Somehow, you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year.
Whether it was due to family circumstances, the cost of traveling, or just a desire to host for the first time, you decided to have Thanksgiving in your apartment.
Now, the big event is right around the corner. Maybe you’re starting to experience that small twinge of alarm, wondering where you’ll put everyone. How are you going to get a turkey in your small oven? Where will everyone sit? How will you roll out the dough for those homemade biscuits you want to make? You never noticed how limited your counter space was until now.
Don’t panic! You’ve got this.
Even if your apartment is small, you can host Thanksgiving successfully. It just takes a little bit of planning. You still have some time before the crowd of hungry holiday-goers arrive, so let’s work through the process, one step at a time.
Plan Your Guest List
You only have so much space, and try as you might, you’ll never fit 20 people around your dinette with four chairs. Even if you move furniture out of your living room and set up two folding tables end to end, only so many guests can sit comfortably in the space.
Avoid hurt feelings by explaining the situation and suggest an alternative. Perhaps your cousin can have dinner at their brother’s house and come to yours for dessert after. Or maybe someone else can host an after-dinner party. You can even plan to meet up later at a local bar, park, or other venue.
There’s no rule stating that everyone must stay at your apartment for the entire duration, or that you must celebrate on Thanksgiving Day. Consider having a progressive dinner so everyone can participate in the fun for a short time. Or plan a day-after-Thanksgiving dinner, where everyone who couldn’t make it to Thanksgiving brings over their leftovers for an informal potluck dinner.
Gather Your Supplies
Do you have enough plates and forks for everyone? What about pots and pans? Do you have a roasting pan for the turkey? You might also need some other seldom-used items like a soup ladle, a pie cutter, and serving spoons. If you’re planning a traditional meal, you might also want a gravy boat and some decorative platters for serving. Don’t purchase these items new if you can avoid it, unless you plan to host large dinner parties regularly. Instead, ask around and borrow what you can. Check second-hand stores to find items, as well.
Make sure you have enough storage containers for the leftovers. If you don’t want all of that in your fridge, purchase some inexpensive to-go containers and send food home with your guests.
While that handed-down china is beautiful, consider the cleanup afterward. If washing all the dishes and utensils sounds daunting, or if your apartment doesn’t have a dishwasher, consider using disposable dishes and utensils. You should be able to find some nicer, holiday-themed ones that will look festive and make clean-up a breeze.
Consider the Logistics
Parking is always a challenge, even for those living in a house. Unless you have an unusually long driveway, people end up parking along the streets. In an apartment, you have limited guest parking, so you’ll need to determine where everyone will park. Ask your apartment manager for suggestions, and request that your guests carpool or take public transit if parking is very limited at your complex.
Your guests will come with a lot of stuff. They’ll likely have gifts, side dishes, desserts, bottles of wine, heavy coats, purses, scarves, gloves, and maybe even overshoes, depending on the weather. These items could quickly overwhelm your apartment, especially if it’s on the smaller side. Set up a side table for guests to place food and drink items and find somewhere out of the way to put the purses, coats, and other cold-weather gear, even if it’s just your bed. Try to keep the space for guests clear of clutter.
Assign Everyone a Dish
It’s a point of pride, wanting to do it all and host The Perfect Thanksgiving. But if you put that much pressure on yourself, you won’t enjoy the day. Make hosting easier by limiting the dishes you’ll have to prepare by yourself. After all, you have the pre-party cleaning, the set-up, the take-down, and the post-party cleaning to worry about.
Don’t leave it up to your guests to determine what they'll bring, or you will end up with eight pecan pies and no sweet potatoes (which might be just fine with some people, but we’re aiming for balance here). Write down all the items you need, including side dishes, dinner rolls, drinks, and even napkins. When you contact each guest, request they bring one of the items, and check them off as you go.
Keep people’s personalities, strengths, and habits in mind as you assign dishes. For example, if your uncle is always late to every event, don’t ask him to bring anything you’ll need right away. Instead, ask him to bring the dessert. If your sister prides herself on her green bean casserole, she might not be too happy if you ask her to bring the napkins. (Unless, of course, her green bean casserole is that one dreadful dish everyone tries to avoid each year. Then you might just want her to bring the napkins.)
