Christmas party season has begun! Are you throwing a Christmas drinks party for the neighbours, or having a dinner and dancing do with work?
Festive hosting can be a massive undertaking. From answering guests’ queries about which Christmas party outfit they should wear and where they should park, to ensuring everyone has a full glass and a glad heart, the labour required can be Herculean. Now imagine catering for hundreds, or even thousands, of people – the hostess with the mostest responsibilities!
Liz Taylor, 69, is a professional party planner who throws huge Christmas events for her high-profile clients. From setting up snow machines to flying in Diana Ross (yes, really!), she reveals how she pulls off a cracker of a Christmas – and how you can do it too.
“I love the buzz at Christmas – there are always so many parties to go to, although I prefer organising them to attending,” says Liz, who lives in Chester and has two adult daughters, Goldie, 40, and Katie, 39.
“I threw my first ever party at The Midland Hotel in Manchester in 1985. During a chance meeting with the hotel’s director of sales, I discovered they were struggling to find someone to organise a client event.
“I hadn’t done any professional planning before, but I had a natural talent for organisation.
“I knew Chester Harriott (Ainsley Harriott’s dad), who was the resident pianist at a local jazz club, so I got him to play. It was a huge success. Soon I was planning parties for the cast of Coronation Street and Manchester United Football Club.
Liz’s top Christmas party tip
(Image credit: Liz Taylor)
“You can elevate any soirée with a few simple details,” Liz advises us.
“Fairy lights up the pathway; choose a cocktail, like mulled wine, and serve it in creative vessels (think milk bottles or jam jars); and add name places with personal messages to each guest for seated dinners.”
Shop party pieces
Twigs
Glitter Glass Charms
Add a touch of festive sparkle with these glittery glass charms, which can double up as party favours or be reused at your next party – especially as the star design isn’t exclusively Christmassy.
Anthropologie
Zaza Lustred Martini Glasses (Set of 2)
Treat yourself to these beautiful new pearlescent cocktail glasses that feel elegant and subtly festive for hosting. They’ll feel lovely for intimate get-togethers at Christmas, New Year’s Eve and beyond.
The White Company
Glow LED Candle – Medium
Sleek and simple, of all the best flameless candles that we’ve tested, this is the one that tricked most people into thinking it was the real thing – thanks to the real wax outer and warm ivory shade and little touches like its irregular flickering and glowing pattern.
Fruits for Drinks
Freeze Dried Orange Garnish
Don’t forget to add a flourish to your festive drinks to show you care. These freeze dried slices of orange make it easy to add decoration and extra flavour to cocktails and mulled wine – no slicing endless oranges this year!
Culinary Concepts London
Emerald Glass Port Decanter With Stopper
This emerald green decanter feels incredibly luxurious, but is currently on sale. Bring it out to serve a tipple with a platter of cheese and charcuterie later in the evening for top hosting brownie points.
Dibor
Vintage Embossed Wine Glasses (set of 4)
We couldn’t resist showing you another beautiful set of glasses, because you can never have enough special glasses, can you? Our only reservation about these is that the dopamine-inducing colours and tactile moulded patterns may be too nice to share with friends.
Some of my favourite Christmas parties
You can certainly pick up some Christmas hosting tips from some of Liz’s memorable parties – and one lesson she’s taught us is to go big at this magical time of year.
“My biggest strength has always been my creativity, and Christmas is a time when I can let my imagination run wild,” Liz tells us.
“One year, I was asked to throw a Narnia-themed party – we built a wardrobe full of furry coats to walk through, then guests were greeted by a snow queen and two real huskies, and finally the room was full of icicles and snow machines. It was magnificent.”
“The more outrageous I can go with the decor, the better.
“For a famous footballer, we did a red mirror bar overflowing with candy canes, ivy and glittery poinsettia.
“Another time, I created a Christmas tree ceiling – it was covered in green foliage and dripping with baubles.
“There’s no such thing as never for me and my team (which includes my eldest daughter Goldie), whether that’s making it snow inside or flying in Diana Ross to perform at a Wicked-themed party at a private estate in Stoke.”
Plan the whole experience
(Image credit: Liz Taylor)
“Christmas parties have changed over the years. People want an immersive experience,” Liz continues. “These days, I’m more likely to be asked to source street-food vendors, bespoke cocktails and a gospel choir.
And she tells us that, as always, the key to a successful Christmas party lies in the planning and the finer details, such as remembering to include plenty of information on the invites.
“The key to making parties work on a huge scale is thinking of them as a journey. It starts from when the guests receive their invitation and doesn’t finish until you’ve planned how they will get home afterwards,” she says.
“People would be blown away by how much administration goes into planning my events. When I’m dealing with 1,000 people in one room, it has to be micro-managed – I split them into four groups of 250 and think of them as four different parties, so that might mean having different entrances and areas of entertainment.”
What are Liz’s own parties like?
(Image credit: Jay Cain Photography)
“I love entertaining, but keep my own parties to a smaller scale. I always throw a pre-Christmas dinner party for friends, where I get someone in to make us cocktails.
“But by the time Christmas Day comes, I’m done with hosting – Goldie has her family, and my other daughter, Katie, lives in New York, so I spend my Christmases at the Lone Star Hotel in Barbados. A band I manage plays there and I’m lucky to be invited as their guest each year. It’s the perfect way to unwind – before it all starts again in January.”
We can’t get enough of stories about inspirational women over 40, from women cooking for homeless and vulnerable people at Christmas, and volunteering at a food bank, to the woman who trains guide dog puppies and even the ‘real’ Riot Women gigging through menopause.
Find their stories and many more in our Inspirational Women pages, and in woman&home magazine.
