🍽️ Family gathering checklist

Fifteen people, four generations and one bathroom. The list is about logistics rather than menus — those are the things that make the day work or not.

33 items

1. Two weeks before
2. Confirm numbers, including children
3. Ask about allergies and what people cannot eat
4. Assign dishes and jobs by name'Bring a dessert' works. 'Let me know if I can help' means you cook everything.
5. Work out who is sleeping where
6. Ask about mobility needs — stairs, a chair with arms, where they sit
7. Agree arrival and departure times honestly
8. Beds and space
9. Beds made, with a spare blanket on each
10. Towels out per person
11. A quiet room for a nap, adult or child
12. Travel cot and a high chair, borrowed if needed
13. Somewhere for bags and coats that is not the hall floor
14. Second bathroom or a plan for the queue
15. Food for a crowd
16. One big thing that reheats, not four that do not
17. Something children will actually eat
18. A real vegetarian option
19. Bread, butter and something to pick at on arrival
20. Tea, coffee and enough milk
21. Non-alcoholic drinks that are not an afterthought
22. Enough plates, or paper ones for the children
23. The day
24. Eat at a time you have told everyone
25. One person on drinks, one on the kitchen
26. Something for the children to do outside
27. A walk in the afternoon, for everyone who needs air
28. A photograph, early, before people leave
29. Somewhere for the dog, if there is one
30. Afterwards
31. Send people home with leftovers in containers you do not want back
32. Strip the beds
33. Write down who is hosting next time