Help! Best tips for hosting a LARGE Christmas with many overnight guests

[LuellaPilkington]

My turn to host Christmas this year- in total there will be 18/19 of us. All family who live quite far away so everyone will also stay for ca 3 nights. Some will stay for 5 and elderly parents a little longer. In total we are one set of elderly parents, 4 middle aged couples with teenage and pre teen kids plus one toddler.

I’d be grateful for ideas on what to buy in, tips to prepare and any potential things that are easy to forget when hosting so many. I’m planning on a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

Where to begin?!

I'd start by planning breakfast - survey dietary needs then go from there planning easy to batch cook dishes - eggs / toast / fry up items / porridge

Pasta / cooked veg / salads for lunches etc . Easy can prepare in advance

I'd also stock up on loo roll 😂

Meal plan
Let everyone know what to expect and (most importantly) when. Personally, I’d say breakfast should be self service with that number and just put cereal/milk/juice/coffee/croissants/jam on the table or kitchen counter and then leave them to it. Don’t even attempt to do a cooked breakfast for that number (unless it is eggs baked in ham in a muffin tin or a breakfast casserole).

If you have people helping you in the kitchen, put post it notes in the serving dishes so they know that bowl is for the carrots and the potatoes will only fit on that platter.

Sheets and towels
You will spend the next month washing unless you tell them to bring their own towels, and sleeping bags for the kids.

Rotas or bathroom rosters
No. Let everyone figure it out themselves. Don’t get involved. I hope you have an En-suite for yourself and your kids to use. And a separate loo for everyone else.

Bedrooms
With that number, I assume you are going to have to do some kind of musical beds. Try to keep you and your kids in your master bedroom. Easier and less disruptive all round. Then a family per room (unless you live in a mansion). Unless the teenagers all get along and you have the space to designate a teenage den that you can shut the door on.

Outings
Encourage as many trips outdoors as possible.

Get the relatives involved, Aunty Janet can make her award winning mince pies, and Cousin Dave can bring a keg of his famous home brew ale.

Clear out the freezer, start as soon as possible!

Breakfast bagels or croissants - make them in advance. Just fill them with cooked bacon and cheese and wrap in tin foil. Then stick them in the oven for 15 minutes and can be eaten out of the foil for most people. Not elderly parents though, they can have a plate 😅

Tell everyone with kids to bring a towel and a pillow for them, then you only need to provide sleeping/washing stuff for adults.

Plenty of booze and hot chocolate and squirty cream. A million bags of snacks and sweets 😄

Games - something easy but funny like Don't Get Got or One Night Ultimate Werewolf.

Sort out several music playlists for different times of day.

Gaming stuff for the kids, do they have a room they can just go off to and play in?

Get in food that is easy to cook quickly for a crowd. Pies are good for this. Stick them all in the oven and just have with a massive pan of mash and gravy and peas.

Shoes. Do you have a place for them to all put shoes and coats? That's the bulkiest stuff and I hate shoes lying around 🤣

Don't be a servant. Host, yes, but let others pitch in.

Go to Costco

What on earth!
Why are they even staying with you?
Unless you live in a mansion, tell them to find their own accommodation.
Elderly relatives only stay.

Bring their own bedding/ sleeping bag/ duvet/ camping mat etc. Put oldies and infirm in beds, everyone else anywhere else. If I couldn’t nab a sofa, I’d go under a table.

Have easy go to food in oven all day- jacket potatoes, sausages, big pot of chilli etc and get them to help themselves with one big meal for all around 5 ish.

Sounds fun, just like the old days!

Sounds amazing!

I agree, get everyone to bring their own bedding and towels. I’d add toiletries to that list as well.

Work out food. Who is paying and how it’s all going to be stored. You will need extras like fairy liquid, tea, coffee, gin bags.

Make sure everyone knows they need to help with normal house hood stuff like bins, cleaning, washing dishes etc. Disposable trays will work well here. Do you have a slow cooker for a big chilli or similar? Snacks, you’ll need snacks!

Good idea to keep breakfast simple and quick. Toast, cereal etc. if someone wants to cook they do everything from start to finish.

Showers? Would that need to be on a rota? 18 people will take hours. Some at night and some in the morning or, if you’ve got swimming baths nearby that might take care of the kids on one of the days.

I would love this.

In November but enough loo roll, kitchen roll, pet food, washing powder cleaning products etc and canned and dried goods to see you through the festive period
Then work on making some freezer meals such as chilli and lasagna or buy them from cook or similar.
If you make mince pies, bread sauce etc make and freeze those. Aim to have almost everything ready by the second week in December

Laundry liquid and dishwasher tablets. Accept your tumbledryer and dishwasher may be on 24/7

Are your cups/glasses all the same? Write names on in sharpie so everyone gets one cup a day, so you're not washing up all your cups every 2 hours.

