Entertaining For Thanksgiving
How do you entertain a family on Thanksgiving? Are you looking for Thanksgiving hosting ideas?
Entertaining, hosting a dinner party, and family visiting for the holidays. It feels like this time of year rolls around so fast. If you’re anything like me, you’re hoping everything goes smoothly, but you’re probably also stressing over everything. I have some entertaining ideas for Thanksgiving to share here with you.
I will share my entertaining ideas for Thanksgiving, how I plan for hosting a dinner party, some amazing Thanksgiving recipes you can make ahead, and how I work toward a stress free holiday dinner entertaining my family and friends every year. This plan can be adapted for any special occasion.
After reading all about my entertaining tips and hosting ideas for Thanksgiving, and my easy make ahead Thanksgiving recipes, you’ll be all set to host your Thanksgiving dinner.
Easy Make Ahead Thanksgiving Planning
Planning ahead allows me to pre-cook the famous dishes my family comes to expect every year. This concept is not new. I learned this by watching the famous lifestyle guru, Cristina Ferrare. She introduced us to the concept of planning ahead for entertaining, especially for Thanksgiving. I remember watching her specials every year. Even when her show was no longer on the air, she would be a regular guest on the Morning News shows sharing her Thanksgiving recipes and her entertaining tips.
My Thanksgiving Hosting Ideas
One month ahead
Plan your menu: Even if this is your annual Thanksgiving holiday meal, everyone has a deal breaker dish. For our family it is my broccoli and cheese casserole. If this isn’t served, believe me I’m going to hear about it! I definitely need to sit down and plan my menu to make sure I work in all of my family’s favorites.
Create your guest list: Just like your annual family holidays, the list may or may not change but you do need to sit down and figure out how many people will be joining you each year. Some family members may decide to alternate their holiday travel, so make your guest list so you are sure you’re ready for the size of dinner and party you’ll be planning.
Send out invites or save the dates: Whether it’s an annual holiday get-together that’s expected or a special occasion that’s just come up, always send your invitees an invite or save the date. Even if it’s an annual holiday get-together, your guests will feel that you have put out an extra special effort on their behalf and they’ll have something special to look forward to.
Rentals: Reserve rentals, like tables and chairs, at least one month in advance. Ask them to deliver the day before your dinner party so you can plan arrangements. This also gives you extra time to resolve any rental issues you might discover on delivery day.
Three weeks ahead
Prepare areas: This includes making any necessary repairs and/or updates. It’s also the time you want to spend performing a deep cleaning in the home, around the home, and outside. Pay close attention to the areas you will be entertaining your guests in.
Clean out: Just like working on a home remodel, starting with a clean slate is always the easiest and best way to start. At about three weeks ahead of time, give your pantry, fridge, and freezer a deep cleaning. Throw out all expired products and make a list of everything you need to stock up.
Shop for staples and ingredients needed for pre-cooking: By now you have your menu created and a clean slate to start with. Now is the time to shop for those staple/non-perishable ingredients that you can easily incorporate into your pantry (i.e., flour, sugar, spices, canned/jar condiments , etc.).
Two weeks ahead
Shop your home: Perform a complete inventory of your linens, place settings, servers, and home décor that you plan to have out for your dinner party. Make sure everything is ready to use for the décor you have planned. If not, make a list and shop for what is needed to replace at this time. By completing an inventory in advance, you will be surprised how much stuff you probably already have.
Decide on centerpieces: Plan on how you’ll set up your dinner tables. If your centerpieces are non-fresh items go ahead and get them ready now. if you plan on using fresh flowers, have your vases and everything else ready to go so that when you do plan to purchase those fresh items, as you’ll see below, your dinner table will be ready to set up in minutes.
Arrange for dry cleaning: Since you’ve taken inventory of your linens, send out anything that needs to be dry cleaned now just in case you have a long wait time or you discover items need to be replaced.
