Thanksgiving Dinner – How to host a fabulous one

One of the best fall holidays is almost here, and we are as excited as you are. Hosting Thanksgiving dinner is all about a thankful heart, warm candlelight and absurdly delicious food in a large gathering of people you love and care about.

This year, at Firacard, we don’t want you to feel stressed out because you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner. So, we are here to give you some tips on how to host a fabulous, stress-free Thanksgiving dinner. 

In our last post on the blog, we shared five things you should do a week before Thanksgiving. So by now, we believe that you should have your menu already planned and grocery shopping done. 

So, let’s get right into the things that will make your Thanksgiving dinner the talk of your guests till the next one. 

Set the Table

Setting your table is not something you want to wait till Thanksgiving morning to do. You should set your Thanksgiving dinner table a day or two days before Thanksgiving. The advantage of setting your table before Thanksgiving is that it helps you identify any gaps in your table setting so you can fix them way ahead of time. You will know if you’re short on spoons, utensils and napkins. Imagine the horror of saying Aunt Jessica can’t have desserts because there are no more spoons! No darling, never. 

Setting your table a day or two before also lets you get all those fab pictures for Instagram without stress. You can move things around and get a few different shots and try a few decor styles.

Speaking of decor styles, while Pinterest is full of great ideas, it might also tempt you to go overboard. So, please know that all you need for a gorgeous table setting is a pretty tablecloth, beautiful napkins, and a place card to reduce guest confusion. 

Don’t forget to space the setting out so that your guests are not bumping elbows into each other every time they try to use a spoon.

You can also beautify your table with fall-themed flowers as centrepieces to add a nice touch. Flowers should be bought the day before Thanksgiving to avoid them wilting.

Start Cooking

It is important to start cooking the day before Thanksgiving, especially if pies, salads and cakes are on your menu list.

By now, you should have bought all the supplies and ingredients you will need for Thanksgiving dinner preparation from the grocery shop.

It’s time to figure out dishes that can be prepared and refrigerated ahead and prepare them to avoid cumbersome activities on thanksgiving morning. 

The more prep work you can do ahead of time, the better for you.

Clean your space

That you have been so busy planning and cooking for Thanksgiving dinner is not enough to excuse to invite guests to a messy house. 

Pack away everything that you won’t need for Thanksgiving dinner. Tidy the house a day before and put out some fragrant diffusers. 

Don’t hesitate to ask family members for help with the cleaning. If you can afford to, you could also hire a cleaning service to help you while you focus on other Thanksgiving dinner activities.

Bring out the turkey

On Thanksgiving morning, bring out your already thawed turkey and start to cook. While you wait for your turkey to cook (this may take about three to four hours depending on the size of the turkey), use that time to finish the preparation of your side dishes and desserts. 

If your guests are going to start coming in by 6 pm, start cooking your turkey by 2:30 or 3 pm so that your guests will meet the nice aroma of already done roasted turkey. If you do not know how to carve your turkey, ask for help or learn it the day before.

Ask for Help

If you have a few people attending your dinner, you should enlist some help during the cooking process. It could be your husband, friend, sister or mom. You are at a better advantage if your helper is someone you work well with and has some cooking knowledge. 

Also, it is perfectly okay to assign some of the cooking to your friends or family members. You’re not Martha Stewart. Taking on all the planning, cooking and decorating all by yourself is a recipe for disaster. You can also get some of your guests to bring different dishes.

Enjoy Yourself

It is easy to get so carried away with hosting a thanksgiving dinner that you forget to have fun. So, about an hour before your guests arrive, get into the shower, change into your planned outfit, style your hair and put some makeup on. This is to avoid looking messy if guests arrive early or while you are adding finishing touches to your dinner set up. 

Pick out what you will be wearing early and make sure it is clean, ironed and ready. 

Having an already prepared game plan will drastically reduce stress, so follow the plan through, and if at all it falls apart, don’t let that get to you. Focus on the bigger picture, which is that your guests are comfortable and enjoying their meal.

Hosting Thanksgiving may seem like a stressful task which we may have to admit that it is. However, following these six tips we just shared with you will help lift some of the stress associated with planning and make it a fun ride all the way. We do hope you have a delightful Thanksgiving dinner.

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