Holiday Planning Checklist: make your Holiday as stressfree as possible!

The holidays can be stressful times! Am I right or am I right? With my easy peasy Holiday planning checklist, the times of Holiday stress are over! Or, at least lessened! I've made this awesome FREE checklist to help you plan out your Holiday Plans. These times are supposed to be filled with laughter & love, not with planning stress, you've got this! 

Continue down to read more Holiday Planning tips and to download your FREE! COPY of the Holiday Planning Checklist! 

Scroll down for your free download!

Start planning

The first step, in my humble opinion, is starting early. Create a plan, make lists, send invites and so on... At least one month before (as far as invitations go, maybe even sooner). I like to be prepared, so start on your grocery list, choose your decor, ask friends/family to help out with some part. Make that plan and start checking off your tasks one by one.

I like to make different lists when it comes to my planning: grocery list, to-do list, decor list, gift list, outfit list, games & entertainment list. Smaller categories will make it much easier to oversee it all! 

Budget

Yep, we're talking budget guys. Sorry, but it's needed! Set a budget for all your categories, such as food, decor, gifts, outfits and whatever else you need. Check-in weekly on your budget to see how you're doing. I'm not giving you a set budget because it will depend on what you're planning on cooking, what you and your family's gifts standards are and, what you WANT to spend. So you do you but set that budget and hold yourself to it. If you do go over budget on one of the categories, try to take some of another category. That way you're not going over budget on the overall budget.  

Decor/decorations

When it comes to Holiday Planning your decor especially is a big part of the planning and setting the tone or mood for your party. Pick out a theme and start collecting items that go with that theme. Put things together to see if they fit well together. Go shopping or, to keep your budget low: shop your own stash! 

The menu

Write down your menu ideas, and make sure you 'test' them. Cook a bunch of dishes to try out with your family. Let them taste & critique. This way you'll make sure you've tried the recipe at least once, which means (there it is again) less stress on the day because you know the steps, you know what to do. And, you'll know if your guests will like it. It's also a lot of fun trying out the recipes with your family this way. You could make a game out of it, make signs with scores and let them hold up the sign that scores that dish. A fun activity for them and a good try-out for you!

Gifts

Gifts! Such a fun but also stressful part of the Holidays. Think about what you want to get for each guest, shop well in advance. For example, order/shop during Black Friday to get some good deals on your gifts. Start early and wrap those gifts before your party. I don't mean the hour or day before but try getting it done at least a week before your party. I mean, less stress right!? 

Music and games

Yay! Games and music are a very big part of your party. It will set the tone of your party, especially music. Make or pick a fun playlist on Spotify to make it easy on yourself, or make one of your own. Picking games depends on what you have and what you know guests like. Do they like board games? Set out a few choices for them to pick. More into cards? Get some card-decks and print out some fun (new) card game rules. 

Outfits

If you're going with a theme or want to be colour-coded with your family, start planning those outfits soon! You'll maybe need some time to shop all the outfits so the sooner you're getting on that, the last stress you'll have over it when the Holiday party is nearing! 

Happy Holidays!

So, the most important part is for you and your guests to enjoy the Holidays, in my humble opinion. Enjoy each others company, create new memories and have a wonderful Christmas, New Years, Chanukah, or whatever Holiday you're celebrating... Make sure you give yourself some downtime before getting ready: relaxing before the busyness starts. Give yourself some grace and let loved ones help you out. Give them some chores/tasks to do so they can help you out. This gives you some breathing room and most of the times, family members will love to feel included and make sure you have time to do what's needed in the most relaxing way possible. 

You've made it all the way through this blog, yay! For that, I thank you and wish you an amazing Holiday! Get that planning on the road and download my Holiday Planning Checklist below, my gift to you during the Holiday season! 

Download your FREE copy of the Holiday Planning Checklist!

Let me know how/if you use the checklist by tagging me @craftsbyshirley on Instagram!