5 TIPS TO PRACTICAL ENTERTAINING - COLLAB

Do you have guests coming for the holiday's? In this post I walk you through my 5 tips for practical entertaining. This week's post is in collaboration with Emily from Front Porches & Faith, she will be sharing her 5 tips on her blog so make sure you check out her tips too! I'll let her introduce herself below.

Hi! My name is Emily and I am a stay at home wife and momma to my 3 little ones! I started front porches & faith in order to share more about Jesus, motherhood, and all things home and hospitality. My hope is that it would become a space where women feel welcomed, encouraged, and inspired! Come check it out for more tips on practical entertaining! 

Don't forget to check out this week's video as I walk you through how I set up our guest room for company. In this video I implement a few of the tips below so don't miss it!

1) DESIGNATE & PREPARE GUEST AREA:

Whether it is a designated guest room or on the couch make the space feel comfortable and welcoming. We are blessed to have a designated guest room in our home but we do often have to pull out our air mattress when we have multiple guests.

GUEST ROOM: In the guest room I like to make sure that we have clean sheets on the bed, extra blankets, pillows and towels. Check out this weeks video to see what else I put in our guest room to make them feel comfortable and welcomed.

NO GUEST ROOM: If you don't have a guest room you might look into investing in an air mattress if you have the space for one or just make your couch super cozy with extra blankets and pillows. No matter where our guests are sleeping I like to make sure they have everything they need to feel comfortable like blankets, pillows and towels.

2) WRITE IT DOWN:

I am such a planner and I need to schedule out what needs to be done when. I like to make a list of things that need done the week before our guests arrive and then spread it out throughout the week or over a day or two so I don't get myself overwhelmed when the day comes for our guests to arrive.

3) MEAL PLAN AND SHOP IN ADVANCE:

Meal planning is my jam. I like to plan out what meals I am going to cook while our guests are in town or plan when and where we might eat out. By having a plan ahead of time I don't have to waste time trying to come up with meals once they are here.

GROCERY PICK UP:

I also like to do all of the grocery shopping in advance of our companies arrival. If you are short on time you could look into grocery pick up. I have been doing my shopping with Walmart's grocery pick up, it is fast easy and best of all there is no extra fee. If you are interested you can use my referral link for $10 off your first order.

Another thing that I like to do is check if there are any allergies or special dietary needs. I will also often purchase their favorite beverage or snack to have available.

4) MAKE IT EASY FOR YOUR GUESTS:

Have you ever been a guest in someones home and felt awkward about asking for something to eat or drink? I like to make sure that I make our guests feel welcome and make it super easy for them to find what they need.

SNACK BOWL:

I like to create a snack bowl when we have out of town guests over. It helps them feel more comfortable when they get the munchies and don't have to rummage through our cupboards to find something to eat. I will also show them where I keep the rest of the snacks if they are looking for something different.

COFFEE BAR:

It is a fun extra touch to set up a coffee bar in the guest room. We were gifted an extra Keurig so thought it would be fun to have available for our guests if they wanted to have coffee in their room before they came down in the morning.

We will also set the timer on our coffee pot in the kitchen to go off in the morning so they wake up to the smell of a fresh pot of coffee.

TOILETRIES:

It is so important to have extra toiletries on hand. It is never fun to go somewhere and realize you forgot your toothbrush or shampoo. This way it is readily available if they forgot anything at home. I like to keep these in the guest room dresser drawer.

PRO TIP: Keep them contained in a bin so that they don't roll around in the drawer

5) LET IT GO: As the famous song from Frozen says we just need to "Let it go." I have learned the last few years that no matter how much planning I do nothing is ever going to go perfectly. Your meal might burn or your "trusty" air mattress might deflate on your guests several times during the night. What we need to learn is that it is not about having a perfect home or chef quality food, it is about just opening your home and sharing in a special time with your guests. They wont remember if you didn't have your house sparkling clean, they are going to remember the great conversations or the fun activities that you did together.

I hope you were able to pick up a few tips to help ease the stress of preparing for guests this Holiday season. Don't forget to check out this week's video and Emily's blog post for her 5 tips!