Category Archives: thanksgiving

Planning a Thanksgiving Party: Should You Ask Your Guests for Help?

As nice as it is to host a Thanksgiving party, there is a lot of work that goes into doing so. Unfortunately, too many Thanksgiving party hosts find themselves in way over their heads.  Before your Thanksgiving party turns into something that you would like to forget, you are advised to take steps that will help to make your Thanksgiving party easy to plan and prepare for.  While there are a number of steps that you can take, there is one that you may seriously want to consider. That step is asking your party guests for assistance.

When it comes to asking party guests for assistance, there are many party hosts who are actually horrified at the thought of doing so.  While you may not want to ask your party guests for assistance, you may need to, but it is completely understandable if you would choose not to. However, before you make your final decision, it may be a good idea to examine the advantages and disadvantages of asking your party guests for assistance.  Doing so may make it easier for you decide whether or not it is a good idea to ask your guests for help.

As you likely already know, the biggest advantage to asking your party guests for assistance is the help that you will receive.  This help, whether it be the purchase of additional beverages or the preparation of a side dish, will likely make your party planning experience easier and much more enjoyable.  The less work you have to do, the more fun your Thanksgiving party is likely to become.  In fact, what you can ask your party guests to do is another advantage to asking them for assistance.

Depending on the type of Thanksgiving party you choose to host, the assistance that you need may vary.  It is nice to include a Thanksgiving dinner with your Thanksgiving party, but it can be costly and time consuming. If you are planning a Thanksgiving party that includes a dinner, it may be a good idea to ask some of your guests, at least the guests that you feel comfortable asking for help, to prepare a small side dish. Additional assistance could come in the form of drinks, Thanksgiving decorations, as well as additional tables and chairs.

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The main disadvantage to asking your Thanksgiving party guests for help is the feeling that you may be left with.  Although many of your party guests, particularly your close friends and family, may be more than willing to offer you assistance, you may feel ashamed to ask.  While this feeling is completely normal, it may still make you feel uncomfortable.  That is why you may also choose not to ask your party guests for assistance.  Although you may not want to ask for help, it is important to remember the extra work that you are giving yourself. As previously mentioned, asking your Thanksgiving party guests for help, even a little bit of it, will not only save you time, but sometimes even money.

If you do make the decision to ask your Thanksgiving party guests for assistance, either with food, drinks, or decorations, it will be best if you ask them in advance.  Even if you are only asking one of your party guests to pickup an extra bottle of wine, it would be nice if you gave them a little bit of notice and time to prepare for your request, no matter how large or small it be.

Planning a Thanksgiving Party for All Ages

Are you interested in planning a Thanksgiving party this year?  If you love the holiday season and throwing parties, there is a good chance that you may be interested in hosting a party for Thanksgiving.  If you are interested, you will need to decide which type of party you would like to have.  In general, a large number of party hosts like to plan parties that are only for adults or those that are only for kids. As nice as it is to plan a party just for kids or just for adults, it is sometimes difficult to do. There will likely always be parents who won’t want to part with their kids, even just for a few hours. That is why you may want to think about hosting a Thanksgiving party that is designed for individuals of all ages.

When it comes to hosting an all ages Thanksgiving party, you will likely find that a little bit more work is involved. This is because you do not need to plan for a specific group of individuals, but two different groups.  You will want to make sure that your Thanksgiving party has activities that target the adults, as well as the children.  That is why, sometimes, a little bit more preparation is involved; however, that extra preparation will likely make your Thanksgiving party that much more enjoyable.

As previously mentioned, you will need to have activities that target both adults and children.  You may want to develop party games that can be played with both adults and children or different games for each. You will likely find that if and when children are occupied with something, the adults can enjoy a different activity.  You can easily purchase board games, for both adults and children, at your local department store.  If you are looking for low-cost game or entertainment ideas, you can easily find a large number of suggestions online. This can easily be done with a standard internet search.

