How to host a fantastic festive drinks party

In our last post we shared some tips on how to prepare for the arrival of your friends and family this Christmas, we decided to go a little further in helping you prepare for a fun and fabulous, festive drinks evening at home.

Set up a drinks station

There’s nothing better than kick-starting the festivities with a little extra festive ‘spirit,’ so follow this easy, step by step punch recipe that you can pre-prepare and set up alongside a drinks station – it will free up heaps of time for you not having to play hostess and mixologist extraordinaire at the same time. You might need to taste a few beforehand just to make sure you’re happy with them though!

What you’ll need:

• red grapes
• A bottle of Prosecco
• 1L of cloudy apple juice
• ice
• 250ml sloe gin
• 50ml Jägermeister
• 1 ball stem ginger, finely sliced
• 3-4 sprigs rosemary
• 1 clementine, finely sliced
• A sprinkle of cinnamon

What to do:

The day before your party, put the grapes in the freezer, and chill the prosecco and apple juice in the fridge. Just before your guests are due to arrive, place the frozen grapes and a generous handful of ice in a large 2-3 litre punch bowl and pour all the remaining ingredients on top. Stir gently to combine, then serve. This will keep nice and cool for up to 3 hrs before needing to add more ice. Sip, sip, hooray!

Festive snacks

Make sure you choose simple foods that can be prepared ahead of time. Have the platters and bowls assembled and ready to be pulled out of the fridge or have the cling film taken off at least 15 minutes before guests arrive. Simple finger food allows guests to graze, such as crackers, cheeses and a cut fruit platter, dips and chips or a crudite plate.

Here’s a great recipe for a festive cranberry salsa to serve with your cheese board:

• Pulse cranberries and sugar in a food processor
• Stir together with onions, cilantro and jalapeno
• Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight
• To serve, place cream cheese on a serving plate
• Drain salsa; spoon over cream cheese
• Decorate with a sprig of holly

Crank up some Jingle Bell Rock

What’s a festive party without some holiday music? Before guests arrive, dim the lights, turn up the holiday tunes, light some scented candles, string up the fairy lights and pour yourself a punch.

Stock up on festive props

Gather a bunch of Santa hats, reindeer antlers, Christmas crackers, silly glasses and other props to leave around the room and encourage people to wear or pose for fun photos. You could even set up an allocated photo booth area by the Christmas tree – there are plenty of photo booth apps available to download.

Get people in the giving mode

Set up a Kris Kringle present game and let everyone know the allocated budget beforehand – it’s a great ice breaker to start the party with as people get into the spirit of some light-hearted “gift giving” fun!

Plan ahead for the morning after

Let’s face it, you don’t want to be worrying about the aftermath of the party while you’re busy enjoying it and having fun, so take as much of that worry away by planning for the clean-up ahead of time. Clear an area, say in the laundry or another room near the kitchen, where you can fill trays with empty glasses ready to be washed, and if there isn’t a sink nearby use a bucket to empty the dregs into. Have some large, strong bin-bags ready for food scraps or disposable plates and napkins, and try to clear these throughout the party. Tidy as much as you can after the guests leave, so it’s not such a mission the next morning (you’ll thank yourself for it later!) And if you have any major spills on the carpet or couches there’s no need to get your tinsel in a tangle because we’ve got that covered too – try our stain removal tips or call in our carpet cleaning specialists to take care of the job for you. You could even think about booking your carpet clean in advance for the week after the party, to take even more pressure off.