Line your stomach, pre-plan the playlist, and stock the fridge with loads of scrummy food for the morning after: How to host the ULTIMATE Christmas party!

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You’ve bought the sparkly party dress, you’ve decorated the tree.... now what? If your heart is excited at the prospect of hosting a Christmas party but your head is frazzled at the very thought of where to begin, help is at hand.

First things first: you’re going to need a To Do List. And SURPRISE! We’ve made one for you. So pour yourself a cup of tea (the big drinks come later...), get out your favourite pen, and let’s start planning how you’re going to host the ultimate Christmas party.

PS. Can we come?

Party pals! Be the hostess with the mostest this Chrismas with our handy tip to hosting the ultimate festive bash 

Pick a date, QUICK!

Choosing a date for your Christmas party is more stressful than choosing a date for your wedding: there are about six good days in December for hosting jingle-belling shindigs, and the whole world wants them for their own bash. Get in there early and, ideally, grab the best Saturday (HINT: It’s the 17th! Quick! Send the invitations! Via WhatsApp! Now!). This will leave you a whole day to prepare and a whole day for the inevitable whopping great clean up. 

 What sort of party do you want to throw?

Do you want to host a daytime bash so children can come? Or evening and adults only? A sit-down lunch or dinner? A lively Sunday brunch? Will there be dancing? Will the guest list be open or closed? These are all important things to consider. Decide which guests you REALLY want to be there and make it easy for them to come.  

Plan a menu

No great party ever began with a host uttering the words: 'Let's just wing it with a multipack of crisps.’ Forget the company, the music and the decorations; it’s the food served at a Christmas party that turns it into the most talked-about bash in town. ‘Ooh! Did you try those amazing vol au vents! What about the sausage rolls? Those mince pies were ah-mazing! I’m still dreaming of those salmon pearls!’

Showstopper: Impress your guests with this Crowd-Pleasing Party Selection, 157 pieces for £100 at M&S 

Whether you’re hosting a sit-down lunch or a canapé buffet, M&S has a terrific range of foods to suit every occasion. Order online via their Christmas Food To Order site and you can choose from a phenomenal selection of pre-prepared goodies. We particularly like their Crowd-Pleasing Party Selection (157 pieces, £100), which includes mini lobster and langoustine thermidors and bacon and sausage rolls; and their full Christmas meal menus. The Special Christmas Menu serves 6 and includes seafood starters, a British Oakham Turkey, Posh Turkey Gravy, British Pigs in Blankets on a pork, sage & onion stuffing wreath and The Collection’s Intensely Fruity Christmas Pudding. Ideal for a smaller gathering.

M&S also has a wonderful selection of canapés available to buy in-store, from Posh Fish Fingers with Salt and Vinegar Snow (10 for £5), to Dinky Hot & Sour Prawn Doughnuts (10 for £7), and amazing Mini Smoked Salmon Pearls (10 for £7). 

Mouthwatering: British Pigs in Blankets on a pork, sage & onion stuffing wreath £10 at M&S

Eat up: Posh Fish Fingers with Salt and Vinegar Snow, 10 for £5

Tasty treats: Dinky Hot and Sour Prawn Doughnuts and Mini Smoked Salmon Pearls, both 10 for £7 at M&S

Enlist help!

It’s absolutely FINE to ask friends to give you a helping hand preparing, serving and cleaning up on the big day – in fact, good friends will probably offer. If you’re hosting a party with over 30 people, consider recruiting a waitress and bartender, so you don’t spend the whole party heating up food, laying it out, handing it around and pouring drinks, thus totally missing the chance to chat to all your friends – after all, you’re the reason they’ve come.

If you don’t want human help, maybe allow yourself a little shop-based assistance? Instead of slaving over flaky pastry all morning, pop a couple of trays of M&S Three Bird Roast Sausage Rolls (12 for £5) in the oven, or treat yourself to an impressive M&S Serrano Ham Joint, which comes complete with a knife and stand (2kg for £40) - that way guests can help themselves to slices of meat every time they pass. 

