Preparing for Christmas – The Lists That You Need to Start Making

As Christmas inches closer, we’re all daydreaming about the food, fun and presents that dominate the big day. But, rather than snuggling deeper into your duvet watching Christmas films to get you in the festive spirit, you need to start making essential lists to ensure that Christmas Day goes off without a hitch. If you forget one thing, it’s last-minute trips to the supermarket, bumping trolleys and drifting around corners trying to fight your way to the last bag of brussel sprouts.

Keep reading for the lists that you need to start making in your preparation for Christmas. From Christmas cards to food shopping, if you want to have a stress-free Christmas full of joy and laughter, this preparation is vital.

Christmas Present Lists

What most definitely makes a dent in our wallets over Christmas is the presents. Most families spend up to an extra £800 in December just on Christmas! Often with whole families to pay for, as well as friends, you have a Christmas gift list almost as long as Santa’s. This can be very intimidating when you begin shopping, and it could cause you to panic about the amount of money that you feel that you need to spend.

Instead of letting it get the best of you, step back and take an evening to list out all of the people that you want to buy presents for. Once you have the names, you can start applying budgets and setting a limit of spends for each recipient. You need to remember that it’s the thought that counts and that family and friends don’t expect you to break the bank buying them a gift. Maybe you can suggest to friends or family members that you all do a secret Santa so that you can boost the budget for one person and have a laugh as you all exchange gifts.

Christmas Food Shopping Lists

It’s not all about the presents at Christmas, but the extremely tasty festive food, too! We want to indulge in everything from chocolate logs to creamy potatoes all month long. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that; we just need to make sure that we have enough food to spare for Christmas Day. 

Make a list of all of the items of food that you’ll need to cook the best Christmas feast for all your family on such a special day. You need to ensure that you have noted down everything from Yorkshire puddings to carrots; the shops can get raided at this time of year, so you want to make a one-stop-shop earlier on in the month.

A top tip of ours is to make your Christmas Day dessert more unique by having a showstopping cake for your family to feast on. Each and every one of our Christmas inspired cakes makes a great centrepiece to ‘ooh’ and ‘awe’ over in the evening. We have a vast range of Christmas cakes for you to choose from such as our Snowman Cake and Gingerbread House Cake. But, if you want something a little more flamboyant, then we can also create you a bespoke cake that you fully design yourself, ensuring that it is a hit for YOUR family. Not only can this add a special touch to your big day, but it’s one less thing to list on that shopping list!

Christmas Day Guest List

When planning your Christmas feast, you also need to make a list of the number of guests that you will be serving. This impacts the amount of food that you’ll need to buy and the amount of drinks that you’ll need to provide. As the host, there may be some expectations of what you have on offer to your guests in regards to Christmas Day food and beverages, but you can always ask them to bring their own alcohol and snacks to share. This helps to share out the cost and make the day a little stressful for you.

Write a list of the number of guests coming, as well as their age. Younger guests will need soft drinks and perhaps different food, while your older guests have a more refined pallet. Send out invitations or reminder emails and texts to those on your list, telling them what time to arrive at yours on Christmas day and to ask for any dietary requirements that they may have.

Christmas Card List

You’re either one for sending out your cards at the last minute or having them prepared well in advance. It’s one or the other, and if you want to make sure that you’re the former this year, it’s time to start making lists of the people you need to send out to and their addresses. You don’t want to start writing your cards, only to realise that you don’t know where any of the recipients live.

Keep an address book of names and addresses which you can pull out when you sit down to write them while watching a Christmas film. Having a list also makes it easier for you to buy the right number of cards. 

Have you finished writing your Christmas lists? Check out our website today to take a closer look at our wide range of festive Christmas cakes which can add the perfect centrepiece to your Christmas dinner, as well as take the responsibility off of you for finding a dessert. We cater to any style or taste and can customise any of our already-existing cakes to suit your needs.