Planning a huge holiday meal for family and friends can be quite an ordeal. Heck, planning dinners during the average work week can be a hassle, so when you’re hosting a slew of people during the busy holiday season, you’d better put some extra time into planning, preparation, and organization if you don’t want your dinner to be a complete disaster. Although you probably have some notion of the amount of work that has to be done and at least a few menu items your guests will expect, still it can’t hurt to get the ball rolling early in order to avoid any major snafus at the eleventh hour. Here are just a few tips that should help to ensure your holiday feast goes off without a hitch.

Plan and shop early. Once you have an idea of how many people are coming to your holiday meal you can begin planning the menu and shopping for items you’ll need. This is important for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, traditional items may sell out as the holidays approach. If you wait until just a few days before your feast to pick up meats, pie crusts, and other items, you may find them out of stock at your local market, leaving you scrambling to hit other stores or plan a new menu. Additionally, however, you’re bound to miss something and you want to make sure you still have plenty of time to pick up ingredients that you accidentally forgot to put on your initial shopping list.
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