Hostess with the Mostest: Easter Sunday Edition

As a veteran hostess, you are by this point a total pro at throwing great parties. But after you’ve hosted so many parties, it can be hard sometimes to come up with new ideas to make your party fresh and new. Of course, sometimes it’s just doing a few small things that end up making a big difference. For this year’s Easter Sunday party, check out these little ideas to make things “egg-stra” special.

Go Outside!

First, if the weather is suitable, make sure to take advantage of your yard space for the party. Open up the windows and doors and make sure people feel free to come and go between the yard and the house. Given this, in addition to the house, it’s important to make sure the yard is looking nice before the party.

Go the Extra Mile on Decorations

If you have been using the same Easter decorations for years and years, maybe it’s time to shake things up with some new, fashionable decorations. Rustic chic has been very popular recently, so think old-fashioned for your Easter party. If you can, pick out some small vintage items like side tables, benches, and chairs. You can sometimes get inexpensive furniture from some antique and thrift stores. Give these items a coat of paint in pastel colors and then strip away some of the paint to give it the vintage look. This will look especially nice if you keep the party palette to just two or three colors for everything. Use these items to decorate your yard. For example, set up an old coffee table on the porch for drinks or use an old table to make an egg decorating spot for the kids. You can also get or make lots of great decorative items like banners, Easter cups and plates, and place settings. Try to stick to items that match the palette you’ve selected.

Don’t Forget the Flowers

Of course, you can’t go without flowers on Easter Sunday! Be creative with how you plan your arrangements. Don’t just do the big displays of arranged flowers at the main table. Get some smaller vases and put arrangements of matching flowers around the yard and the house. To match the vintage theme, get some milk jugs or mason jars and put just two or three flowers or stems in each for each place setting. These also make great party favors.

Plan a Great Menu for the Adults and the Kids

When planning out your meals, make sure you have a good selection for the culinary adventurous adults and for the picky kids. Don’t be afraid to try a complicated lamb dish for the adults, but make sure you also have plain old chicken strips for the kids. But this doesn’t mean you have to skimp on the kids’ side of things. Make sure their eating space is nicely decorated, too. Include little things like a Peep at every place setting or put bowls of jelly beans and chocolate eggs around the area (of course, you might need to have an older kid or adult supervise to keep the little kids from overloading on sweets!)

Try to go with a menu that relies on seasonal items for the most sustainable Easter meal. This kind of consistency is what makes meals feel special. That is, just as you picked just a few colors for your palette, pick just a few “star flavors” for your meal. This kind of simplicity can go a long way in making a memorable, high quality meal. Add another layer to your meal by picking a specific type of meal. Will your party be a brunch? A lunch? A dinner? A potluck? Make sure your guests know the general theme if you are going to welcome contributions.

Take Care of the Little Things around the House

Don’t cut corners when you’re trying to be the very best hostess! Try to see your home through the eyes of a guest to make sure you’ve taken care of all the little things. Open up a new stick of butter and make sure it’s on a clean butter dish. Put out an Easter-themed doormat and sweep off the porch. Clean the windows, the sink, the counter tops, etc. Put out clean dish towels.

Give Little Gifts

Giving gifts to your guests, especially if you will have little ones at the party, is a sure way to make the event memorable. Cute gift ideas for the adults might include:

• Flowers at their place setting or other cute place setting items like name tags, origami bunnies or birds, etc.
• Pre-made bags or boxes of nicer candies like Jordan almonds or gourmet jellybeans (yes, there is such a thing!)

Gift ideas for the kids could include:

• Mini Easter baskets, each with one small chocolate bunny and a mini bag of jellybeans.
• Small stuffed animals of bunnies, chicks, ducks, etc.
• One large plastic Easter egg with candy and a small toy inside.
• Any eggs they painted or decorations they made with a little basket for carrying them.

Don’t forget to take some time anyway from the kitchen to enjoy your own party! Your guests will have a much better time if they know that you are allowing yourself to have some fun!

Image credit: depositphotos.com, image ID:40425427, copyright:RuthBlack

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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