In addition to entertainment, you will also need to think about the food. In most cases, you will find that children and adults like to eat and drink different things.  Drinkwise, it is always a good idea to have nonalcoholic drinks on hand because not all adults like to drink alcohol. In addition to soda, which is a common party beverage, it may also be a good idea to have to have plenty of water or juice drinks on hand. As for food, you may also want to create a couple of side dishes or snacks that target children.  If you do not have any children, it may be a good idea to get food and snack suggestions from other parents or online. As with entertainment ideas, you can easily find kid approved recipes online, with a standard internet search.

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If and when you make the decision to host a Thanksgiving party for individuals of all different ages, it may be a good idea to let your guests know.  When it comes to parties, even holiday parties, many guests assume that they should come alone.  For the best balance, between children and adults, it may be a good idea to encourage your guests to bring their children. In fact, having other children present may help to keep the other kids happy and occupied.

The above mentioned Thanksgiving party planning tips are just a few of the many that exist.  As you can see, there are a number of different ways that you can benefit from or go about planning a Thanksgiving party for both adults and children.

Planning and Preparing for a Casual Thanksgiving Party

Have you recently made the decision to throw a Thanksgiving party?  If so, have you decided which type of party you would like to host?  If you are looking to host a Thanksgiving party, without having to give up a large amount of your time or money, there is a good chance that you may be interested in hosting a causal Thanksgiving party. Although a causal Thanksgiving party can save you time and money, it is still advised that you start planning and preparing for your party early.

1. Your guest list..

When it comes to planning and preparing for a causal Thanksgiving party, there are a number of important tasks that you must complete. One of those tasks, perhaps, the most important one is inviting your guests. Your Thanksgiving party will not be a party if you don’t have any guests. That is why it is important that you extend an invite to whoever you wish to have at your party.  Since your Thanksgiving party will be casual in nature, you may prefer to give casual invites.  In addition to traditional party invitations, you may prefer calling your guests directly or sending them a quick email.

2. RSVP?
When inviting guests to your Thanksgiving party, it may be a good idea to ask them to either confirm or deny their reservations. Having an exact number of intended party guests, or at least an estimated number, will help make your party planning easier.  It will enable you to make sure that you have enough food or party favors to go around.  An estimated number of guests may also help you save, even more, money.  Of course, you will still want to be prepared for unexpected arrivals, just in case.

3. Snacks and drinks…
As previously mentioned, having an accurate guest count will help make it easier for you to purchase food for your party. Since you will be having only a causal Thanksgiving party, you may not want to cook a large Thanksgiving dinner.  If that is the case, a small number of snacks and drinks may do.  Before your party is set to take place or you begin shopping for it, it may be a good idea to develop yourself a food and snack list.  You should list all of the foods or drinks that you would like to have at your party. Making a list will help to ensure that you get everything that you needed or wanted to have.

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4. Games, anyone?
It is also advised that you consider what forms of entertainment, if any, you plan on having at your causal Thanksgiving party. The thing about casual parties is that most guests arrive expecting to have a good time.  While this may put more pressure on you to plan an amazing, fun filled party, there are a number of advantages to this. One of those advantages is the fact that you have a wide variety of different entertainment forms to choose from. Popular entertainment, for casual parties, tends to include music, dancing, as well as party games.

5. Clean up your house…
Even when attending a casual party, such as a casual Thanksgiving party, guests expect to arrive at a clean house.  For that reason, you will want to make sure that your home is as clean as it could possibly be.  You may want to leave vacuuming and other similar task to the last minute, but there are other cleaning tasks that you may want to take care of ahead of time.  One of those tasks may include cleaning up the outside of your home. You will want to make sure that entranceway to your home, both inside and out, is free of clutter or unwanted debris.  The first step in pleasing your party guests to welcome them into a clean and inviting home.

In conclusion

Although it is much easier, in most cases, to plan a causal Thanksgiving party, it is still necessary to plan and prepare for your party ahead of time. By keeping the above mentioned planning and preparation tips in mind, your next Thanksgiving party should go off without a hitch.