If you’re hosting a sit-down affair, we’re big fans of the M&S Shellfish Knickerbocker Glory (£8), beautiful, decadent, pink and white towers of king prawns, lobster mousse and champagne mousse. The perfect way to begin a Christmas feast!

Delicious! Tuck into the M&S Three Bird Roast Sausage Rolls (12 for £5) 

Feast: Treat yourself to an impressive M&S Serrano Ham Joint, which comes with a knife and stand (2kg for £30) or M&S Shellfish Knickerbocker Glory (£8 for two in store, £16 for four to order)

Pretty the place up

A Christmas party without decorations is like a birthday party without a cake: a big fat failure. Ensure you erect a lovely big sparkling tree in the main party room, hang glittering decorations from the ceiling, and throw sparkling confetti all over the serving table. Keep things classy with a colour theme: red and green is classic, but gold and silver is super-elegant if the in-laws and your boss are on the guest list.

Don’t overdo it on the pre-party Prosecco

Having a drink while you’re getting ready and preparing the food is one of the best parts of the party. But don’t have TOO much fun doing it! A glass or two of M&S’s excellent Conte Priuli Prosecco (£9 per bottle) before the first bell rings is more than enough to make your spirits sparkle, and not so much that you’ll be asleep before the first guest arrives. Pace yourself – you want to remember your own party, otherwise how will you know if it was any good?

M&S Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Rolls , 190g, £1,50

Line your stomach!

As well as drinking one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you enjoy throughout the party, it’s important to line your stomach before things crank up a gear. Treat yourself to a bag of yummy M&S Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Rolls (190g, £1,50) while you set up the house – the sugar will pep you up and the carbs will give you the energy to pull out all your best dance moves when Mariah comes on. 

Ask everyone to bring two bottles

Who on earth drinks just one bottle at a party? Nobody we know. Particularly not if they bring Prosecco, which is simply too quaffable for words. Ask your guests to bring two bottles to ensure you don’t blow your entire Christmas present budget on booze – and if they need help direct them towards M&S’s excellent selections of Christmas wine, beer, spirits and pre-mixed cocktails – we can’t wait to try their No Big Dill Gin Cocktail (£12, 50cl), wonderfully refreshing and fuss-free served simply over ice. 

Thirsty? Enjoy No Big Dill Gin Cocktail ,£12, 50cl, at M&S this Christmas

Ask everyone to bring a dish

If you’re hosting a party on a Friday and don’t have any time to cook after work, ask guests to bring a dish. Assign them each a tray of canapés or snacks from M&S so you don’t double up: one person could bring Hog Roasts On Mini Crackling Plates (12 for £6), another could come with Mini Scallop En Croutes with Champagne Sauce (10 for £9), and another could buy a few bags of delicious snacks, such as Caramelised Pecans (200g, £5), Bucks Fizz Sparkle Hand Cooked Crisps (150g, £2) and Belgian Dark Chocolate & Ginger Popcorn (200g, £3.50). And the best bit? You get to keep any leftovers....

Sharing is caring: Hog Roasts On Mini Crackling Plates , 12 for £6, and Mini Scallop En Croutes with Champagne Sauce , 10 for £9, both at M&S

Snack attack: Caramelised Pecans , 200g, £5, Bucks Fizz Sparkle Hand Cooked Crisps , 150g, £2, and Belgian Dark Chocolate & Ginger Popcorn ,200g, £3.50, all at M&S

Sort the Christmas playlist the day before

Mariah. Wham! The Pogues. Wizzard. Slade. The Jackson 5. Chris Rea. You know the drill: compile a Christmas playlist of classic Christmas beauties, set it to loop, and relax. As long as the tunes are loud enough the party will be merrier than Father Christmas after his second glass of mulled wine.

Premix drinks before guests arrive

Nothing is more stressful than playing bartender to 100 people who all decide to walk through your door at 9.08pm on the dot and demand an immediate beverage. Plan ahead: have a cauldron of mulled wine warming on the stove; stash Prosecco in a bucket of ice in the freezing garden – much easier than attempting to fit 150 bottles into your fridge; and premix jugs of spiced gin and tonics, adding ice at the last minute. M&S has a huge range of Christmassy gins available, from London Distilled Dry Gin No.1 Spice and No.2 Zest (70cl, £26) and Spiced Clementine Gin (50cl, £14), to Think Pink Gin (50cl, £14) and Mint & Cucumber Gin (50cl, £14).

