Preparing for the Festive Season with The Beauty & The Taste

AD | Now Summer is well and truly behind us, there’s no surprise that many of us have started to think about Christmas. And I know that the rest of you are already grimacing at the mention of the C word when we’re only in September! But Christmas takes a lot of preparation; parties, clothes, food, gifts, decorations and definitely alcohol.

Photo by Mourad Saadi on Unsplash

I don’t drink alcohol myself but it plays a huge part in Christmas celebrations. And not always in a bad way. It’s the end of the year. It’s time for a break from work for a lot of people. And a time to get together with family who you might not have seen for a while. Food and alcohol go hand in hand for special dinners and celebrations.

But of course it’s always good to know your limit and drink responsibly!

But whether you drink or not, Christmas can be a stressful time of year for a lot of people, if we’re not prepared for it. And each year, it seems to sneak up on us quicker than the year before. Before we know it, we’ll be putting the Christmas tree up and the stockings out!

But before we worry about that, it’s worth making some gentle preparations in time for the festive season. So as soon as Halloween and Bonfire Night is out of the way, you have a plan in place for the final 2 months of the year:

Think about your menu

If you’re the one catering this year, either for Christmas Day, Christmas Eve or a pre-Christmas party of some kind, it’s your time to shine with your food and drink menu. And let’s face it, sausage rolls and pork pies just won’t cut it anymore will they?

Wine is often a popular choice for alcohol during dinners and parties. The Beauty & The Taste is an online boutique for fine wines. They provide a ton of information about each wine, including how it tastes and a score from important wine critics.

When hosting a dinner party, finding the right wine to go with your dishes can be overwhelming. There’s all the obvious options of course but when it comes to a special get together at Christmas, sometimes you might want to go that little bit further.

The Beauty & The Taste are able to guide you into choosing a suitable wine for your dishes, based on which meat, vegetables, sauce or spices are included. Or if you have a particular favourite type of wine, they can also help you find the perfect accompaniment to suit your tastes.

Photo by Oscar Nord on Unsplash

Set a budget

This is an important one when preparing for the festive season because everything combined, crikey, it can really break the bank if you’re not careful. So it’s definitely worth setting some sort of budget for each element of Christmas, e.g gifts, decorations, food, etc. so you don’t end up out of pocket by New Year.

Write those lists

Oh I love a list. I honestly couldn’t function without a list! So you can bet I make a ton of lists in the lead up to Christmas of all the things I want / need to buy and do. This and the above point can definitely go hand in hand too and help you not go overboard.

Plan early

It’s never too early to start planning Christmas. And for some people, it’s crucial to start planning early to avoid physical and financial stress. I know of people who have already started buying Christmas presents and decorations and I think it’s great to be so prepared.

How do you start preparing for Christmas? Do you start early or are you a last minute kinda person? Are you a wine lover?

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