Arrange Your Space
Move smaller living and dining room furniture to the sides so you have enough floor space for everyone to gather in one room comfortably. You can set up a long dining table or two folding tables in the center if you are going for a traditional Thanksgiving.
Clear as much as you can off your counters, including the coffee maker, blender, and toaster. You’ll need plenty of room for food prep. Have some coolers on hand (they can double as seating if necessary) to store drinks. This will free up space for side dishes and desserts that need to be refrigerated.
To keep your range clear for cooking and baking, use hot plates to keep food warm, rather than the stovetop and oven. If you have a crockpot, Instant Pot, or a toaster oven, consider using those to free up your cooking spaces.
If you lack counter space, consider setting up a temporary workstation using a rollaway cart or card table.
Plan Your Seating Arrangement
It isn’t necessary to have everyone sit around a dining table, even if it is tradition. Do what works in your apartment, even if it’s TV trays in front of the sofa and floor pillows around the coffee table. If you’ll have children visiting, get some washable floor mats or rugs to place around the coffee table to protect your floors from drops and spills.
Even with the sofa and floor pillows in play, you might still need extra chairs or even an extra table. Tell your guests to bring folding chairs and tables if they have them.
Use Simple Decor
You want your apartment to be festive but keep your limited space in mind. Instead of large pumpkins on the side table, arrange some mini pumpkins and gourds in a glass vase or on a small tray. Hang what you can, rather than having decorations that take up valuable floor or counter space. For example, hang some multicolored decorative corn from a hook or string up some fall leaves and drape them around your chandelier.
For affordable décor everyone will love, enlist the kids in your family to make handprint turkeys you can display on the wall or on the table as placemats or place markers. Roll some pinecones in glitter and place them down the center of the table with some mini pumpkins and fall leaves for an inexpensive (and disposable) centerpiece. Add some candles in fall scents or put some cinnamon sticks in a jar to make your apartment smell as festive as it looks. Don’t overlook fresh flowers. An arrangement of sunflowers and mums will brighten even the darkest corner of your apartment.
Set the Mood with Lights
For such a simple thing, lighting can be tricky. Too bright and you might overwhelm your guests or give them headaches, too dim and they won't be able to see where they're going or what they're eating. You want a warm, cozy ambiance that feels inviting. Ditch overhead lights and opt for softer, warmer lighting like small table lamps, twinkle lights, and candles. If you have a dimmer on your lights, this will allow you to control the amount of light that fills the room.
Have Fun!
If you enjoy football, put the game on! If you like online games, find some that require large-group participation. If you want to go old-school, consider some board games or card games. Providing your guests with some things to do will keep them busy between dinner and dessert so you won’t feel as though you have to entertain everyone during the post-meal clean-up.
To minimize the after-dinner mess, try to clean as you go during meal prep so you won’t be stuck in the kitchen washing dishes when you want to play the latest trivia game with your guests.
If someone asks if you need help, say yes! Give them something to do, even if it’s a simple task like putting ice in a bucket so you can chill a bottle of wine. Remember that old, English proverb: many hands make light work.
Consider Your Neighbors
While you may be having fun, be careful you aren't spoiling your neighbor's fun by making too much noise. If you live in an upstairs apartment, be mindful of the people below you. If you're watching a game after dinner, for example, don't allow your guest to jump up and down or shout too loud when their team misses an important pass. Remind your guests to keep the noise level down in common spaces like hallways or common areas.
Plan an Exit Strategy
There’s nothing worse than being tired after an event but having that one guest who won’t leave so you can finally put on your sweats and binge-watch holiday cooking competitions. Handing out containers filled with leftovers might signal to your guests that the party is over, but if you think that’s too subtle, plan an after-dinner outing to get drinks or attend an event (like a local parade or tree-lighting ceremony). This will get everyone out of your home, and when you’ve had enough of the festivities, you can return to your peaceful, empty apartment.
