Nicola Ferrarese
A house full of people during the holidays can provide the warmth and light the season demands. There’s also the potential for things to become very interesting. Creating a festive, cozy environment while preparing food and drinks can challenge even the most seasoned host — and that, entertaining-wise, is the bare minimum. What happens beyond eating, drinking and opening presents? Experienced hosts recommend a balance between “free time” and optional structured activities.
Make people feel at ease and welcome, but “Don’t overschedule,” suggests Amy Callahan. Through her business Six at 7, she hosts multi-course dinners for half a dozen people in her home, bringing strangers together for a relaxing meal, conversation and networking.
“Downtime and just chilling out and enjoying each other is really nice,” she says.
Even if the centerpiece of your gathering is a meal, “You need to have snacks,” adds Callahan. “Even though somebody just ate a whole meal, after two hours, they’re going to be snacky.”
She likes to keep snack ingredients separate, “so people can mix and match as they like, like a salad bar.” That extends even to drinks (scroll further for mix-and-match food and drink suggestions). Offering options makes it easier to cater to various dietary restrictions without making anyone feel like the odd person out.
Callahan recommends creating a more social area and a quieter space for people to relax from the revelry. That helps ensure each of your guests has a pleasant and memorable time at your holiday party.
Adrian Sullivan has been hosting holiday parties for friends for 15 years. It all started fairly simply, cooking with friends. “We got to a point where we had two stages to the event: a set-table, invitation-only sit-down, and then the second portion, an anyone-can-come-by free-for-all,” Sullivan says.
He suggests having some structure and offering guests one or two specific options for what to do as cocktails, or dinner, come to an end. “If you say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna gather in the den and watch this movie,’ people will do it,” Sullivan says.
Throwing on the Hallmark Channel or TBS for holiday movies in the background or choosing a classic to stream from Netflix or Hulu is always an option. Should your guests get restless, here are a few group activities to pass the time together.
Games
The old friend-and-family favorite, board games, is a standby if you want to get the whole group involved. Games can also occupy just part of the group, possibly the younger part of the family, while others chat and relax. Here are this season’s most popular board games, according to staffers at Misty Mountain Games in Madison and I’m Board in Middleton.
- Just One (3-7 players, ages 8 and up) Winner of the 2019 Spiel des Jahres award — the “best picture” Oscar of board games — Just One encourages players to give a team member clues to help guess a word. All identical clues are thrown out, heightening the challenge.
- Cartographers (1-100 players, but probably best for 3-4, ages 8 and up) This game puts players in a fantasy realm where they’re working as mapmakers for a queen’s newly acquired lands. Cartographers must navigate between earning reputation points by meeting the queen’s demands and appeasing the inhabitants of the land, all the while creating their maps.
- Planet (2-4 players, ages 8 and up) Players start with a planet core and strategically collect biome tiles like desert, mountains and tundra, that correspond with cards for animals that would inhabit those environments to build the conditions of life on their planet.
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf (3-10 players, ages 8 and up) Using the same premise of the popular Mafia and Werewolf games (in which one person is secretly assigned the title role and other players take turns guessing who it is, as players are eliminated), One Night Ultimate Werewolf has a surprising twist: There’s no need for a moderator and no elimination.
A more thoughtful approach to games, if you have the time, is to make up your own guest-specific game. Create trivia about family and friends, drawing on family trips and other past shared experiences.
The old song and dance
Something about singing and dancing makes the darkest days of the year more bearable. Whether it’s singing carols that everyone knows, making up parody lyrics to those very same carols, or in-home karaoke, tunes will brighten up any holiday party, particularly with the help of a few cups of cheer.
In lieu of throwing down money for a karaoke machine, you can pick up a fairly inexpensive Bluetooth-enabled microphone that will amplify your voice and also play music from any enabled device. Set up a monitor so everyone can see, find a YouTube video that features lyrics, and sing along.
Depending on the crew and the amount of liquor involved, a dance party may be in the offing. All it takes is music (whether from a streaming service or your own music library) and that one person who isn’t afraid to look silly to get the party rolling. Extra points for hosts who create a playlist catered to their guests. Or set up a turntable and let your guests pick their own music from irresistible vinyl options.
Just beware: Put the turntable on a solid surface. You may have forgotten, but when there’s dancing, a needle can also dance and skip across the surface of the record.
The new BYO
Build-your-own snack and drink areas
Snacks don’t have to be labor-intensive. A Wisconsin-centric cheese platter can be a conversation starter if you label the cheeses with the name and location of the creamery.
While it’s not unusual to find veggies, chips and dip at a party, springing for good-quality ingredients can make a big difference.
- Hummus: plain, roasted red pepper, olive, rosemary, or beet are great options, often available prepared. Make your own for less-common variations like beet.
- Spinach-artichoke dip
- Veggie platter: carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, jicama sticks, radishes, peppers
- Chips: pita or bagel chips
- Rye bread squares
You could also create a trail-mix bar.
- Nuts: almonds, cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts (be sure to check for nut allergies in your group before including these)
- Seeds: sunflower seeds and pepitas
- Dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries
- Sweets: holiday M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips
- Savory: sesame sticks, Asian rice snack cracker mix, pretzels (also available gluten-free)
Amy Callahan recommends this trendy non-alcoholic drink.
Mimi Fizz
1 part each of:
- Orange LaCroix water
- Vita Coco coconut water lemonade
- Orange juice
Make cups and beverages available with the recipe in sight so partygoers can mix their own.
