I host Easter for my family ever year, and I love to do it. This tradition has been fairly ironic since it is the only family holiday for us which falls right before tax season. Many years of being the only accountant in my family, meant 60 hour work weeks right up to this holiday. There was no time to prepare, and yet I have high expectations. I never let the impossible stop me, so I found some easy steps to hosting an amazing Easter.
Plan an Easy to Execute Menu
We like to have ham and ribs on Easter, and I will tell you why. The ham cooks nicely in the oven and my husband can barbecue the ribs outside at the same time. We will cook our Brown Sugar Bacon Sweet Potatoes, and make a big kale salad. The other items we can ask our family to bring. This will include easy to carry desserts, side dishes and appetizers.
If you are on a budget, which we have been several years, we loved to make it a brunch with added waffles, bacon and eggs to a big ham. It’s a great way to have an elegant event without the cost of a big Easter meal.
Think about your menu ahead of time, and figure out who can bring what. This is what we always plan for:
- 2 Main Dishes
- Salad
- Vegetable side dish
- Fresh rolls or biscuits
- Appetizers
- 2 desserts
For the children we add:
- Kid friendly main dish
- Fruit salad
Brown Sugar Bacon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Add an Easy to Execute Design Element
I like to create a theme, but keep it very simple to pull off. Think about lemons, nests, eggs and bunnies. Nope, you don’t need them all. Just one design element will add a thoughtful detail to your setting. The key here is to make this as easy as possible. One year, I set the table with lemons. Just little ole lemons from the store. Easy, breezy. I was already at the grocery store.
This is what I like to have for decorations:
- Tablecloths to cover dinner tables and one side table. I am a bit obsessed with white because I can use it for every holiday.
- Colorful napkins with my design element
- Printable place cards with my design element. I wrote on this one using a gold calligraphy pen. By the way… I printed the free downloadable place settings the morning of Easter.
- Something in your design element for each plate and for the centerpiece.
The simple detail of adding lemons to my mason jar and the lemons on the plate really made my family smile. 
I had to create a baby bunny theme for the kids table.
Plan Time for Easter Eggs
It doesn’t have to be about just dipping your eggs into the PAAS kit. You can use colored pens, glitter eggs, fabric dyed eggs and lots of other techniques so it’s fun for adults and kids. I like to set aside some time on the weekend before to have family over to make eggs, but we have had several years we made them on Easter before dinner.
Think about some fun, easy ways to get crafty. These eggs are made with just this amazing gold calligraphy pen and a black sharpie. I know! I mentioned this gold pen three times in this post already. You can get more details on this post here.
If you have mostly adults or older children, this project is a fun way to get creative. These are fruit and veggie inspired confetti eggs. These are bit hard for my kids ages (1-10 years old), but these turn out crazy cute.
There are also lots of easy ways to make eggs, or you can just buy a kit and have some fun. We all know the main event of any kid based Easter is the hunting. I like to plan my festivities in the early afternoon, so egg hunting can be the focus of the day. To make it easiest, just do it old fashioned way. One or two kids hide and the other find them.
Just Have Fund with an Easy DIY
Last year, we were lucky to go on Good Day Sacramento the week before Easter. Before our segment on no-dye eggs they showed their audience how to make these Tuxedo Peeps. Oh they looked so easy. Without any practice and no worries about how they came up a whipped up a batch before the guest arrived. These are just about a Pinterest fail, but my family was so impressed with this little detail. Of course they also tasted delish.
Hosting an Amazing Easter
So I hope I have inspired you that Easter can be such an easy, but amazing holiday. Here are my tips:
- Create a tasty, but easy menu
- Assign some of the menu to family
- Add a simple design element
- Plan ahead for Easter egg coloring and hunting
- Just have fun with a DIY project
Having a bit of a plan and great guests can take all the guess work out of the day.
