The holiday season brings different things to different families. You can peek into some windows and find lots of laughter, chaos, food, people and great memories. Every family celebrates the holiday’s in their own special way, but if it’s your turn to host this years holiday party you can prepare ahead of time and make sure a good time will be had by everyone. Family’s both big and small deserve to have a holiday full of laughter, fun and full bellies. We’ve put together a list of 10 tips to help get your holiday party off to a good start. Enjoy!

1. What’s Your Theme - Set the mood with a theme. Pick a season or color theme which will set the tone of the holiday party. Get creative and fun with this by adding centerpieces, flowers, table settings and food garnishes.
2. Holiday Memories - Hang up a large piece of thick construction paper or a poster board and allow all family members to sign in when they first arrive to your house. You can also get creative, for example, if it’s Thanksgiving allow everyone to trace their hand and make a little turkey head on the thumb and then sign it. Make sure you have markers, crayons or colored pencils available.
3. Creative Centerpiece - Flowers always make a great centerpiece, but they can sometimes be expensive. Try fruits and foliage. If there are lots of pine cones in your neighborhood, they would look great in a large glass vase. Fruit also looks great in glass vases. Cinnamon sticks work too and make the room smell fabulous.
4. Something for Everyone - Plan your rsvp list and menu ahead of time. Once you know who’s attending then you’ll know how much you need to prepare and how many varieties of food you’d like to have. You can't always please everyone, but you can definitely try to have something everyone likes. Variety is key!
5. Holiday Drinks - Have a little fun and create a signature drink for the night. Create a catchy name for the drink. Make sure you post the drink and it’s contents near the bar or drink table, so everyone can make their own (unless you’re catering your event).
6. Little Assistants - If you’re serving appetizers, this is a great time to put the kids to work. Let them assist by serving the appetizers to the family and guest. Put on the holiday aprons and let them serve.
7. Fancy Desserts - Everyone loves dessert time. This is the sweetest time of the evening, so make sure you spice it up with a variety of chocolates, cakes, candies and more. Don’t hold back, it’s only for one evening.
8. It’s Game Time - If your family loves games this is a great time to play. Bring out the cards and board games and listen to the laughter fill the room. Have fun and make sure you get a really good laugh in. You’ll feel great when it’s all over.
9. Music Playlist - Create a fabulous music playlist ahead of time, so you know you’ll keep everyone energetic throughout the evening. Let the dancing and singing begin. Show your family you still can move like you used to in high school.
10. Time Management - Plan, plan, plan. The worst thing you can do is leave everything for the day of. Plan ahead, so that on party day you can actually enjoy all of your hard work and effort. Be among your guest this year, not hiding out in the kitchen.

Quick Tip: Make sure you have something for everyone to wrap the leftovers in, so they don’t stay in your house for the next few days.