Gin me up: London Distilled Dry Gin No.1 Spice and No.2 Zest (both 70cl for £26 or 20cl for £10)

Even better, stock up on pre-mixed cocktails from M&S, who have done all of the heavy lifting for you! We’re particularly fond of their Christmas Cobbler Cocktail (50cl, £12), a heady mix of sherry, rum, beetroot, calvados and apple; their Gold Crème Brûlée Liqueur (35cl, £10), a velvety sweet tipple, perfect served over ice; and their Egg Nog Cream Liqueur (70cl, £11), a creamy nutmeg and vanilla wonderland.

Drink up! Christmas Cobbler Cocktail, 50cl, £12, Egg Nog Cream Liqueur, 70cl, £11, both at M&S

Have something soft on hand

Designated drivers, pregnant women and teetotallers like a party as much as the rest of us do, so it’s best not to make them feel left out. Stock up on M&S soft drinks, including their delicious Mulled British Apple & Pear Warmer (1 litre, £1.60) and their Mulled Citrus Warmer (1 litre, £1.60). Also good in between sips of M&S’s heavenly Spiced Rum (50cl, £13)...

Cheers: Enjoy Mulled British Apple & Pear Warmer, 1 ltr £1.60, or Heavenly Spiced Rum ,50cl, £13, both at M&S

Stagger the food

If you bring all the food out at once, the first guests will gobble it up and there will be nothing to eat come 10pm. Treat ‘em mean to keep ‘em keen. Lay out some crisps and other cold food before anyone arrives (M&S’s Fire Roasted Tortilla Chips Dipped in Dark Chocolate (£2, 125g), and their Maple & Chilli Parsnip Hand Cooked Crisps (100g, £2) are great options), then pop a couple of trays of canapés in the oven every half an hour. Have more than you think you’ll need on standby just in case people bring friends they forgot to warn you about.

Snack happy: Fire Roasted Tortilla Chips Dipped in Dark Chocolate, £2, 125g, and Maple & Chilli Parsnip Hand Cooked Crisps, 100g, £2, both at M&S

Organise a Secret Santa

Add a fun surprise element to proceedings with Secret Santa. Ask everyone to spend up to £10 on a gift, pop them all in the middle of the room, and allocate them accordingly. It’s often MUCH funnier when gifts are given at random and your friend Bob receives a bottle of bright pink nail polish.

Clear room to dance

Move the dining table to one side, tuck the Christmas presents safely under the tree and hide any breakable objects. As soon as Wham! starts playing, things are going to get busy!

End with something sweet

Send your guests home on a sugar high with something sweet. We are totally head over heels for M&S’s new Mini Santa Hats (115g, £4), a crisp meringue base topped with raspberry jelly and fresh vanilla cream, and their stunning Chocolate & Passionfruit Star (530g, £15), a chocolate sponge centre topped with white chocolate mousse and a passionfruit compote filling, surrounded by chocolate sponge and dark chocolate mousse filled with chocolate sauce. In fact, we may not even bring this one out at the party; we kinda want it all for ourselves the next day. Speaking of which.....

Something sweet: M&S’s new Mini Santa Hats, 115g, £4, and Chocolate & Passionfruit Star, 530g, £15

Stock the fridge with delicious morning-after food

Face it: if your party was a success you might just wake up with a sore head, or a hungry tummy. Ensure you’ve stocked your fridge with some tasty snacks for the morning after. We’re filling ours with M&S Smoked Salmon & Scrambled Egg Mini Croissants (280g, £7) and some Mini Breakfast Bacon Cups (288g, £8) – shhh!

The next day: Enjoy M&S Smoked Salmon & Scrambled Egg Mini Croissants, £7, and Mini Breakfast Bacon Cups, right, £8

Book a cleaner for the next day

Trust us.  You will never regret this.