Who doesn’t love a good bit of holiday cheer? And who doesn’t love having a convenient way to spend it with family and friends? Backyards are the meeting points for many-a gathering, with the added bonus of saving you big bucks when compared to expensive venues for holiday parties, such as restaurants, malls, or other such pay-to-attend places. Nothing adds a little extra cheer like telling the people you’ll be inviting over for the holidays that their vacation is an all-expenses-paid one. Hosting a holiday party in your backyard is both cheap and profitable– the brownie points you’ll earn with the family or your circle of friends– or for your coworkers, should you decide to host a work party– are priceless indeed. But to truly host the best backyard party it can be, there are a few things you need to have prepared first. Here are two essential party planning tips for your next holiday celebration:
Have a Back-up plan
Life can be unpredictable. That’s where foresight and pre-planning comes in. If you’ve decided to have food be a part of the party favors, for example, you need to know whether you’ll be making the food yourself or if you’re catering. Homemade meals can be a cheap and delicious way to show that you care; if you’re making the food yourself, prepare the food a day or two in advance, so as not to let your oven find some way to malfunction. (Kitchen appliances can smell fear.) “Plan it, don’t panic!” If your oven does malfunction by then, you’ll have ample time for plan B– and you’ll thank yourself for having a plan B already in mind. Plan B can be anything from buying purchasing store-bought meals (Walmart makes a mean rotisserie chicken) to phoning a friend and asking them if they wouldn’t mind letting you make use of their oven. What are the odds that both your ovens won’t be working?
Allow For Imperfection
You read that right. Allow for imperfection. No party is perfect, so don’t set yourself up for failure by making an unattainable goal for yourself. If something does go wrong, take it in stride or laugh it off. Stress can lead to all manner of unsightly things, and at the end of the day, this party should be for you, too. Who says you can’t bake your cake and eat it too? It’s your cake! If something doesn’t turn out right, even with careful planning done in advance, don’t sweat the details. Flexibility can be a real boon in such situations, as well, and even if the three-course meal you had in mind ended up to be a zero-course meal, you can always order pizza. If the food’s fresh and free, nobody’s going to care whether or not it was baked in your oven or Little Caesar’s.
