I love Easter. Not only is it an extremely important religious holiday, it also marks the beginning of spring. It is so much fun to host an Easter celebration, let me help you plan your next Easter gathering.
When it comes to planning any type of gathering it is important to give yourself some time to plan ahead. In this post, I’m going to share the steps I take when I’m planning any gathering.
Stay tuned until the end because I’ve put together a pretty amazing bonus for you! Let’s get to it!
Create The Guest List
This really is one of the first things you need to do when it comes to planning any event. The guest list will help create the budget, pick the location, and help with theming.
Decide on how big you would like your gathering to be. Typically our gatherings are between 10-15 people. For gatherings like this, I like to make personal phone calls to everyone on my list. I will usually call about 10 days before the event so it gives them enough notices. 10 days also gives your guests enough time to check their schedule and get back to you if needed.
Plan Your Menu
I like to plan the menu once I have a head count. This makes it easier to plan a budget and get an idea of how much cooking will need to be involved. For the menu, I like to plan an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. I know that this does seem like a lot, however, it really doesn’t have to be. The appetizer is simply a small snack for those guest that show up early, for example, a veggie and hummus tray is usually all I have out. If that doesn’t get eaten during the gathering, it will be during the week by myself and my family. The salad course can be a simple spinach salad with a store bought dressing. During the entree course, our family usually has ham with a green veggie, starch (potatoes or rice), and fresh rolls. Finally, for dessert, this could be a lemon tart, pie, or cake. This year I’m serving a strawberry trifle.
Planning Out Your Decor
I love to have the dinner table decorated for the event. I try not to spend a lot and I do reuse decor year after year. This is also a great time to make sure you have enough place setting for your guests, napkins, serving pieces, and chairs. If you do not usually entertain for a lot of people it may be a good idea to rent items from a party rental store. This way you will not have to worry about storing these items that you will never use.
Activities
Will you be hosting an Easter egg hunt? Does your group of friends and family like to play games? Do you like to make goody bags to hand out? This is the time to plan that out and make a list of items that you may need to purchase. When all of the kids were little we would host an egg hunt. One year I found glow in the dark eggs and had the kids hunt for those, that was a lot of fun and the kids totally loved that one.
Getting The House Ready
Before I entertain I like to make a list of all of the house chores that need to be done. I will go room by room (usually only the common areas) and deep clean each room. Usually, this is me beginning at one end of the house and ending at the other end of the house.
Recently I wrote a post about getting your house company ready in 20 minutes. You could use this as a guide to get your home ready for your gathering. There is a checklist included for you to download also. You can read all about that HERE.
Now, when it comes to planning any party, being organized is probably the most important thing you can do. In order to do that you need to become the most organized busy mom you know. That is why I’ve put together an amazing bonus for you called, The Organized Busy Mom Workbook.
Inside this workbook, I share the 8 things you can do today to become organized as a busy mom. Each item I share also comes with a worksheet so you can create your own game plan making sure that you’re super successful. Click the button below to download the free workbook now!
Let me know what you think. Will this help make your Easter a little easier? What are some of your fun traditions on Easter? I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much.
Jenn
Jennifer Burby says
March 22, 2016 at 12:46 amJenn- This is a great post for someone like myself who likes the ideas of hosting parties, but lacks the organizational capacity to put it all together. This can apply to all holidays and I like that. We’ll be going out brunch at a restaurant this Easter. Cheers! xo
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:34 amYes, this totally will work for any party that your hosting for sure! Enjoy Easter Brunch! That sounds like so much fun. Thank you so much!
Vet Leow says
March 22, 2016 at 3:32 amI really appreciate that you put together all the resources and printouts here all for our convenience! Egg hunt and glow in the dark eggs? Oh, I love these great ideas!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:35 amAwesome! Yes, I’m a planning person through and through if I don’t have a planner or list for it I am a crazy person lol. Thank you so much!
Lezley Paige says
March 22, 2016 at 2:44 pmI love this post. I needed this, I have out of town guests coming in so I want it to be an amazing day!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:36 amWonderful! I hope you have an amazing day! Good luck!!
Krista Williams says
March 22, 2016 at 7:12 pmLove this, Jenn! Always so thorough!
I like to plan the menu once I have a head count. This makes it easier to plan a budget and get an idea of how much cooking will need to be involved. For the menu I like to plan an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. I know that this does seem like a lot however, it really doesn’t have to be. The appetizer is simply a small snack for those guest that show up early, for example a veggie and hummus tray is usually all I have out. If that doesn’t get eaten during the gathering, it will be during the week by myself and my family. The salad course can be a simple spinach salad with a store bought dressing. During the entree course our family usually has ham with a green veggie, starch (potatoes or rice), and fresh rolls. Finally, for dessert this could be a lemon tart, pie, or cake. This year I’m serving a strawberry trifle.
That was key for me! I can use that when I go to a friends, and bring one of those easy deserts!
Love it!
xo
Krista
http://www.hundredblog.com
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:38 amKrista, thank you so much for your kind words. I am so glad I was able to help. I really hope you have a great Easter!!
Francesca D'Onofrio says
March 23, 2016 at 2:34 pmI love Easter too!! The thought of hosting a big family Easter dinner is very intimidating, but this will help a lot! I’ll definitely be putting this to good use!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:38 amThat so great! Thanks!!
Cara says
March 23, 2016 at 3:49 pmI was just talking to my mom about how to plan out this Sunday’s dinner and this is perfect! Thanks so much! 🙂
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:39 amOf course! Good luck on your dinner!!
MemoryJora says
March 23, 2016 at 9:04 pmThis post is so perfect since Easter is around the corner. I love the idea of organizing everything into categories like that. Makes life so much easier.
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:39 amIt sure does. Hope you have a great Easter!! Thank you.
tina says
March 23, 2016 at 11:07 pmThis is so useful! Thank you so much for posting it. Perfect timing since I haven’t even begun to think of Easter and it is right around the corner!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:40 amOf course, good luck on your Easter festivities!!
arin says
March 24, 2016 at 3:34 pmEaster is seriously the best! (That’s if everyone in my fam can get along, ha!) <a href="http://www.heartofchic.com">www.heartofchic.com</a>
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:40 amLOL, isn’t that the case for most families. Good luck on your Easter festivities!! Thanks.
Debs says
March 24, 2016 at 5:35 pmLove all of the downloads. Thank you for posting. Takes the hassle out of planning.
Jennifer Slavich says
March 25, 2016 at 1:41 amYes, I hope I can help make your days easier 🙂 Thank you!
Apieceofrainbow Ananda says
March 25, 2016 at 4:45 amgreat tips! Easter egg hunt is my favorite part and i could do that all day!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 26, 2016 at 4:34 pmIt is so much fun!
Aarika says
March 26, 2016 at 1:36 amThis is a great post! I had no idea there was a "planner" to help organize Easter events. Wonderful! You always teach me new things. Yay!
Jennifer Slavich says
March 26, 2016 at 4:37 pmLol, thanks. Ya, there might not have been. I can always find an excuse to make a planner for anything 🙂 Thanks!!