10 Ideas for hosting when your life is a mess

Stress and joy sure can go hand in hand, can’t they?

In three weeks, we will close on a new home. We’re expecting company for Thanksgiving that will start arriving-the next day. However, we’ll have no dining room table, too little room in our current apartment, and a low budget…along with all of our decor and stuff being packed away in storage.

What to do to make hosting holidays as special as ever, in spite of the circumstances? Plan, adjust expectations and enjoy.

If you too find yourself in unusual holiday hosting circumstances this year, don’t panic!

Even in an empty house, a meaningful experience is always possible. We are so thankful God is blessing us with a home again after a tumultuous year, that we are determined to not let the very real stressors of moving steal the joy of being with those we love!

Here are a few ideas to help plan for a peaceful and enjoyable day for everyone…including you, the hostess!…

10 ideas to host a party before you are ready

Let go of impressing guests and focus on the heart of togetherness. They are there for the relationship, not the fancy dishes. Cultivate that and offer your attention, and a cheerful mood
Plan well to alleviate stress. When you have things packed, peace will come with preparedness. Make lists of what can be borrowed, purchased at a dollar store, or use disposable
Think outside the box, literally. If most of the stuff is packed, think about what isn’t! In our case, we sold most of our furniture. Including the dining table. While we won’t get our current place moved in the day before company, of course, we CAN hopefully get our storage unit. What is unboxed? A few folding tables and camping chairs. Pretty curtains I can take down and use as a tablecloth. See what I mean? This year is eclectic, not traditional. How fun is that?
Establish areas in the empty rooms. This one is tricky. We have the unusual case of moving AND hosting mid-process. Our apartment simply won’t hold everyone unless we stand for the day. The empty house, however, is the PERFECT place to create a unique memory. Set up “areas” for making those memories. Can a yard game be played outside or on the driveway? A few games and pillows set up in an empty carpeted room? Some prepared party games that don’t require bringing tons of supplies (check out The Saran Wrap Ball Game here) Dessert on the patio? And hey, all the rooms are totally available if anyone wants to lay on their backs and catch up chatting

Cancel the invitation for Superwoman. It just won’t end well for anyone if the host is so stressed out trying to please everyone with a perfect holiday, when being together is what we are here for! Call a guest and ask them to be in charge of bringing the ingredients (and maybe a serving dish!) for a side. Ask another to do the pies (and don’t forget to ask them to bring a pan). Heck, Costco sells huge pies for $6!
This is the year to let everyone help. Assigning jobs includes everyone and allows the kitchen to be the hub where everyone is part of the preparation
Grocery shop as early as possible. Since our fridge will literally have nothing in it, there is plenty of room! Shopping in advance takes away one stressor that doesn’t need to be there. In our case, since we’ll have family in the empty home, I’ll pick up some basics and bring the coffee machine. If they want anything special, don’t feel bad if your guests zip over to the store. Helping make themselves at home really DOES make them feel at home.
Decorate simply. A brown kraft paper roll of paper, some greenery and tea lights will create the same joyful ambiance as $40 floral centerpieces. ( find some ideas here) Produce as decor offers such a lovely, rustic vibe..and can be used to eat the next day! Hobby Lobby has major sales and beautiful “china” “cutlery” and “stemware”…made from disposable paper. This year, enough is whatever you can do without stress. It really is!
Serve dinner buffet style. Use the counters to set up a lovely buffet instead of passing plates ceremoniously around a wobbly card table. Seriously, let’s leave the wobble for the gobble, and just have a sturdy counter present a beautiful meal all at one time
Grace and gratitude. While the food is ready to go, sit in the moment and give a genuine prayer for our blessings. After the meal, takes turns telling each other what they mean to you. Start with one person, and allow the family members to give their thanks aloud

How can I be the best host?

Expectations that are set unrealistically high lead to disappointment. 100% of the time. So things aren’t ideal and Martha Stewart might look with disdain at the haphazard nature of this party. Let it go.

Remember, we GET to have these precious people together with us, we don’t HAVE to.

If you, like me, are facing stressful and unconventional timing when you were MOST excited to be hosting?

Make it work to the best of your abilities, and let go of the rest. This is going to be hard at times to pull off because I am the queen of hospitality and planning pretty parties.

However, I promise you, the people that love you and want to spend the holiday with you?

They won’t miss a thing. They will embrace helping you create the first happy memories of family or friends in your new home. Because that is what we do friends, remember?

How to host with imperfect peace

Here, in these spaces, we come together and embrace the beauty of an imperfect life.

It is raw, real, sometimes panic-inducing, funny, creative and unexpected. The ordinary is suddenly appealing, and we find the extraordinary in just trying to create the best moment…while accepting the reality of whatever moments come our way.

So no, things won’t go as I would normally plan them. Without things like furniture and the like, haha. But we’ll still smile and laugh.

We’ll still cook together (for the first time ever in this kitchen ♥) with whatever we cobble together. And it will be wonderful because each person there will be surrounded by those they love.

That is the tradition, after all, to celebrate our thanks and give.

Enjoy hosting your loved ones

This offering, well, it’s the best I can give in this circumstance-and we’ll perhaps all say it was most magical, in its simplicity.

Because without all the normal accouterments that are part of the tradition, we’ll see the unclad spirit of thanks and giving, and perhaps be forever changed by simple hospitality.

Wherever you find yourself for holidays this year, host from the heart without expectation. Instead, switch that assumption into anticipation of a fresh beginning.

It is enough.