Christmas Day Timeline: Stress-Free Tips To Prepare Ahead

Christmas Day can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! Here are some tips and a timeline to help you plan ahead, so you can enjoy your family time and make sweet memories. I love to have people in our home. But, if you’ve done much entertaining, you know it’s super stressful if you don’t plan ahead. If you wait until the last minute to prepare you’ll be anxious, stressed and won’t be able to enjoy your friends and family.

Funny Story

Funny story about one of the first parties we hosted as newlyweds. It was December 1999 and Scott and I lived in Birmingham Alabama at the time. We lived in a charming 100 year old home and thought it was just the best!! It had squeaky old hardwood floors, big beautiful moldings and casings around windows, doors and openings, original leaded glass windows and so much character!!

Well, I decided we needed to host a Christmas party and invite our Sunday school class. I was thrilled I would be able to use our new silver, Christmas china and table linens. Happy me!! My mother in law was in town and we did a good job of baking, cooking and preparing all of the food ahead of time.

However, 30 minutes before the party started I was still in a robe arranging flowers, tying ribbons onto tiered trays, and making sure everything was just right. I can still remember my MIL nicely saying, “Julie, don’t you think you should get dressed!!???” Ha!

I quickly learned that not only does the table, food and house need to be ready ahead of time, I need to be ready ahead of time as well!!

Timeline

Here’s what I do to make sure I plan, prepare and execute for a stress free Christmas Day!

2 weeks out. Make a plan of what you want to do and serve for your meals. We pretty much always do the same Christmas breakfast. Breakfast casserole or eggs, sausage and crescent rolls, cheesy grits, oven cooked bacon, fruit salad, and sweet bread. Not healthy I know, but you only have Christmas breakfast once a year! For dinner, we are doing fillets, baked potatoes, my favorite fall/winter salad, roasted asparagus, and peppermint Oreo ice cream pie for dessert.
7-10 days out. Once you have a plan, make a list of all the the recipes you’ll need/food you will prepare. Make sure you include drinks if you are making cocktails or serving wine. Figure out what you can make ahead of time and freeze. This is a huge time saver! Shop for non-perishable items. This includes not only food, but napkins, plates, cups, plasticware, drinks and wine. If you are going to do some baking ahead of time, go ahead and shop for the items you’ll need and start baking! I make my sweet bread/muffins a few weeks ahead of time and freeze them.
5-7 days out. Iron that tablecloth and set the table if you can. Trust me. This will make you feel so good!! Make a grocery list of perishable items you need and go shopping! I’ll typically go to Costco as well as the grocery store.
2-3 days before. Think about what you can make/do and put in the fridge. For me I always cook the breakfast sausage, let it cool and put it in a ziplock in the fridge or freezer. Arrange your flowers. You can put the flowers in the fridge if you’re worried about the flowers wilting. However, some fridges run cold. If you put your flowers on the top shelf they might freeze so try and put them on a middle shelves. If you live in a cooler climate you can put them in the garage!
1-2 days before. Make your cooking timeline. It always helps me to look at baking/cooking times and then literally write down the exact time you need to turn on the oven and what temperature. Plus what time you need to put things in the oven and take them out of the oven. This helps you stay on track and keeps you from being frazzled. Do any baking/cooking you haven’t already done. If you’re making casseroles, go ahead and have those made and in the refrigerator. That is one of the beautiful things about casseroles. You can make them 2-3 days before and they are ready to go in the oven on Christmas. Get out baskets for chips, rolls, etc. If possible, place your serving pieces on your table with cards so you know what is going where. This helps you visualize the table and keeps you organized. Put out plates, napkins, silverware. Set up a drink station where you will have ice bucket, wine, cups and drinks.