VERY REAL ideas to help ease the stress of hosting Thanksgiving

Whether you are a seasoned Thanksgiving host or newbie Thanksgiving traveler (or anywhere in between) here are three ideas taken directly from our event planning checklist to help you ease your stress this Thanksgiving.

Day Before and Day After Cleaning Service
One of the items on our checklist for parties that we plan in our client's homes is to suggest a house cleaning service to come in the day before and then the day after the event. Not only will a cleaning service get your house together (vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping, mopping and dusting), it will give you more time to do all the other things that are required when hosting people. For the day after service, we suggest adding the following chores to the cleaning list: taking out the trash, cleaning off all table tops and counter tops, and loading the dishwasher. Often, cleaning services will give you a FANTASTIC discount on the dual service.

Rent What You Don't Have or Don't Want to Clean

One of the things that we often do in the event business is rent flatware, dinnerware, tables, chairs, and linens. What happens when you have 20 guests and only 12 dining chairs? The usual result is a mix-n-match sort of thing. A few folding chairs, perhaps an Adirondack chair from the patio, or the chair from your home-office. Why not swap out your chairs and get 20 matching chiavari chairs from your local rental company.

The same goes for dinnerware and flatware. Also, rental companies provide some extraordinary linens that would cost you double the price if you purchase them yourself. If you're in the Richmond, VA area, we suggest renting from Classic Party Rental or Party Perfect.

Don't Check It - Ship It!

Alas! The busiest travel weekend of the year is here. Here's a little tip we've learned. Most major airlines charge $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second. If, at all possible, try not to check a bag. But, if you know that you will have to pack enough that will require checking a bag, consider shipping your items via USPS or UPS ahead of time. It may sound a little abnormal, but we just shipped a box of goods from Richmond to Detroit that weighed 25 lbs and it only costs $17.40. Not only will it be at the residence before us, but we won't have to wait in baggage claim or worry about it going through security.

We hope these three ideas help you take the stress out of your upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.