The Frugal Host
How to Shrink Your Costs While Entertaining in Style
Written by Ashley Gartland
When entertaining during the fall and winter seasons, it’s easy to unintentionally stretch your budget beyond your means. With the price of food, drinks, and decorations, hosting holiday parties and family gatherings can easily add up. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend the big bucks to create a memorable party. Whether you’ve volunteered to cook Thanksgiving dinner or want to invite your neighbors over for a leisurely fall brunch, here’s how you can entertain in style and on a budget.
Seek Budget-Friendly Beverages
Stocking your fridge, wine rack, and liquor cabinet with beverages can quickly eat up a large chunk of your entertaining budget. Instead, limit beverage choices to a signature cocktail, a white wine, a red wine, and a nonalcoholic beverage, and remember that sparkling wines such as Prosecco and Cava can set a celebratory mood for far less than the price of a bottle of Champagne.
Shop Smart for Your Cheese Plate
A cheese plate has the potential to impress guests without costing a pretty penny. Visit the counter at your local cheese shop and ask the cheesemonger to steer you toward affordable domestic varieties. Serve the cheese with toasted baguette slices and thrifty condiments such as caramelized onions rather than splurging on fancy crackers and pricey preserves.
Skip the Steak
In previous years, your protein plan might have centered on an expensive cut of steak. This year, surprise your guests by serving a less-expected main course. Take advantage of affordable cuts such as pork shoulder and chicken thighs that lend themselves well to braising. You’ll need a bit more time in the kitchen to prepare a slow-cooked meal, but the dollars you save by turning a cheaper cut into a party-worthy main course will make your efforts well worth the time.
Take a DIY Approach to Decorating
Beautiful bouquets and professional centerpieces make it easy to turn a plain table setting into an attractive tableau. But you can take a DIY approach and produce a similar effect for far less. Decorate the table with seasonal produce such as tiny pumpkins or a glass bowl filled with bright-red pomegranates. Or head outside to forage for seasonal decorations such as holly branches. Natural decorations like these look lovely and still allow the beautiful food you’re serving to shine.
Shrink Your Guest List
Large, boisterous gatherings are a fun and anticipated part of the season, but when it’s your turn to host, there’s no shame in shrinking the guest list to make costs more manageable. Opt for an intimate gathering of eight or fewer people and you’ll cut your expenses and likely discover that people appreciate the opportunity to interact with fewer guests in a more meaningful way.
Get Your Guests Involved
When friends or family ask you what they can bring to the party, don’t just shrug off their offers to contribute. Instead, mention your menu plan and ask if they could bring a wine that would pair well with the meal or something simple such as a baguette, a salad, or a dessert. Dole out the duties equally and you’ll eliminate expenses and stress from your party planning to-do list.
[Source: Gartland, Ashley. "The Frugal Host" Home By Design. October-November 2012. Web. 12 November 2012.]
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