Caterhire's Top Tips For Hosting a Christmas Party at Home

Christmas is just around the corner, and it’s time to think about the festive season once again. If you’re hosting a Christmas Party at Home, you’ve come to the right place! Here at Caterhire.ie, we’ve curated our top tips in one handy place to help you ensure your party is the ultimate success, along with our recommendations for party-perfect must-haves to hire!

Start Planning Ahead of Time

A good dinner party wasn’t planned in a day, and preparation is key to ensuring the event runs smoothly. Firstly, select the date and inform your guests well in advance to give everyone ample time to make plans. Top tip: mid-December can be an ideal time for a Christmas party at home, as it’s not too close to Christmas that people are in in that “holiday rush” mode. You may also wish to consider the week after Christmas, which gives you and your guests something fun to look forward to once most of the festive events begin to die down.

Decide on Numbers

Hosting a party at home largely differs to an event in a venue. Ensuring you have enough space to accommodate your guests is key, and your available space will determine how many guests you can realistically expect to invite. You can check out our Room Capacity Calculator for working out your space requirements.

Choose Your Setting

a. Where Will You Serve Food? Consider the space available. Do you have enough chairs and tables for your guests or do you need to rent furniture? Here at Caterhire.ie, we hire a wide range of furniture, including Tables and Chairs such as Banquet Tables and Dining and Banquet Chairs. Check out the Chiavari Chair Limewash for a popular favourite to hire!

b. Choosing a Table: When it comes to tables, shape is important. Round tables are ideal for encouraging conversation between guests and displaying centrepieces, whilst rectangular tables are ideal space-savers and are perfect when serving sharing platters or serving dishes, thanks to their surface area. We hire both, and would be delighted to assist you in choosing the perfect table for your Christmas party at home.

Decorating & Tablescape

It’s time for the fun part! Create your desired ambiance by selecting the perfect table linen, crockery, glassware, and cutlery from our selection for hire here at Caterhire.ie. Popular Christmas colours include red, gold, green and silver, which can be mixed and matched, or you could opt for a colour co-ordinated approach for a streamlined, cohesive look. And of course, it’s Christmas, so a little sparkle never went amiss! Check out our Fine Dining Hire Package for 10 guests for everything you’ll need to hire for your Christmas party at home in one convenient package!

Food - Buffet, Sit-Down, or Canapés?

Another key moment in the preparation stages is deciding on whether you'll be serving a buffet-style spread, a more formal sit-down meal, or perhaps an elegant mixture of canapés, hors d'oeuvres, crudités, melba toasts and more party food favourites. Look no further than our selection of Buffet & Canape Hire!

If you’ll be cooking, it’s key to prepare at least some of the food in advance. As it’s important for a host to entertain and mingle with their guests, you won’t want to spend the duration of the party in the kitchen, so we recommend making a list of dishes that you can prepare the day/night before or the morning of the party. This also applies to beverages, such as punch, which can be pre-prepared. Or you may wish to hire caterers and our extensive range of Catering Equipment for hire to take the stress out of food preparation.

And speaking of food, it’s better to over-estimate the amount of food and beverages you'll need. The worst thing would be to run out of either! Top tip: Encourage guests to mingle by placing food in the areas where you want guests to congregate.

Beverages:

Ensure that your bar is fully stocked with a variety of beverages. There’s no need to go overboard purchase every variety of spirit, however, a mix of wine (red and white, approximately one bottle of wine for every 2 guests) and beer (approximately 2 per guests) is a good guide.We also recommend one glass of champagne per person (a 750ml bottle will fill approximately six flutes/coupes) for toasting. Also ensure to stock up on non-alcoholic beverages such as fizzy drinks, juice and cordial. Keep in mind the season, bearing in mind that drinks such as mulled wine (red) and hot whiskeys are popular during the Christmas period. Top Tip: Stock up on ice for beverages!

Entertainment

Above all, your Christmas party at home should be the epicentre of entertainment and festive fun. You can ensure a lively atmosphere by playing music, setting up a corner for both adults and children with our Games and Props here at Caterhire.ie, and perhaps organising a Secret Santa exchange! Top Tip: Check out our Jumbo Games Package to hire to ensure fun for guests of all ages.

The Aftermath

To keep the area as tidy as possible, stock up on bins such as our Pedestal Bin with Lid for hire for easy waste disposal. And remember, all washing up and linen laundry is included in the hire price of our crockery, cutlery, glassware and table linen, so you can leave it to us!

Other Top Tips:

• Ensure you have a place to store your guests ’coats. We recommend our Coat and Clothes Rail available for hire.
• Pre-book taxis home for your guests for extra hosting brownie points!
• Ensure you have ample options available for guests with any dietary requirements or allergies.

By following our helpful guide, you’ll be well on your way to hosting the ultimate Christmas Party at Home.

Have a question? Contact us at info@caterhire.ie or on 01 294 3111, where our team would be delight to assist you with bringing your vision to life!