Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Today is my mom’s birthday and she has been hosting her college friends at her house, ironically enough. She hosts quite a bit! Happy birthday, mom! This post came about, though, because I just finished hosting and the topic has been on my mind! I thought with holidays coming up that others might be hosting guests, as well.

Also, check out my friend’s new blog for great and easy ideas for hosting people!

Do not cook every meal! This was a bbq meal we had out!

Discuss the hosting situation and make sure you know your limits. Had it been more than a week for me, I would have had to make arrangements for our guests after week one.

Discuss with your family the arrangements and delegate prep work.

Provide a guest room (if you can) with a night table, lamp, and available plugs for chargers. Remove some of the decor if it is cluttered because they need space to put their things.

Buy new pillows if your pillows have seen better days.

Provide space in the closet for their things.

Lay out their towels and show which bathroom will be theirs. Make sure you have shower products they can use in case they don’t have their own.

Provide the WIFI password – extra points if you put it on a cute dry erase board or chalkboard.

Ask ahead of time what they would like you to plan (if anything).

Keep the plans fairly loose and flexible and share the plans with the guests.

Angel’s Envy distillery tour

Do not plan to cook every night –

Our guests were arriving on a Monday afternoon so I made a pasta bake on Sunday and then on Monday when I got home I only had to assemble a salad and bread and this worked out well.

Plan for breakfast food – I did sliced cucumber, tomatoes, good bread, and cheese, and had butter, jam, and honey laid out on the first morning they woke up in our home. I also had a few other breakfast items they could choose like English muffins.

Since I had a nicer meal Monday night, Tuesday night was gourmet grilled cheese, green beans, and potatoes. Food does not have to be fancy. They seemed to really like this meal.

We ate out Wednesday night and Thursday we had a late lunch so no dinner was needed.

Ssilboat race on the river from Captain’s Quarters

Show the guests how to use the coffee maker and show where all food is kept so you don’t feel that you are waiting on them and they don’t feel they are being waited on. One of our guests always made an afternoon coffee, too, and sometimes I had one with her.

Since I had to work most days, I made Trader Joe’s frozen croissants two days before I left for work and an egg casserole a couple of days. One day I also did a coffee cake and one day I did cinnamon rolls. They also enjoyed these sweet things in the afternoon with a coffee. I was happy to get up a bit earlier so they would have something to wake up to.

What I have learned about Germans is that they eat a very big breakfast and then one more meal each day is enough for them, so my breakfast plan worked out well.

Let the guests help you – I know that I always want to help when I go to someone’s home.

One night we ordered pizza, and I asked a guest to make the salad and she was happy to do so. Pizza makes everyone happy!

Know yourself – I need some alone time each day. I got up early to do my quiet time and this worked out one day, but our guests were early birds, and I missed my alone time some of the days – ha! I don’t talk until I have had my coffee.

When we were at home, our guests seemed to enjoy both of our patios and each of us would read our own books. Don’t feel like you have to fill the silence because everyone needs down time.

Let your guests go to their room to rest or just to be alone. Do not hover!

I know I have forgotten a ton of stuff! What else do you recommend when hosting?

This visit went really well, and I think we had a good mix of activity and down time. I think I handled having houseguests better than I have ever handled it in the past. August is the worst time for a teacher to have guests, so I think the prep I did ahead of time – thinking it out, shopping for supplies, communicating with Tom, etc. really helped me to work and host and be able to enjoy myself. I took off one day so that I had a Wednesday night with no worries, a Thursday free, and then just had to go back to work on Friday while Tom was traveling out of town with the guests.

Amy

13 thoughts on “Hosting Tips”

  4. Those are great tips! I always lean on what I like to experience when I go somewhere, so I also like to have their extra goodies on hand that they love like a specific coffee creamer, snacks, breakfast foods, and beverages. I haven’t hosted much, because our rooms are all full, but several times our sons had a friend that would come for the weekend to stay. I always made sure to leave clean sheets, pillow, and blanket out for them to use on the futons we have in their rooms, and I always offered to cook a meal while they were here.

    My sister Debi always puts together a gift basket for me. Last year she bought me a sweatshirt, some lotion, chapstick, and a Hocus Pocus Halloween coffee cup. I love that idea! She definitely has the gift of hospitality.

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  6. These are such good tips. I just had a friend visiting for a few nights, and it was great to have company. We went out for most meals. On the first day she arrived after a long flight, and then around 6pm she said, “I’m going to go get ready for bed and relax.” I had to remember that she had already had a very long day and probably needed some down time. I think it’s good to remember that people still need alone time, space, and just time to relax even when they’re visiting.

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