Christmas, while a wonderful time of year, can be exhausting! We want to help make your life easier, so we are sharing our top tips from the Philosophy HQ team for easy and simple Christmas entertaining. You can get back to enjoying quality time with the family, which is what Christmas is all about!
What to Wear
The hostess with the mostest simply must have the perfect dress and Christmas calls for something festive. We love our Fiesta print, which was created especially for summer events!
Our Clea dress or Kirstie top are the perfect throw on pieces for those hot days as they are made from cool and lightweight Rayon Voile. We think they would look fabulous paired with some sparkly silver FRANKiE4 sandals, which tick both the festive and supportive boxes to keep your feet happy all day long.
If you love this print, you can get the Kirstie top here from Sydney St Boutique
Food
Now that we have the outfit sorted, next comes the food! For some, this is the most important part of Christmas Day, and often the most labour intensive. Christmas just isn't the same without our traditional favourite dishes. We are sharing a few tips to make the cooking and prep easier.
Prep the day before Christmas
Peel and cut vegetables the day before and put in ziplock bags in the fridge
For onions put them in a sealed container of water
You can also marinate all meats and leave in the fridge overnight
Don't have time to prep?
No worries! You can order pre-cut vegetables from your greengrocer and supermarket which are ready to put straight into the oven
Platters are your saviour
Wherever you can, create a platter!
You can create all sorts of platters - cheese, deli, chocolate, vegetarian, picnic, dessert ...
Check out some Christmas dessert platter ideas here, here and here
A good base for savoury platters is cheese and crackers
Add some fresh colour with fruits like grapes, melon, strawberries ...
Check out your deli for delicious dips which can be decanted into pretty bowls and added to your platter
Trying to keep things cool?
If you don't have enough ice trays, put some water in ziplock bags and freeze to create blocks of ice.
These can easily be thrown into the esky or broken up to create smaller chunks of ice.
Delegate a few people to bring their esky and a bag of ice they've picked up on the way.
It is almost guaranteed you will run out of fridge room on a very hot day with lots of delicious treats like pavlovas and prawns and champagne to keep cool, so utilise spare eskies.
Your laundry trough comes in handy for an extra ice bucket. Pop the plug in, fill with ice and pop spare soft drinks, wine and beer there to stay cool.
Unexpected Visits
Stock up on wine
Make sure you always have bottles of white and sparkling in the fridge and a red on the side ready to go!
Take advantage of alcohol delivery services - just Google for your local options
Check out local boutique bottle shops where you can find something a little unique
Big box warehouse type bottle shops will have everything you need including beer, spirits, alcohol free options, et al. You can order online too to save more time.
Feeling like serving festive cocktails? Check out premixed bottles in individual or multi serve bottles.
You can also buy buckets with dispenser taps that you just need to add your choice of alcohol and freeze for a refreshing festive alternative!
Make it even easier with a company like Mix, Shake, Pour who will deliver cocktail ingredients and instructions to your door.
Have a quick gift handy
There's always an extra visitor who you quickly need to produce a gift for
The safest option is a box of chocolates. Luckily, the supermarkets and department stores are stocked with lots of fun festive chocolate box options.
When you're the visitor
Always ensure you have a gift for the host if you're invited to a Christmas dinner, lunch or drinks.
Our go-to is a bottle of wine wrapped in a nice tea towel, so have a few of these handy.
It doesn't get easier than two gifts in one and no wrapping needed!
Organisation
Get everyone to chip in
It can be easier said than done, but try to get the whole family to chip in where they can before or on Christmas Day.
If you're in charge of the meat course, get everyone else to bring the veggies or a salad, or dessert.
Also try to play to strengths . Do you have a self-proclaimed wine connoisseur in the family? Ask them to bring the wine.
Get the kids to do a fruit salad, and set the table.
Ensure anyone who doesn't help cook, helps to wash up
It is a family event after all, and everyone can be proud of the part they played to create a fantastic feast!
Housekeeping
With all the family home, it can be hard to keep the house tidy.
Try to do as much housekeeping you can before the family arrives and fix anything that's broken.
After that? just relax, accept the fact that you'll have to wait until after Christmas and even New Years, to get the house looking spotless again
Enjoy the 'festive mess' in the meantime
Make a List
Have a progress list for Christmas Day.
Write down what you plan to cook, how long it will take and what time you will eat so you know exactly when to put it into the oven.
Note down what everyone will be bringing, what you have prepped and what still needs to be done.
If you have helpers, allocate tasks and put it on the fridge for everyone to see.
Utilise technology and use phone apps to create shared To Do and Task lists for everything from Kris Kringle gifts to the foods people are responsible for purchasing and / or making.
We hope these tips will help make your Christmas a little bit easier. Of course, the most important thing is to have fun!
Christmas is for everyone, so don't stress if things don't go to plan and enjoy the time spent with your family and friends!
Merry Christmas from the Philosophy Australia team!