Pre-cook dishes for freezing: I like to have pre-cooked dishes a couple of weeks in advance and then packaged and frozen ahead of time. These include pies, casseroles, stuffing, and sauces. I’ve included links to a couple of my recipes below. You can bake the dishes in disposable aluminum baking trays and then (after you’re heated them up) transfer them to the pretty dishes you’ll serve them in.
Link to Roasted garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe
Link to Broccoli-Cauliflower and Cheese Casserole recipe
Link to Sweet Potato Casserole recipe
One week ahead
Prepare for guests: Make sure your guest rooms are cleaned and ready for guests. I like to make sure the rooms have snacks, bottled waters, and anything that would make their stay more comfortable. Likewise, make sure your guest bathrooms are clean and well stocked. Even though you’ll be doing a quick wipe down just before your guests visit, having that deep cleaning a week ahead of time will cut down on your quick walkthrough just before your guests arrive.
Prepare mock place settings: Layout your plans on how you want to set your table incorporating the items you inventoried the week before now is the time to see if it all works out or if any items need to be replaced.
Create a party or dinner itinerary: This part is optional but this is actually my favorite part. I like to plan out when appetizers will be served, what time dinner will be served, etc. Before my guests arrive, usually a few days earlier, I will send out a group text or a note to let them know what time appetizers will be ready. Every year my family asks what time can they arrive. Letting them know what time appetizers will be served is a great way to let them know that would be an ideal time for their arrival, rather than giving them a start time. I want them to feel welcome to join us for appetizers.
Bake breads/pies: You can definitely bake dinner rolls, biscuits, or pies and freeze ahead of time then, just before it’s time to serve, pop them in the oven to reheat. I’ve added a link below to my favorite biscuit recipe.
Ordering foods: Order specialty items, like baked goods or catered side dishes, to be picked up at least one week ahead for freezing or the day before for refrigeration. I’m not a very good pie baker so I like to order pies from our local store/bakery shop. I pick up the fresh pie about a week before our event and pop it into my freezer. I take it out the morning of Thanksgiving to “bake” in the oven. Your baker or caterer can give you tips on reheating your dish/pie.
Link to Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe
3-5 days ahead
With all the pre planning done, now it’s just a matter of completing a few tasks leading up to the day of the event!
- Complete housekeeping chores
- Shop for perishables needed for fresh appetizers, drinks, or centerpieces
- Final touches on home décor
Day/night before
- Rentals should arrive the day before so all tables and place settings can be set the night before your party.
- Prepare your appetizers and drinks (that can be refrigerated overnight). See my Charcuterie board ideas below for inspiration.
- Set out serving dishes, trays (and slow cookers if you need them). Use sticky notes to identify what the dishes or trays will be used for.
- If you’re making cheesecake, bake it the day before and refrigerate it overnight. I’ve added a link below to my favorite pumpkin cheesecake recipe.
- Do a quick wipe down/dusting of your guest rooms and bathrooms.
- Make sure you have a plan for breakfast. If you know your day will be hectic and maybe starting a little early, having a plan for your breakfast will eliminate any extra stress on whoever is taking on the task of cooking and cleaning.
Link to German Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe
Charcuterie board ideas
Day of your dinner party
- Start heating up desserts and/or baking fresh pies first thing in the morning.
- Your main dish can be prepared the day of your dinner party this is usually your roasted turkey or ham or whatever you’re serving.
- While the meat is roasting you can Prepare and set out your appetizers.
- After your main dish is completed and while it is resting, pop in your side dishes for reheating. Arrange for heating frozen/refrigerated dishes depending on how long they will take in the oven, and while they’re reheating, use this time prepare your gravy and sauces.
- The last thing you can heat up would be your dinner rolls and/or biscuits.
Some helpful links to some of my favorite entertaining products:
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning how I plan for hosting a dinner party and try my Thanksgiving recipes. Hopefully this gave you inspiration for your next special occasion or holiday dinner party.
