We hosted our first formal holiday dinner over Christmas, and it turned out just lovely. We really enjoy entertaining, and I have a tendency to make too grand of plans, so we've scaled back in quantity to account for my insanity.
Entertaining has a definite learning curve, and you only get better with experience. I think back to some of the first showers that I hosted, shake my head and smile. In the past year, we hosted quite a bit less, which allowed me to not make myself crazy on a regular basis. And really let the cleaning of the house go. Which meant that the week leading up to the holiday was a frenzy of cleaning and we were still preparing the table and food when the guests started arriving.
The evening was wonderful, though. I made a last minute splurge on four bunches of fresh flowers the day of dinner (I had stupidly forgot to buy any white wine--we had plenty of red, but no white, which is what I drink when feeling fancy). I love having fresh flowers when guests are planned, and arranging flowers really soothes me. It hasn't been in the budget for a long time, though. I'm glad I splurged, the flowers have lasted quite a while. Right after the new year, I re-arranged the vases, and they're about due for another rearrangement. They may actually last longer than most people's New Year's resolutions (I'll be posting my resolutions later today--only 6 days late!).
Entertaining tips
Be prepared -- any good girl scout should be, but know at least two days in advance what food will be served, and who will be drinking what. For a big dinner like this, my husband and I detail exactly what we need to cook, and go to the grocery store as early as possible. We also figure out a rough schedule of what gets cooked when so that everything is hot and ready at the same time.
Start early -- china, crystal, linens and silver should all be ready to go the day before. Trust me. Even if you're insane and have two cats, follow this advice. Otherwise your in-laws will arrive with the table half-set.
Arranging flowers
- A wonderful Southern woman once told me that a butterfly should be able to flit through the flowers of an arrangement--it should not be too crowded. Depending on the type of arrangement, I always remember this. I do have limited vases, so like any rule I ignore it from time to time.
- Use different types of flowers, but find balance. I used three colors for the Christmas arrangement, but two of them were mums of different sizes, so it didn't look all over the place.
- Unexpected surprises, like green mums on long stems, can catch the eye.
- Don't get stuck when re-arranging. Just because you started with one arrangement doesn't mean that you have to stick to it. Once the water gets a little cloudy, rinse and trim all stem ends, fill vases with fresh water and flower food (sometimes I add a little sugar if I don't have flower food), rearrange, and voila -- fresh flowers for at least a week more! My original arrangements each used all three colors (red, green and white) because it was Christmas. When I redid the vases, I kept one multicolored (below), a small square vase with just green and white for the kitchen table (above), and a set of three bud vases with just red. Another bud vase has a few green and white blooms. My next rearrangement will be more limited by the quality and size of blooms left.
- Enjoy the splurge!
Freshly rearranged flowers from New Year's Day, along with some Canadian maple syrup -- a holiday present from my husband's family up north.
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