Stress Free Holidays: Prep Dishes and Table Early

Welcome to my Stress Free Holidays series, I will be sharing some tips to reduce the amount of stress this time of year puts on all of us.  Some are ones I have used, some are ones I will be instituting this year, and some I will be using in the future.  If you have any great ways to reduce the amount of stress please feel free to share them with us!

If you are hosting an event over the holidays, whether it is Christmas Eve Celebrations or Christmas Dinner or Boxing Day events (if you are in the UK), there is a whole other list of things to do on top of the already mile long list.  I suggest starting your prep for the big event as early as possible. One of the ways to prepare early is to clean up those special dishes and serving platters that may only be used once a year.  (An extra tip when picking out Christmas dishes is to take into consideration availability to replace if something gets broke or you need more, and try to find a set that is Dishwasher Safe!)  Also, give those table linens a wash to freshen them up and get the wrinkles out.  If you have the room and don't need the table, maybe even considering setting the table a day or two before the event so you aren't scrambling to find all the napkins, little salt and pepper shakers or centerpieces the morning of the event when you are already rushing around.

If you host, do you have special Christmas dishes? If so what pattern do you have, or did you inherit a set of family dishes?

I only recently started my set after hosting for 5 years now.  I have a combination of Lenox Winter Greetings and Pfaltzgraff Winterberry and am loving this being the first year of a really nice table setting!