The holidays are all about being with friends and loved ones and enjoying the time you are blessed to get to spend together.  Unfortunately entertaining can also be a really stressful and daunting time as well.  This year you can be a guest at your own party by following these tips from Photo Booth of The Stars.

• Stay organized.

Whether you are hosting or attending a holiday event any wedding or event planner will tell you organization is the key.  If you are going to a holiday party find out what you can bring to it and then make a list.  Try to get all of your supply shopping done at once that way you can avoid the jam packed stores and parking lots during this glorious holiday season.  If you are traveling make a list of what you need to pack and have it ready in advance.

You can find endless amounts of free printable holiday organizing checklists on the web.  We found the one above at Canadian Living.  There are plenty of them out there to choose from and you will have no problem finding one to meet your needs.

• Don’t take on too much.

With all the holiday parties, company parties, and cookie exchanges, shopping, and everything involved in the season it is easy to bite off more than you can chew.  Be realistic on time and be sure to factor in a little wiggle room.

Most people want to make each holiday better and more special than the last and a huge trend in doing this is to DIY anything and everything.  BEWARE this can get very taxing.  If you are a new to the experience and want to make 101 different decorations, start small.  Even the simplest looking project can be daunting to complete.

Before you go out and buy 100 mason jars for an idea get one and execute the entire project.  How long did it take?  Will you be able to do 100 of them by your party date?  If so congratulations, if not, at least you don’t have to take back 100 mason jars, or start to can tomatoes and make jam to use them all up.  This will allow you to either veto the project or try something else, or move forward and complete your beloved craft.

• Prioritize

Determine all of the tasks you need to accomplish before your guests arrive.  Think it through.  How much time do you have to put together all of these items?  Is it possible?  Once you have established everything you want to achieve then it is time to prioritize so that you can ensure the ideas that are a must-have to your holiday event will be completed.

• Finish a project before starting a new one.

This is important.  It’s a lot easier to take things off of your plate if you haven’t already started them.  If you had planned to make festive photo booth props, a dozen desserts for your sweets table, and X-amount of favors for your guests to take away, but now you are getting down to the wire and feeling a bit overwhelmed by all you have left to do.

Start with the task at the top of your list so that if you do run into a time crunch you can make cuts where you feel appropriate.  Maybe instead of a dozen desserts you only have time to make five.  At least your other projects are finished and you aren’t left with 10 different “started” tasks that will be impossible to finish.  This will save you a lot of time and headache.

• Give yourself a deadline.

Since the holidays are all about spending time with those loved ones – do it.  Give yourself a due date and whatever is left on your list that hasn’t been started on that date, forget about it!  Go spend time with your family instead of running around frantic because you still have X, Y, and Z to finish.  If you are happy and calm, everyone will be right along with you.

Happy holiday entertaining to you all and we are looking forward to being a part of it.  Call today and book your photo booth 815-975-8762 or click here!

Photo’s courtesy of Pinterest