From decorating to cooking and inviting guests to entertaining, as well as everything in between, the hustle and bustle of preparing for holidays can be rather overwhelming, for moms. Specifically, crafting the perfect holiday table, the predominant meeting and celebration area for family and friends alike—is an irrefutably tall and challenging task.
To assure that as many holidays as possible are positive and worth remembering, and also, to help moms across the world, let’s take a look at five tips for setting up the perfect holiday table!
Perfect Holiday Table Guide
5. Place Extra Chairs, Silverware, and Plates
In the vast majority of instances, holiday guests are expected by their hosts. However, an occasional, unexpected drop-in—from someone in the neighborhood, or more than likely, the guest of a guest—does pop-up. Similarly, the quick-moving nature of holiday preparation can easily result in a host miscounting the number of individuals who will be seated at the main table.
In both of these instances, the guests who’re “forgotten”, and need to have a chair, plate, glass, and silverware brought to the table, may feel left out and/or burdensome.
This point can impact not only the overall quality of the holiday, but also, the individual’s mood and feelings. At the very least, though, bringing the mentioned items to the holiday table will be a minor inconvenience for everyone.
That’s why moms and all other holiday hosts should be sure to place extra—too many as opposed to too few—spots at their tables.
4. Less is More, for Decorations
Decorating holiday tables with a tremendous number of festive, eye-catching fixtures can be rather tempting, for moms. However, the practice is actually rather ill-advised; for holiday-table decorations, less is more.
This somewhat disappointing guideline comes down to one factor: space. By the time everyone is seated and the holiday courses are brought in, table space will likely become something of a commodity.
For as beautiful as they look, table decorations will then become frustration-creating annoyances; don’t be surprised to see some of them simply moved onto the floor, in this instance.
Read Also: Home Decor Hacks
Of course, this doesn’t mean nice table decorations cannot be arranged; having no decorations would be just as bad as having too many decorations! But to save both time and energy, and also, to assure that guests aren’t overwhelmed, it’s recommended that moms not go overboard on holiday table decorations.
3. Set-Up Multiple Stations for Easier Serving
Another major pitfall of well-populated holiday tables is serving. Some guests will want a particular food item at the same time as other guests, and similarly, passing a popular plate can become both tedious and time consuming. Finally, returning to the kitchen to refill said in-demand plates can be even tougher when they are difficult to get ahold of!
That’s why moms should be sure to set-up multiple stations for easier serving—especially for likely sought-after foods. Having a number of these stations available will assure that everyone can easily enjoy whatever foods they want, that reaching and passing plates will be at a minimum, and that refilling plates can be as simple as possible, for hosts.
2. Make Use of Suitable Candles
For a while, it seemed as though candles were “out”, for holiday tables—according to home and holiday “professionals”, that is. What countless magazine and website writers failed to understand when tossing the decorative tools to the curb, however, is that they afford holiday tables several considerable benefits.
Suitable candles—or those with a scent, size, and style that fit both a particular holiday and table—add to an atmosphere’s quality of smell, appearance, and overall feeling. In this way, a relatively small and affordable centerpiece that’s sometimes restricted to table centers solely for romantic occasions can really set the holiday mood.
Don’t stress over holiday table centerpieces, moms—in this case, the best answer is also the one that’s the most obvious.
1. Expect Unforeseen Obstacles
Holiday hosts can optimally prepare for guests, in terms of cooking, decorating, and entertaining alike, only to see the actual holiday present some sort of left-field issue(s). Perhaps a guest no longer eats meat, or maybe a guest decides to pick a fight with another guest—whatever the case, it’s important for hosts to expect unforeseen obstacles to appear during holidays, even if every possible precaution has been taken to assure that they don’t.
Just as ample preparation and effort is put into live television broadcasts, but a number of blooper reels can still be found on the internet with a simple search, there’s a good chance something will go wrong for careful holiday hosts. It’s important to not get stressed out by these potential challenges.
These tips are sure to help every mom create the perfect holiday table. Thanks for reading, and remember that holiday preparation isn’t complete until the hosts enjoy themselves!
Jessica Kane is a writer for SIlver Superstore, home of the internet’s best flatware.
