Christmas Meal & Holiday Party Planner Kit — Guest List & RSVP Tracker, Menu Planner, Grocery Budget + Cooking Timeline, Menu Cards & Place Cards (PDF + Spreadsheet)

Twenty-one people, ten dishes, one oven, and a turkey that takes four hours. This kit does that math before December does it to you.

The Organizer tracks the gifts. The Card & Wrapping kit runs the mail. This one runs Christmas dinner: who's actually coming, what you're actually serving, what it actually costs, and what time the turkey actually has to go in — worked backwards from the moment you want to sit down.

What's inside

• Guest List & RSVP spreadsheet — 20 household rows with party size that adds itself (Adults + Kids), dietary notes, and a who's-bringing-what column. The summary counts invited households, confirmed households, adults, kids, total chairs, and real dishes being brought (worked sample: 7 invited, 5 confirmed, 21 people, 3 dishes coming).
• Menu Planner — every dish with course, serves, prep and cook minutes that total themselves, dish cost, and cost per serving (worked Christmas dinner for 12: 10 dishes, $188.49 total, 642 minutes of prep + oven time — the number that tells you to start a day early).
• Grocery List & Budget — shop-by-section list where every line total calculates itself, split into already-bought vs. still-to-buy against your own budget with an automatic OVER BUDGET warning (worked sample: $148.66 planned against a $175 budget, $115.95 already bought, 5 items still to buy).
• Leftovers & Storage Tracker — portions left calculate themselves, with a status that tells you what to eat first and what to portion and freeze (worked sample: 21 portions left, 2 dishes finished, 2 to freeze) — because the second-most-expensive Christmas dinner is the one you throw away on December 28th.
• Printable pages — the same four tools as print-and-write pages, a day-of cooking timeline worked backwards from a 4 PM dinner (thaw dates included), printable menu cards for the table, 8 place cards, and leftovers labels with eat-by dates.

How it works: Buy → instant download link at checkout and by email → open the spreadsheet in Excel, Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, or print the PDF pages → the yellow example rows show every total working; overwrite them with your own crowd and go.

Honest notes: Digital download — nothing is mailed. Cooking times in the timeline are standard home-kitchen guidance for the worked example (14 lb turkey at 325°F); always cook to temperature, not to a clock — a meat thermometer is the one tool this kit can't spreadsheet for you. Colours may vary slightly by printer. Personal use; print as many menus, place cards and labels as your own table needs.

Pairs with the Christmas Organizer Printable Bundle ($9.95) — gifts and budget — and the Card & Wrapping Station Kit ($7.95) — cards and wrapping. This kit runs the table: guests, menu, groceries, and the day itself. All three together = December, handled.

FAQ

• When do I get it? Immediately — download link at checkout + emailed. No shipping, ever.
• How is this different from the Christmas Organizer Bundle? The Organizer ($9.95) tracks gifts, the overall holiday budget, cards in brief, and December deadlines. This kit is only about the meal and the party: guests and dietary needs, the menu and what it costs per serving, the grocery run, the cooking timeline, and the leftovers. No sheet is repeated between the kits.
• We're only four people — is this overkill? The worked example feeds 12, but every sheet is just rows: delete down to your four. The grocery budget and the cooking timeline earn their keep at any size.
• What do I need? A printer for the menu/place cards (card stock looks best) and Excel, Google Sheets (free) or Numbers for the spreadsheet. The printable pages work on their own.
• Refunds? Digital download — if a file won't open or a formula misbehaves, contact the store first and we'll fix or refund.