So, if you are a regular reader of my blog, or even just scroll down and read the post I have put up before this one, you will see that this year, I hosted my family for Christmas for the first time. Ever.
It was the first time in my 26 years of living that Christmas didn't take place at the same house my mum and dad have lived in for almost my entire life, I had my first Christmas there and every other. Needless to say I was mixed emotionally throughout the entire day, but I think most people are at Christmas anyway so that's nothing new!
The whole day is a bit of a blur to be honest, but I definitely learnt some things that I will do differently for next year!
Plan
Make sure you start planning early, unfortunately I ended up moving house two weeks before Christmas which put plans on hold with regards to what decorations we needed, what table we would have, what we already owned... Basically make sure that you have time to think about what you want for Christmas and how you want things to be.
Decide what matters
I ran out of time to buy placemats. Horror, I know. But I was getting so wrapped up in making sure everything was perfect that I became obsessive over what people were going to put their plates on to eat. It doesn't matter. They ate, drank and were definitely merry. Would the snowflake placemats I wanted have been nice? Of course. Did it matter? Absolutely not.
You will buy too much
Gareth and myself headed over to Tesco to do the booze run. We were completely prepared for the cost of what this would be. We bought gin, whiskey, rum, red wine, white wine, beer, Prosecco, Amarretto, Bailey's, Babycham (it was in a pretty bottle!), Southern Comfort, probably any type of alcohol you could ever want. What got drank? A couple of beers and a bit of the whiskey. Oh and I had one gin and tonic. I absolutely bought too much alcohol, however what I learnt from this? I would absolutely do it all over again just to make sure I had the options. And now we have a small bar in our conservatory as the alcohol will last us probably till next Christmas!
This is the same with food, but I am a believe in you can never have too much food. Freeze it all and feed yourself for at least days, if not weeks!
Try not to pressure yourself
Every scenario that could possibly happen on Christmas Day probably went through my head in the week leading up to it. You cannot avoid certain things happening, I couldn't avoid getting ill, I couldn't control who turned up and when, and you know what? Most of the time the best things happen when they weren't planned for.
It got to the point that on Boxing Day evening when I was sat and it was all over, I ended up having a bit of a cry, purely because I could let go of all my expectations and the things I wanted to happen. I had an absolutely lovely Christmas Day and very little went to the plan I had in my head.
Enjoy it
If you are anything like me, you will be constantly worrying whether people are hungry, need a drink, are having fun and all the rest of it. But remember, they're not only big boys and girls that can ask or get things for themselves, they're your family and if they are at your house on Christmas Day, it's because they love you and with that much love in the room, of course people are having a good time.
How was your Christmas? x
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