Every day, plan an outing, even just a walk Not everyone needs to go, but it just gives everyone a breather from being on top of each other.

Do you have a shed, tree house or sympathetic neighbour? Just somewhere you can go for 5 mins peace!

Accept you won't have any choice over the tv! Have you got spare batteries for the remote?

It will be lovely and memorable!

Have a list in the kitchen showing how everyone has their tea and coffee! Hand wash the mugs as it takes too long to wait for dishwasher

keeping food hot is an issue and
it always takes a very long time to get that many people sat down with drinks etc
20 minutes at least I would say! But more like half an hour!
make sure they are sat waiting for the food - not the other way round!

Sounds like carnage . How can that many people stay comfortably in your house unless you have 9 bed 5 bathrooms .

@Smurfmurf

”Work out food. Who is paying and how it’s all going to be stored. You will need extras like fairy liquid, tea, coffee, gin bags. “

Gin bags very good idea.

Chairs?

Give everyone their own mug. That’s the one they use all day! Charity shop ugly ones are great for the teens.
Pound shop teaspoons. They always go missing.

Line all baking trays with double foil. Don’t trust the bendy foil trays that are always the wrong shape and bendy.

I always cook the Turkey and ham the day day before and carve when cold. Place into aforementioned foil lined baking tin with a couple of spoonfuls of good gravy and pop in oven.

Chistmas pudding in slo cooker tucked away and then it looks after itself. An hour or so before needed stand a small jug of brandy in the water to warm it. It makes the pudding flame really well.

We always gave the senior members a get away room with extra heater and rugs and a tv. A large gathering over a few days can be exhausting if you are used to a quiet life. Children welcome to visit for a cuddle of course.

I know the younger members will bring their own headphones but a couple of spare sets from Poundland are a good idea.

Gin! Plenty of Gin!

Enjoy! It sounds fab.

Think about all the other meals that are not Christmas dinner. Plan to go out if possible or have things like lasagna in the freezer.

Lunches can be bread and soup and cheese and ham.

Write a schedule of activities and meals and stick it to the fridge so everyone can see and doesn't have to keep asking you.

Are there some helpful competent people among the guests? You could designate one dinner to each family. They get to bring food and set the table and wash up for that meal. You get to sit with a glass of wine and remind them which cupboards to put things away in.

Thank you so much everyone! Noted about loo roll, fairy liquid and snacks etc. Also good idea about the mugs- I will label some up. Definitely easy going breakfast. Great idea.

We don’t live in a mansion but it’s a large house in the country so everyone is in a bedroom but obviously people are sharing and teenagers and kids are on blow ups. The bathroom situation (unless anything breaks!) is ok but will be busy. Unfortunately very limited in what guests can bring as the will all be flying- think I’m in Lands End and they all in John o Groats!

As much as I love cooking I am going to opt for ready made where I can. I have placed an order from M&S Christmas for Christmas and Boxing Day. My plan is to only cook Turkey, Gravy and Roast potatoes from scratch and delete Turkey and gravy to two other people who like cooking. Any ideas on how to prepare and make large batch of roast potatoes? I’m going for two 5kg turkeys I think.

TV is a separate room to sitting room and I expect teenagers and kids to reside there. Any ideas for games that can involve everyone? Charades?

We sort of have this. But still expect a degree of chaos!

Agree re sharpie and mugs/glasses otherwise stuff will get used once.

If you are tea/coffee drinkers make sure everyone knows where things are to help themselves/make a round including you and granny. Don't be a tea slave.

Agree breakfast and lunches try to do as many buffet/family style help yourself things as possible.

Enlist help. Ask each couple to sort one meal or a particular contribution (eg cheeseboard).

Shoo them out of the house daily for a walk, including Christmas day.

Explain on arrival where coats and shoes go so you don't go mad with stuff lying around. Ditto cleaning stuff- emptying bins, loading/unloading dishwasher.

Talk to the guests and let them know you want to make sure it runs smoothly and ask them for input - I think family Christmases are a time when guests have as much responsibility as the host to make things easy. Its your holiday too!

Most of all, don't be a martyr.

First of all ow many bedrooms / sofa beds / floorspace do you have?

I'd consider putting teens in a tent in the garden to make space for the adults. Hot water bottles and sleeping bags can make a tent cosy.

Are you intending to do the whole thing or are the guests going to be involved?

