Go back

How to Prep Your House for Your Holiday Party | RST Brands

/core/media/media.nl?id=5179855&c=1259219&h=Sw43hi76_AtAJFOHDphTpqV2nAKAYJhw-dw6sCKTp1pYUR4l
/core/media/media.nl?id=5179859&c=1259219&h=eE7fNrTyqhTzYneo-hvhYW8enL9YJTaDgnb9wlY1uG7ZGgMG
 How to Prep Your House for Your Holiday Party | RST Brands
By RST Brands
·
December 20, 2017

With long-awaited work parties, fun gift exchanges, delectable meals, and annual friendly gatherings, the holiday season around Christmas and New Years can be a wonderful, joyous time of year. While attending these events is typically easy and pressure-free, planning to host a party of your own can be stressful- even for the most seasoned entertainers. By keeping in mind these helpful tips, both you and your home can be ready to host a cocktail party for the books.

Flow Comes First

While things like music, lighting, and good company are important when it comes to throwing a festive holiday party, ensuring your home's layout aids in a good flow is critical. By strategically positioning tables, chairs, sofas, and other pieces, you can be certain that your space has good flow and feels welcoming to your guests. Here are some ideas of how to utilize your furniture to aid with flow:

  • Sofas: Big bulky couches can pose a problem when hosting a party for a lot of people. They don't provide much seating and take up a lot of room. If you have a bulky couch position it so that it will take up the least amount of room possible and will leave plenty of rooms for guests. If you own a sofa sectional there are many options to create a spacious area for your guests. Use the sectional pieces to create multiple different gathering and mingling areas.
  • Bookshelves: Bookshelves are good for much more than just holding books. This functional piece can easily double as a snack bar, drink station, or entertainment area during holiday cocktail parties.
  • Coffee tables: Though useful and functional for daily use, coffee tables can pose a bit of a problem when it comes to transforming your home into a flow-friendly party space. With large groups of people, a coffee table can feel in the way and can be a tripping hazard. Try moving the table against a wall or against the back of the sofa. This way it is out of the way, but could still be used to feature seasonal snacks and Christmas cocktails.
  • Fire tables: Having a fire table out on the patio can help with flow inside your home. Ideal for entertaining, fire tables create the perfect gathering space for friends and family to enjoy warm, fireside fun. With clean design features and dual-functionality, fire tables make an ideal addition to any backyard Christmas area.

By being creative and innovative with the furniture pieces you put in your home, you can quickly and easily convert a comfortable, cozy living space into a bright, flow-friendly place for holiday entertaining.

Decor Can Do Wonders

Whether you have an expansive home that's built for a crowd or you are working with a smaller space for your holiday party, there are creative ways decorations can be implemented to help keep guests out of areas in your home you wish guests not to access. Consider hanging fabric or curtains to keep belongings out of sight or to separate places from the party area. Similarly, you can also get creative with how you arrange your furniture or where you situate drink stations, snack tables, and gathering spaces and, once the layout is complete, add tasteful decor items to make the area still seem natural, welcoming and festive.

Count is Key

Though it may sound rather obvious, one of the most critical components of throwing a memorable holiday party is to check and double-check that you have all of your numbers right.

  • Exactly how many people are you expecting to attend this event? Consider requesting a solidified RSVP to help you get a final headcount for the party.
  • Do you have enough food? While some say it's better to have too much food than not enough, you don't want to go overboard in the preparation, setup, and expense, nor do you want to make your guests feel overwhelmed. Remember that, unlike hosting a dinner party, hosting a cocktail party means you can easily get away with simply setting out a few favorite finger foods and light snacks for guests to snack on throughout the party.
  • Do you have enough seating? While one of the perks of a cocktail party is that you don't have to have a seat for each and every guest, it's smart to ensure you have enough for at least half of the people on your guest list.

Not only does having these numbers help planning and preparation go smoothly, but it can also help to take away some of the stress that can often accompany being a holiday party host. Furthermore, by heeding the advice of these holiday party tips, you can ensure your festive gathering goes off without a hitch.

/core/media/media.nl?id=5179858&c=1259219&h=CWR0_bLahjAOsPNInX2BtqOyCPTiRs-V8Cvx4RtcVPibKUiw