by Ramona Taylor

Created on: November 08, 2009   Last Updated: January 02, 2010

Thanksgiving is full of food and family!  And, planning the big family feast can be both a blessing and curse.  Preparing a memorable family spread could leave you pressed for time, turkey, and patience; however, don't  sweat it! Organizing the family meal is easier than you think.

The key to organizing any holiday dinner is to plan carefully and be flexible.  The major things you have to decide are your guest list, menu, time for the meal, style of meal and venue.  

Who are your guests? Is your thanksgiving going to be family only or will it include close friends? The earlier you make this decision, the sooner you can move forward and plan. Regardless of whether its a family affair or not, you should begin asking your loved ones about their plans and confirm your guest list.

What type of celebration will it be? Is it a party (w/ appetizers), a potluck, or a sit down meal? Once you answer this question, you will have to work out a menu. For potlucks, you may simply want to organize a menu and then assign foods. For parties, you could simply need to organize a nice selection of hors 'd oerves and a fine selection of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic.) For dinners, you will need to devise a full meal- turkey and the works. To make things simpler for yourself, you should ask guests to bring a dessert or a drink. Always consider food allergies and what your family favorites are. This is not a time to offer okra when your family is expecting your famous corn pudding.

Everyone's time is of the essence. Today, Thanksgiving celebrations include ball games and parades.  You don't want your special meal to conflict with important family events. Set a time to arrive and a possible time for the festivities to end. This helps you plan your day as well.

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a banquet hall, you are set and don't have to worry about clean up. But, for most of us, our home is the venue for the Thanksgiving day festivities. And, that means cleaning, cooking and decorating has to be finished before the first guest arrives.  Relieve some stress by getting certain things done ahead of time. Delegate cleaning up and prepping decorations can be for those helpers, who are not cooking. 

Decorating can be simple or extravagant. It's your call. Scented holiday candles and nice arrangements make wonderful compliments to the holiday meal. If you are having a sit down supper, your decorating team can make place settings.

Your cooks and helpers will manage meals, desserts, and drinks. Sticking with your menu, you can have someone in charge of meats, another in charge of sides and the other in charge of desserts. If you kitchen is not that large, simply set up a schedule to prepare each of these key elements to your meal.

Have some entertainment or family activities planned. Music or movies are a easy option, but you can also have game or play a family sport, such as touch football.

At the end of your fabulous family feast, there will be a lot of cleaning up to do.  Enlist the help of your guests for this job. Many will offer. If you anticipate leftovers, have a plan to offer them to guests or a means of putting them away for future meals.

This Thanksgiving can be a wonderful and rich holiday. All it takes is some creativity, some organization and some help from family and friends to make your family feast can be a memorable one.

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