Hosting Christmas for first time- where do I start?

[olivo]

We finally have room to host people on Christmas Day. We will have 9 or 10 adults and 4 children. Where do I start? I need to start buying things that won't go off soon, as we are pretty tight on money. What can/ should I buy in advance?

Uh oh, I'm a bit perturbed about all the talk of meat "resting". I'm thinking maybe it might be a veggie Christmas after all......

Pizza all round?

While I am a fan of keeping things simple, not going overboard on dressing up sprouts or carrots for instance, I do think a first course is a nice way to make the meal a bit more of a celebration, and it serves a practical purpose too, getting everyone seated and settled, wine flowing etc.
As you're vegetarian, you could do a couple of purée, perhaps roasted aubergine and a garlic and bean, made in advance, then plated up and served with interesting bread, walnut or herb.

Here are a couple of links to sample spreadsheets for hosting Thanksgiving - Americans often have enormous crowds of family over then and they eat similar stuff to what we have at Christmas. It might be worth googling "hosting Thanksgiving" for more tips.

www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Organize-and-Cook-Holiday-Dinner-for-a-Crow/

lifehacker.com/138696/how-to-plan-a-thanksgiving-meal

Lexilicious - I love Marney! Thanks for posting that. I'm always torn between being a bit shocked at her nerve and thinking that she's actually got the right idea....... Can't imagine what MIL would think if I sent her an email saying, "You're bringing puree'd parsnips - prepared with DOUBLE cream, please - in a plastic lidded container. Make sure you bring a SPOON". But wouldn't it be great knowing that one of the veggies was coming ready prepared and could just be popped in the microwave.

olivo - seriously, it's fine. All it means is that the meat can easily spend some time out of the oven while you get on with other things. It actually makes things an awful lot easier.