'Tis the season of coming together and gathering with our loved ones, and if it's around a table full of delicious food and drinks well then, that's even better!
Celebrations in December are some of the best of the year - there's the excitement of the year coming to a close and anticipation of the new one about to begin, friends and family travel from all over to spend time together, and the table is set with summery Christmas treats like rum balls, potato salad and prawns.
Hosting a gathering at this time of year can feel like a lot of pressure, but if you have some key strategies in place, the whole thing comes together smoothly and makes it look easy and effortless - the hosting dream!
Here we've compiled some of our favourite tips for hosting your loved ones this December, as well as some free resources and recipes to use if you get stuck! If you find yourself always the host-ee and never the host-er and you want to change that - read on!
Creative Direction & Styling by Wholehearted Studio and Photography by Emma Peterson
Sourcing Secondhand
Creating a beautiful tablescape can be an intimidating task and, more often than not, an expensive one. Whether it’s your favourite homewares shop or even just Kmart, walking into a store and buying brand new tablecloths, festive tableware, carafes, and the like can add up very quickly.
A fun way to navigate this (and save that extra money for gifts) is to head to your local op shops instead. With a bit of hunting through the shelves, you’ll find treasures like vintage tablecloths and placemats, unique plates and glassware, handmade ceramic serving bowls, and more. Not only is this going to save you some dollars, but your tablescape is going to have so much more character and be far more interesting than if you bought everything brand new.
Look through the fabric remnant section for large pieces of fabric you can use as a tablecloth or table runner. It’s usually cheaper and you’ll find a far better range of colours and patterns to choose from.
Foraging Foliage
Fresh foliage or flowers instantly level up a space, and we are so lucky to live in Australia where we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to our native greenery.
A few days or weeks before your event, make an afternoon of hunting for foliage. Jump in the car, pop on your favourite tunes, and visit some friends with thriving gardens in need of a pruning. Our favourites to keep an eye out for are golden wattle, crepe myrtle, and of course, the classic eucalyptus.
Don’t save the hunting for the day of the event! It’s best to have some spots up your sleeve already so you can forage them fresh and quickly the morning of your event.
Mood Music
Setting the mood with music is an important part of any gathering, but it can be so easy to forget until your guests are already arriving. Save yourself from frantically scrolling through Spotify in silence by sourcing a pre-made playlist or making your own beforehand.
Have it playing in the background while getting ready to save you stress on the day, as well as ensure the vibe is consistent with the overall mood you’ve set for your event. You don’t want a rogue Eminem track coming on amidst your festive garden party. (Or maybe you do, but that’s why you make a playlist!)
If curating playlists isn’t your thing, we’ve done the hard work for you! You can find a Wholehearted Studio approved event playlist here.
Bottom’s Up
Is there anything more special than arriving to an event and there being a signature drink? Sure, we love a Cola as much as the next person, but to really level up your hosting game it’s time to put on your mixologist hat. Don’t switch off yet - it’s easier than it sounds, promise!
Save yourself the effort of individually measuring, shaking, and pouring cocktail after cocktail by making it in bulk, aka, the humble punch. (Which, really, a cocktail is just glorified punch isn’t it?)
This is going to save you time once your guests arrive, instead of bartending in the kitchen you’ll be able to point them in the right direction and let them serve themselves while you continue to mingle in all your hosting glory.
We recommend putting your own spin on whatever drink you decide to serve to keep things fresh, think strawberries in a mojito or rosemary syrup in a limoncello spritz. Pinterest has lots of ideas, and if you get stuck, we’ve popped the recipe for our signature Wholehearted Spritz below.
Prep, Prep, Prep
Along a similar vein to the last two points, it’s so important to prepare as much as you can beforehand. The last thing you want is to still have rollers in your hair and dough on your hands while your guests are arriving!
Some ways to do this is by getting out all the linen and tableware and putting it in a spot together so it’s easy to find and set up when you need it, planning a menu with minimal cooking or prep time on the day of, and laying out your outfit the night before.
It sounds silly, but things tend to pop up in the eleventh hour when hosting events, so if you can take any stress out of the small stuff where you can, you should! The worst that can happen is it’s a totally smooth and stress-free experience, and you’re ready earlier than expected with some time to kill before the party starts.
At the end of the day, what’s important is spending quality time with your friends and family, so make sure you don’t sweat the small stuff. Things might not go exactly the way you planned, but you can only do so much and everyone will have an amazing time whether it’s perfect or not.
Let us know if any of these tips were helpful, and we hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and New Year surrounded by your loved ones.
Lastly, I would like to say a big thank you to our clients, suppliers, and followers for making 2024 so wonderful! We have loved doing yet another Wholehearted year with you.
Much love,
Hayley
