You’ve opened and stored the wedding gifts, sent all of your thank-cards, and neatly tucked away your wedding dress. Guess what? And now it’s the holidays. Time does fly that fast on your first year as newlyweds. Do remain calm because we’ve concocted 7 stress-free ways to entertain in your first home as newlyweds. Read on and avoid a stressful Christmas!
7 Stress-free Tips for Holiday Entertaining as Newlyweds
- STAY ORGANIZED AND DRAFT A PLAN – Keep a schedule or timetable for accomplishing your holiday tasks such as gift-shopping, menu planning, and tree-trimming. Discuss this plan with your spouse and work together to accomplish these tasks. Don’t feel the urge to complete the tasks right away because you can better allocate blocks of time to get things done.
- KEEP HOLIDAY FOOD AND WINE ESSENTIALS – During the holidays, you can expect to have many unexpected guests in addition to those who are already close to you and your spouse. Essentials can include having the following items on-hand: filings for cheese boards, wine crackers, tea cookies, chocolates, some bottles of wine and champagne, and coffee and tea selections. These food items come in very handy and can be hard to procure all at once when the Christmas season is in full swing.
- CHOOSE DOABLE CHRISTMAS DECOR – Keep a budget and stick with a decorating style that is easy to apply throughout your home. Modern rustic or farmhouse holiday decorations with whimsical details are fun to work with because you can adapt a more personal and eclectic way of decorating your place without looking like a cookie-cutter Christmas house.
- KEEP THE PARTY SMALL – If this will be your first holiday dinner, try to keep the list manageable with less than 12 guests. Your list will most likely include your in-laws so be sure to select the invitees carefully.
- OPT FOR A FAMILY OR BUFFET-STYLE DINNER ARRANGEMENT – Unless you are ready to handle the full details of a full sit-down dinner with an impressive tablesetting, opt for a more casual arrangement. We suggest a buffet-style dinner or even a family-style set up that is fun. It gives you more flexibility and clean up is more manageable.
- PLAN MANAGEABLE A DINNER MENU WITH CLASSIC CHOICES – Don’t cook an entire Christmas meal alone. Get help or even consider store-bought items that are classic dinner entrees like pre-cooked ham, roast beef, or chicken. Have basic sides like oven-roasted vegetables, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes. Order ready-made desserts from your grocery which are always more practical than making your own. Remember this is a stress-free holiday meal!
- KEEP YOUR GIFT LIST MANAGEABLE – You just got married and it may seems like you have to thank everyone in the world. Resist the urge! Choose a more intimate number of people that are close to you and your spouse. For people that you still want to express gratitude, send a lovely Christmas card instead.
Happy Entertaining from the Bellenza Team!
