All very well – but the ancient world did not contend with a cost-of-living crisis. So if you’ve been invited to partake in festive revelry laid on by friends or family, take a moment to consider whether you are being a genuinely good guest. Good manners are non-negotiable, of course: don’t outstay your welcome; don’t be a nuisance; don’t complain about sleeping arrangements/food arrangements/any arrangements at all; and do offer help in the kitchen.
But what about what you bring? The things that genuinely lighten the financial or organisational load of hosting?
Good Crackers
No Christmas table is complete without crackers – and the spectrum is vast when it comes to quality. While it’s all about the bang, the hat and the groan-inducing joke, guests might consider bringing an extra touch of loveliness by spoiling their hosts with a fancier class of cracker, such as these gorgeous ones (£65) from the ever-lovely Cambridge Imprint.
If budgets don’t stretch that far, fear not – it’s still a wonderful thing to take one item off your host’s to-purchase list. At a lower price point, we love this jolly stripy set from Ocado, now £10.50. Or, for something in the middle, these Luxury Christmas Crackers with Orange Ribbon from Burford Garden Co, £39, look ultra luxe, as does this set, £46, from Toast.
Really Good Olive Oil & Butter
Cooking for Christmas involves an awful lot of oil and butter to make sure things crisp up beautifully. As anyone who has been near a supermarket lately knows, olive oil prices have soared to ludicrous, remortgage-your-house levels, so a good bottle will always be welcome. If it comes in a beautiful bottle, all the better – as demonstrated handsomely by the Centonze Organic Nocellara del Belice Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, £59.80.
For more bang for your buck, plump for the excellent Citizens of SoilGreece and Spain Extra Virgin Olive Oil Set, £40, for which you get two 500ml bottles. Alternatively, we love the SP360 500ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil Bottle, £34.20, which comes in an ultra-chic bottle and boasts industry-leading polyphenol content – a boost for heart, brain and overall wellness at a time of deep indulgence.
Butter consumption, meanwhile, goes into festive overdrive, so do consider bringing one or two parcels of beautiful Bungay Raw Butter, £8.50, or several gold paper-wrapped rolls of Netherend Farm Butter, £4.95 – among the best we’ve tried.
Christmas Table Entertainment
Sometimes the best thing you can do as a guest is to bring the fun. Your host will be busy basting and chopping; it falls to someone else to take charge of the silliness. First, a word of warning: assess your crowd. Not everyone enjoys a festive game.
But if they do, why not have Talking Tables’ Christmas Who Am I, £12, up your sleeve? (You guessed it; it’s the old post-it note dinner party game, this time given a festive makeover.) Got kids in tow? Delighting them is simple with Dunelm’s Santa Pass The Parcel, £5, (you could make this yourself, of course, if you have the time and inclination). And if your festive revellers simply enjoy looking daft, stock up on Christmas Party Glasses, £2.50, at Waitrose and let the silly selfies commence.
Breakfast Goodies
Hosts naturally pour all their energy into the main festive meals. It’s only fair that guests help themselves to simple breakfasts without fuss. But if you want to treat your hosts, bring supplies for easy, delicious mornings.
A brilliant option is Not On The High Street’s Christmas Morning In Bed kit, £100, which contains sourdough, bacon, pigs in blankets, orange juice, coffee, tea, butter and more – everything for a perfect lazy morning. For something simpler but still lovely, Good In Bread’s Bread And Pastry Bundle, £21.40, requires no cooking. You could also bring a really great caffeine hit in the form of Potterbean’s fun selection of five coffee tins, £26.50. (Do note, these are speciality whole beans that will need grinding.)
Drinks – Of All Kinds
Eat, drink and be merry, goes the old festive adage. Your host will almost certainly have stocked up on wine, though guests intending to partake must, of course, bring a couple of bottles – dem’s the rules.
But beyond wine, consider a few other tipples that might ease the host’s load. Pre-mixed cocktails are a great choice for early-evening drinks and remove the need for shaking up concoctions. We especially like Kocktail’s Gingerbread Espresso Martini, £27, and its Winter Spiced Negroni, £27. But do also spare a thought for the non-drinkers in your midst – whether they are adults or children (a consideration that may, understandably, have been forgotten by busy hosts). Why not bring along a few bottles of Belvoir’s Sparkling Clementine & Cranberry drink, £4.50, to bring a little festive sparkle for the alcohol-free and remove one more item from your host’s to-do list?
Table Flower Arrangements
A lovely table is central to a special Christmas. A wise person once told us: lay the table first, so you’re not doing it in a rush at the last minute. As a house guest, it’s only right to offer to muck in – and one thoughtful way is to bring a gorgeous festive arrangement. If it comes with a candle, so much the better.
We adore Flower & Farmer’s Christmas Table Centrepiece, £48 (shown here) – ultra-pretty and just the right side of wild. Appleyard London’s Woodlands Table Centre, from £85, is a verdant delight.
Boxes Of Tea Lights & Taper Candles
Candlelight reliably makes Christmas feasting magical. A scented candle will never go amiss, but equally, boxes of tealights and taper candles often get forgotten and are essential for atmosphere.
Toast’s Skär Organics Beeswax Slim Dinner Candle Bundle, £32, is an utter delight, while St Eval’s scented tealights, £9.99, are an absolute must. Another welcome treat is a really special box of matches, such as Divertimenti’s Archivist Luxury Christmas Matchbox, £9 – the kind nobody buys for themselves but everyone loves to receive.
Cheese & Other Snacking Heroes
A cheeseboard is a central part of Christmas feasting, even if most of us are groaningly full by the time it’s brought out. Since it’s self-contained, it’s an element a guest can easily take charge of. Read our guide to the ultimate cheese board here – or simply bring a gorgeous Stilton in a beautiful ceramic pot from the Fine Cheese Co, £19.20, which will always be a very welcome gift. Or go all out with the Newt In Somerset’s Best of the West Cheese Hamper, £50, which will satisfy everyone, whether your Christmas crowd like their cheese hard, soft or seriously strong.
Elsewhere in the snacking arena, anything that you can bring to plug the in-between attacks of hunger amongst the hordes will be welcome (it can, after all, be a long wait for a Christmas lunch that morphs into Christmas supper). We recommend pigs-in-blankets – and according to food writer Xanthe Clay, Aldi’s top the supermarket charts this year. Meanwhile, crisps will always, always get scoffed – and on that front you cannot beat a 500g tin, yes a tin, of Two Farmers Lightly Salted, £13.95.
