Flip.  It’s small, portable, and fairly inexpensive–the perfect little speaker to leave on the porch or in the bathroom so that the sounds of the season follow guests wherever they go!
3. Touch- I don’t know about you, but there is something about the holiday season that makes me crave soft, plush blankets! To keep my guests comfortable, I draped holiday blankets on chairs and sofas so that they were available in the event that someone got cold.  Throw blankets are a great way to cozy up a space.  Also, make sure that you stock your bathroom with nourishing soap and hand lotion so that hands are always soft and clean! 🙂

Step 7:  Create a Big Finale

One sure-fire way to make sure that your holiday party is one that everybody remembers is to end with a “bang!”  Whether you send your guests off with awesome party favors, set up a photo booth to take pictures in, or send guests home with “doggy bags” full of treats and good eats, it’s important to have a good finale at your party (The bonus is that you also have a reason to start shutting things down if you are exhausted from all your hard work and ready to starting winding down yourself!).  Make sure to plan your finale in advance of the party so that your party doesn’t die a slow, unmemorable death as guests start to trickle out one by one (okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but ya’ll get the point!).  For our Thanksgiving holiday party finale, we had a Griswold-style Christmas lights reveal, complete with these fun, holiday glasses that made everything more magical!  After eating, celebrating, and merry-making for several hours, we filed guests outside to look at Milo’s OUTSTANDING Christmas lights (outstanding is an understatement–I will be posting pictures of his Christmas lights in a future article, so stay tuned!) through holiday glasses that made each light flicker with a snowman, snowflake, reindeer, or candy cane!  It was such a hit that even the adults were giddy with Christmas joy!

After our big finale, our guests said their goodbyes and went home with full bellies, happy smiles, and warm spirits–the mark of a successful holiday party in my book.  We had so much fun hosting Thanksgiving that we are going to host Christmas at our house this year too.  I can’t wait to share pictures of our Christmas tree, my trendy (and inexpensive!) gift-wrapping, and a ton of other ideas to add holiday magic to your Christmas season.

For more holiday party inspiration, check out my Holidays Pinterest board here!