The Secret to Hosting a Gathering (Hint – You’re Probably Doing Too Much)

My secret to hosting and gathering people together? I don’t do it all. 

For a while I tried to “do it all” as a hostess, but it honestly was stressful and not very fun. There's a photo of me as a kid somewhere, wearing a cute apron and serving my grandma and her friends for a party. For 10 years, I was also a professional wedding and event planner.

Since it’s the holiday season, I want to share my insight on what matters and what doesn’t when it comes to gathering people together – and how doing LESS can ultimately help us spend more time with the people we care about. 

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The six jobs of hosting – the initiator, the organizer, the food role, the cleaner, the decorator, the day-of host
• How to not do it all (split out the roles, narrow down the event, meet somewhere in a public place, keep things more casual & set limits)
• How to do less when it comes to cleaning - i.e., you don’t have to scrub your baseboards, and you can just shut a door to a room
• How day-of hosting often gets ignored, but this is make-or-break
• Setting precedents for future events and turning things into traditions
• The business term MVP – minimally viable product – and how it relates to friendship gatherings

Resources & Links

One book I adore and strongly recommend about hosting: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, which helps us understand the purpose of gathering.

For a list of the roles and a bigger description of what each entails (and how to not do everything) visit my website.

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Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!