Attending a fabulous holiday party is always exciting, right from the moment you walk through the door and see the fruit of someone’s efforts or a stunning catering display. Of course, there are festive lights, sounds and smells, all of which you’d find at every event, but they’re somehow all enhanced by the electricity and excitement of the season. When done well, it’s an incredible experience.
But when you’re tasked with crafting one of these parties yourself, it’s a daunting task, to say the least. While a party on any other occasion has a bit of leeway, creating something to define a person’s holiday is a big task. But don’t worry! From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, all you need is the right forethought to have a blast.
To get your work started, here are five tips for successful holiday catering.
1. Plan the Foundation
Before you start calling venues, you want to get the basics of your holiday party figured out. Plan a guest list and figure out whether or not there should be kids at the event. Figure out the dress code, too. Should attendees wear cocktail casual? Or formal wear, if you’re feeling fancy?
Finally, start researching holiday catering and other event amenities. You might think summer is too early to call around to caterers, but reservations fill up fast around the season, so it’s better to start sooner rather than later.
2. Choose the Right Venue
Choosing your Dallas catering and venue may end up going hand in hand. You’ll find that specific venues charge for bringing in outside food service while others locales provide their own catering service. When you come across these venues, they can take a lot of the burden off your planning, assuming that you like their menu.
If you’re looking for barbecue catering in Dallas, Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse offers the Mustang Room for events of up to 75 guests. It’s a friendly space that can easily adapt to any holiday decorations. And when you reserve the Mustang Room for your holiday party, you can enjoy your choice of menu in classic Texas barbecue fashion.
3. Find a Seasonal Menu
A fantastic holiday party needs an incredible holiday menu. And while other barbecue catering companies in Dallas tend to stick to pork and beef, Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse has a dish for every holiday.
Are you hosting Thanksgiving? We have a seasoned, smoked, and sliced turkey that you can enjoy without the hours spent in the kitchen. When Christmas rolls around, we have an old-fashioned, hickory-smoked ham for your guests to drool over. And if you’re celebrating Hanukkah, you can provide your party with pulled chicken and two kinds of brisket.
Some caterers are better known for fancier, sit-down meal service. But this is Texas, and our buffet options will work for every party.
4. Accommodate Your Guests
When you work with a Dallas catering service, you want to make sure that you’re taking note of the dietary restrictions of your partygoers. It helps to check the menu in advance to see if a service provides choices for people who may be vegetarian or have specific allergies.
This applies to many aspects of being a host. For example, since people like to drink around the holidays, you might want to offer a few specialty cocktails. But there will probably be designated drivers in your party or people who tend not to drink in general, so you want to offer them more beverage options other than water, as well.
People can tell when you’ve put a lot of thought into planning, and that’s why we suggest starting your plans as soon as you can. That’s the best way to make sure that everyone has a great time.
5. Enjoy Yourself!
With all the planning and calling, emailing and budgeting, it’s easy to lose track of why you’re throwing a party in the first place. But, as necessary as all those little details are, they don’t compare to the big picture you’re creating.
So try to enjoy the process. Also, don’t forget to take some time during the party to relax. Talk to your loved ones and have something to eat. It’s your holiday, too, and after all the work you put in, you deserve to enjoy it.
Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse aims to make the pressure of planning your holiday party a little bit more manageable. With nine menu options to choose from, we have easy, fresh, and delicious Texas BBQ to give a kick to your holiday party. Need an insightful team in your corner this season? We’re ready to help you all year, from New Year’s catering to Christmas catering. Call us or visit our restaurant on Inwood Road, open 24/7!