Thus the "Roast & Toast" was born: a late-evening, appetizers-and-drinks casual affair that was highlighted by a make-you-own s'more station. And I think folks enjoyed. We planned it for Dec. 28 which had a few benefits: people had less on their schedule after Christmas than trying to cram in another party during the three weekends prior, I was able to pick up a few party supplies the day after Christmas at 50% off (in addition to the napkins and some other decor I picked up on Dec. 26 last year), and since my office is closed the week between Christmas and New Year's I had plenty of time to clean and prep (and yet somehow I still ended up with tons of crap to do at the last minute).
A few ways we made things easier on ourselves:
- Not planning a full meal. Our apartment is not tiny, but also not incredibly spacious. There'd be no way we could seat 15+ people at the same time and dinner is expensive! We set the start time for 8 pm and invited guests for "sweet treats," although we also had some more savory munchies.
- The space issue was also one reason we also requested that the little ones stay home. We've hosted our friends' kids before and as much as we enjoy them, I just couldn't spend half the party trying to make sure they didn't pick up every sparkly Christmas bauble within their reach... that's not fair to them and no fun for their parents, either. We stated on the invitation that we're just not at the child-proofing stage yet (which our friends know anyways) and that this time we're hosting an adults-only affair.
- Don't try to do everything from scratch. I had planned on making fondue and just ran out of time. I don't think anyone missed it because they were too busy eating bacon-chicken-alfredo pizza (we picked up this and also a fajita-chicken frozen pizza which we cut into bite-sized squares for an easy and inexpensive nibble...plus you really don't need more than a few bites of the alfredo pizza, it's delish but SO rich!). And while I baked cupcakes, I also arranged some store-bought cookies on a platter with no guilt.
- And for drinks - no need for a full bar! I made a big pitcher of cranberry-orange punch (ginger ale is the third, "secret" ingredient) and suggested that people add the sparkling moscato if they wanted an "adult" beverage. Regular and diet soda, a couple bottles of wine, water ("snowmelt") and two types of beer were more than plenty.
- I made a playlist ahead of time so that I wouldn't have to be adjusting the music all night and we put away the remote controls. This is not a tv-watching night.
Overall I think it was a success! People seemed to enjoy themselves and we have some great pictures. I set up a basket with a few props that we told people was the "photo booth," and let the camera next to it. Although I ended up having to prompt most people to get silly and have fun with the idea, once they started they seemed to enjoy it. Do it again next year? Maybe! I like to switch it up so maybe I'll come up with a different concept (but the s'mores were a BIG hit!).
I think the best feedback I got was that my Dad told me that after they'd left my bro said it
"looked like Pinterest exploded." #missionaccomplished
Keep Christmas in your heart all year, as cheesy as that sounds :)
Happy New Year!!
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