Christmas for a crowd away from home - any tips?

Collander and indigestion tablets

Some good tips here. DD2 and her family will be over from Oz so I have rented a large house in the Cotswolds near to DD1 to accommodate, initially, 15 of us plus intermittent extras over Christmas and New Year. The thought of having them all chez moi in Scotland was too daunting not to mention the logistics of transporting everyone north in wintery conditions at Christmas. So, I took an executive decision, bit the bullet and dipped into my savings ....At least we can pop back to local DDs house for all the extra things we may need/have forgotten. I have done my bit and everything else will be done by others. (DD1 has a spreadsheet!). As there are so many of us, we are doing secret Santa presents restricting adults to one present only The 8 children will have 2 plus their stockings. All sorted! This will be the first time we will all be together since the last gc arrived 4 years ago - and probably the last for a long time so I want it to be a really special time.

That sounds absolutely wonderful Marmight I am so envious.
I wish you all the happiest of times and memories to last a lifetime.

Phone up and ask if there is likely to be hand wash in bathrooms ( these days there usually is) and washing up liquid etc you will have enough to take without things that are unnecessary. Can opener??? Other people's can often be a pain to use? Big tins of sweets that are on offer at the supermarkets at present. All sounds like great fun!

Couple of rolls of black sacks. Nutcrackers.witzend sounds lovely have a wonderful time. Marmight im so envious my family live in oz we were there last year so wish we were spending this Christmas with them you will have a fantastic time.

A collection of simple craft bits and bobs; glue, glitter, paper, string. So that things gathered from walks can be turned into works of art!

Many thanks for all your helpful suggestions.
Your Christmas sounds lovely, Marmight!

I shall shortly begin assembling a big bag of everything that can be packed in advance. Scary that it's 5th Nov already - time goes so fast once we're into November!

IPad and IPhone chargers.

Battery operated tea-lights to create a twinkly festive atmosphere. Lakeland stock them - who else? - and real candles mightn't be allowed under the terms of your rental.
I always take my own favourite mug for tea/coffee - I rarely find the ones supplied work for me in terms of capacity or quality of china.

Sounds like most of us take everything bar the kitchen sink. But then the clue is in the word SELF catering!

I know can opening is mostly included on the can these days, but - just in case - take your own. Have never found a good one in a holiday let.
Will you be able to share the cooking round between families as well? When we go away as an extended family I usually do the online shop for delivery at the destination and each group checks the list so they can tell me to add things they want. We have a meal plan and each group takes responsibility for cooking a meal, but any of us will sous chef if needed. We usually grab our own breakfast from the stores. Those who cook do not wash up or load the dishwasher.
I love the idea of taking foil dishes and will pinch that one. Also leaving the Just in Case items in the car. I shall keep an eye on this thread for more tips.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Witzend - it sounds great fun.

Will cleaning materials be supplied? I would at the very least take something to clean the work top surfaces, bath and loos +J cloths. Maybe bin liners and washing machine tabs? At this rate you will need a trailer added on to the car! At least you are thinking on your feet and not getting a nasty shock when you arrive.

What about foil trays for the turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips and anything else then you can just put them in the bin afterwards.oh and a very large saucepan.
Have a wonderful Christmas ?

We did this last Christmas and being of the "take the kitchen sink" brigade I took everything I thought I would need (much to everyone's amusement). I agree with the foil roasting dishes, herbs too as they may not be there. Extra cleaning materials too as there never seem to be enough (we found two dishwasher tablets which certainly did not suffice!). If it has not already been mentioned, it might be worth taking a cool box (if it will run on mains electricity, even better) of some sort for extra storage. We really needed ours last year as it was very mild weather and the fridge was tiny. Hope this helps (of course you will now probably need a car the size of a furniture van).

part baked bread ie. Rolls/baguettes. Useful if you want supper , pop in oven serve with cheeses etc. oh and paper plates, and plenty of black rubbish sacks. Sounds good fun , enjoy.

Is everyone going to join in with the chores? Otherwise you will be cream crackered as they say. If you do not ask for help you will not get it. Take a few aprons and some dish washer tablets. Delegate peeling potatoes, preparing sprouts and carrots for example. We sometimes have 12 for Christmas dinner and it really is hard if you have to do everything yourself. One thing we always do is have a fun game or quiz after all the food is eaten, something like Trivial Pursuits. I hope the day goes well!

Oh, don't forget that Christmas Table Cloth and the crackers and hats! Or the brandy for the Christmas pud or the matches, got to have matches! Mince pies, corkscrew, tin opener,

Oh, don't forget that Christmas Table Cloth and the crackers and hats! Or the brandy for the Christmas pud or the matches, got to have matches! Mince pies, corkscrew, tin opener.

One thing you can get the children doing is icing Christmas biscuits! Good fun and it keeps them busy for ages. Lots of good ideas, they will surprise you with their talent. Don't bake any biscuits yourself, take ginger bread ones with you. plus an icing kit and decorations. Have fun!

Check the number of and size of pans provided. We recently rented a house for 6 people and there was only one saucepan and a frying pan

We used to do this years ago - pre-email and pre-supermarket dekiveries so it took a bit of organising who was taking what, especially as there was nothing but a village shop for about 30 miles.

However, we went away last year en masse; I didn't organise it but the person who did compiled a very comprehensive list and emailed it to everyone, we all added anything we thought he had missed then he arranged for a delivery from a supermarket (they delivered even though we were out in the wilds). We split the cost and transferred our share into his bank account.
Any extras eg whisky (DH) we took ourselves.
It worked extremely well.

Ps a Christmas tree??? it's not Christmas without a tree, even a tiny one ...

Cling film and foil

We did this last Christmas and stayed at a lovely house in Norfolk which had enough of everything we could possibly need in the kitchen, crockery, cutlery, cleaning stuff etc. It was also decorated and had an enormous tree. But we found all this out before we went so just ask the owners. Also in our case we couldn't get a home delivery slot to coincide with when we arrived so the owners actually took delivery of our Christmas shop (for 12) and put everything away in the appropriate places. Wonderful.

Basic first aid kit! Painkillers (ibuprofen and paracetamol), some basic bandages in case of cuts and grazes. Possibly child medicine for the toddler - Calpol? Indigestion tablets and/or those fizzy tablets for The Morning After (not that I mean to insinuate your party will partake of overmuch booze!). If it's likely to be snowy you might want to take a couple of those elasticy crepe bandages in case of slips followed by sprains. At least you won't need to take anti-insect stuff in December!

A tree and decorations!! How lovely.
That is the kind of place that will always be fully booked.

I would be like you Witzend & take extras of cleaning materials, rubber gloves essential (I get Dermatitis so can't be without). Own knives definately, you know what you like & use. Check Supermarkets for Delivery, that would save you packing certain items + food & drink (save space in car), I live on edge of Dartmoor National Park & have Tesco Home Delivery.

Good suggestion to check with owners re tree & decorations. Tin opener essential as some tins require the use of one (& if that pesky ring pull comes off!!!!) & corkscrew/bottle opener is a must.

Have a wonderful time