Empty your freezer now and then start prepping veg and freezing, so potatoes already in a tin that can go straight in the oven. The same with parsnips, carrot and swede - whatever your normal veg is.

Cook two meats, one in the oven and put the other in a slow cooker.

Christmas eve (or arrival day) - do a 'Jacob's join' ask each family / couple to bring a dish to eat. Order a couple of pizzas.

Breakfasts, I would do a buffet, get those multipacks of cereal, chop up some fruit, put out a toaster and a couple of loaves of bread, some ham and cheese.. You can put the cereal and bread out the night before and then add milk and fruit in the morning.

I'd do this every morning maybe changing things a bit like different fruit.

Have a 'snack box' somewhere filled with crisps, sweets, bags of nuts, boxes of raisins - teenagers have hollow legs.

I'd consider hiring some professional equipment like a catering hot water tank.

@Smurfmurf gin bags will almost certainly be needed 😁🤣 bags and bags of gin 😅

@LuellaPilkington Seriously though, it sounds lovely 😊 Completely agree with getting everyone to pitch in. Sort out the sleeping arrangements etc in advance so there’s no faff on arrival.
For meals I’d also keep it simple:

• breakfasts: self service - plenty of cereals, toast, fruit, yoghurt etc. Anyone wants cooked breakfast then they deal with it themselves.
• lunches: prep a big pot of soup in advance? Could you cook a ham or something on the day they arrive? Cold cuts/cheeses/stick some crusty bread in the oven. Prep pasta salads etc in advance?
• dinners: slow cooker chilli/curry. Stick on a big pot of rice and let everyone hall themselves. Agree with PP about pie/mash/peas. Could also do sausages/mash/gravy easily.

Stock up on drinks and snacks - start that asap! Lots of ice for drinks. Tell everyone to bring towels! Don’t be afraid to ask people to bring things! Crisps, sweets, mince pies, soft drinks, wine etc. When we host, family usually ask what they can bring - I tell them jokingly but not really jokingly 😁 that anything would be perfect except anything that needs fridge space 😂😂 SIL and her family turned up one year with a whole load of crisps, lots of fresh dips, and surprise refrigerated desserts 😳🙃 very much appreciated her bringing something of course but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cursing her under my breath while doing fridge jenga 😅

Games that involve everyone: "who's in the bag" is great. You will need several sheets of paper torn into strips, and enough pens for each participant to write 2-3 strips each with a name on, of a famous person alive or dead, real or fictional.
I've played with multi-generational groups before and it works well.

Also pictionary - you could order some big flip chart paper and stick it up on the wall or order an easel.

Cooking for about 20 for the Christmas meal will be pretty easy with everyone helping. I usually jot down a timetable of what to do when so everything gets in and out of the oven on time. One team on cooking, another on setting the table. Perhaps relatives can bring a pudding etc to cut down a bit on the cooking.

I would ask your guests to co-ordinate and take on 2 evening meals - so for example aunt A and family do Monday’s dinner, including buying the ingredients and cooking etc.

Breakfast can be toast and cereals - maybe do one big cooked breakfast while they are all there.

Agree with a pp that everyone brings their own towel. Not only will you be unlikely to have that many but some people think nothing of using 3 and there won’t be enough to go around!

Uncles who pride themselves on being useless in the kitchen can be put in charge of outings and teenagers can be put on drinks and coffees duty. Ask guests to bring wine, crackers and tins of chocolates.

GAME…… I played this on a weekend away with a very mixed age group and it was fab, KING ELEPHANT

Shopping - loo roll, foil, dishwasher tablets, frozen pizzas for teens to cook themselves, some long life milk and juice in case you run out of fresh. Although shops are only shut for one day.

Kit - do you need people to bring extra glasses? Cutlery? Dinner plates? Cereal bowls?

Food - can someone bring a big chilli or lasagne for Christmas Eve?
Keep breakfasts simple and lunches bread/cheese/meat/soup/salad.

Serve the dinner like a carvery rather than trying to get everything in serving dishes on the table. As long as everyone gets the message it's fine to go back for more it's fine. It's hard enough getting everything hot anyway.

Preparation - plan Beds and ask people to bring camping beds and sleeping bags if needed

A few days before empty all those random jars out of your fridge and bin if out of date and store somewhere cool if not, as you will need all room in fridge for milk and the food.

There should be 6 middle age adults available to pitch in? And teens can do jobs, especially together.

Enjoy! As PP said you are hosting not serving.

So you say it's your turn this year. So presumably in previous years others have hosted. Can you speak to previous hosts and get specific hints? And what did you pick up, both good and bad, from going in previous years?