A Square Neck Dress and Effortless Holiday Entertaining

Wendy is the owner of Around My Family Table. She loves sharing family friendly recipes, tips, and food/kitchen reviews, as well as her Patti Dress. She lives in Arizona with her two kids and husband, who just happens to be her high school sweetheart. Wendy shares recipes the whole family will love and most are gluten, dairy, and egg free and has a mini-orchard in her backyard for inspiration.

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Doesn’t it always seem like once October hits that time goes into fast forward mode.  There are so many parties, activities, concerts, recitals, and of course all the holidays.

Dress the Part (in your favorite square neck dress!) for Effortless Holiday Entertaining with these tips…

Holiday entertaining doesn’t have to be full of stress.  Take a deep breath and enjoy your party with these easy steps for effortless entertaining.

1. Set a Menu!  One month before your party, plan your menu.  Be as detailed as possible and include cooking times, if the dishes can be made ahead of time, and make a grocery list.
2. Make a detailed timeline. Put absolutely everything you need to do for your party on paper. Now is not the time to test your memory.  Plan when to go shopping, when to clean out the fridge, when you can make each dish (that’s why knowing cooking times and if dishes are make ahead safe in #1 is a must), plan for guests to arrive early (ya know, there is always one that shows up early). Plan every last detail.
3. Decide on what you will wear for the party. This might sound silly, but if you plan out what you will wear and have it ready to go, then getting ready will be quick and painless.  I love how easy Karina Dresses are to dress up for a holiday party.  They are my go-to dress since they need very little care and little to no ironing.  My favorite square neck dress for a holiday party is the Patti dress.  It’s elegant and perfect dress for a holiday party.
4. Start cleaning the week before the event. This might sound crazy especially if you have young children, but it is so helpful.  Of course there will be final touches up the day of the party, like the powder room.  However, you can certainly dust, clean the microwave, scrub the oven, and clean the baseboards before hand. {Okay, I never clean the baseboards, but you get my point.}
5. Set your table the night before.  I’ve been doing this for years.  It’s so nice to set the table or prep the buffet table the night before the event.  It helps me get in the right mood when I wake up to a clean house and the party table is all festive.  Plus it’s one less thing to do the day of the party.
6. Finish last minute cooking. The day of the event is finally here.  It’s time to pull together the last of the food.  Most dishes should already be prepped so there is just some final cooking and plating to be done.
7. Enjoy the party! Since you planned ahead, you aren’t going to be exhausted, so it’s time to sit back and relax.  Enjoy your friends and all the wonderful food.  You deserve it!

If you love the square neck dress, Patti, as much as Wendy does, you can find her right here in our online store!