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2026 Holiday Party & Entertaining Must-Haves: Cocktail Bar, Charcuterie & Festive Tabletop
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items Throw the best holiday party of the season with this 2026 holiday entertaining guide. From cocktail bar essentials like a metal and marble bar cart, a glass beverage dispenser, and a craft cocktail shaker set, to charcuterie and appetizer serveware l...
Sections
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Cocktail Bar EssentialsNew Section
Charcuterie & Appetizer Serveware
Holiday Tabletop & Deco
Dessert, Coffee & Sweet Extra
Cocktail Bar EssentialsNew Section
Every great party needs a home base for the drinks, and this cart is it. I roll ours out every December and it instantly makes the living room feel like a cocktail lounge. The reversible shelf is genius, wood on one side and woven on the other, so it...
30" Metal and Marble Bar Serving Cart - Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia
If you make one batch drink for your party, serve it in this. Sangria, cranberry punch, spiked cider, whatever you mix, the gold spout makes it look ten times fancier than a plastic pitcher ever could. Guests serve themselves, you stay out of the kit...
Glass Beverage Dispenser
Okay, real talk. A proper shaker set changes the game for home bartending. This one looks straight out of a craft cocktail bar and the pieces feel solid in your hand, not flimsy like the cheap sets. If you want your holiday cocktails to taste like yo...
Crafthouse by Fortessa Cocktail Shaker Set
Copper mugs are the easiest party upgrade on this whole list, and at eight bucks you can buy a bunch. They keep drinks ice cold and they photograph so well your guests will be posting them before they even take a sip. I use ours for mules and for spa...
18.6oz Stainless Steel Moscow Mule Mug Copper Finish - Threshold™: Hand Wash, Cold Beverages
Here is my unglamorous-but-essential party tip: you need somewhere to keep the drinks cold that is not your fridge. Fill this tub with ice, line up the sodas, beers, and wine, and you have an instant self-serve drink station for ten dollars. The clea...
4gal Plastic Beverage Tub - Room Essentials™: Clear Drink Bucket, Ice Bucket, Dishwasher-Safe
Charcuterie & Appetizer Serveware
A cheese board without real cheese knives is just a snack plate, and these knives make the whole spread look intentional. The hammered metal and walnut handles are gorgeous on a wooden board, and having the right knife for brie versus parmesan is one...
Madeira Walnut Finish & Hammered Metal Cheese Knives
This is the cutest serving piece I have seen this season, full stop. It is shaped like a sleigh, so your cheese board literally arrives like Santa delivering the goods. Pile it with cheeses, salami roses, and grapes and watch your guests lose their m...
Sleigh Cheese Board - Threshold™
Chips and dip show up at every party I have ever been to, so you might as well serve them in something nice. This porcelain set looks way more expensive than twenty dollars, the dip bowl has a no-slide rubber base, and both pieces are dishwasher safe...
Chip & Dip Bowl Set Porcelain - Threshold™: Traditional Oblong Serving Platter, Microwave & Dishwasher-Safe
Three sections means three dips, or one dip plus veggies plus crackers, and suddenly your appetizer table looks styled instead of thrown together. The white porcelain goes with everything and it is oven and microwave safe, which is handy when the que...
Porcelain 3-Section Divided Serving Tray White - Threshold™: Party Platter, Rectangle, Oven & Microwave Safe
Six dollars. Six. Dollars. This tiered stand turns a plate of store-bought cookies into a dessert display that looks like you hired a caterer. I use ours for cupcakes, mini quiches, and even as a little charcuterie tower. For the price, buy two and s...
White 3-Tier Cupcake Stand - Spritz™
Holiday Tabletop & Deco
A big festive platter is the workhorse of holiday hosting, and this plaid one screams Christmas in the best way. Pile it with cookies, use it for the turkey sides, or load it with appetizers. It is dishwasher and microwave safe, so it is as practical...
Large Plaid Serving Platter - Threshold™
If your table needs a little magic, these are it. Each plate has a different Nutcracker character with hand-painted rims, and they come in a giftable box. Use them for appetizers, cookies, or little individual charcuterie plates. My kids would absolu...
Red and Green Nutcracker Icons Appetizer Plate 4 Pack
These are the plates you hand to actual humans at an actual party. Melamine means nobody is crying over a broken dish, and the hunter green with classic Christmas icons looks way nicer than the word "melamine" sounds. Perfect for appetizers, desserts...
Set of 4 Melamine Christmas Icon Appetizer Plates Green - Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia
Joanna Gaines understood the assignment with these. Etched holly, a rustic red stripe, stoneware that feels substantial in your hand, and under seventeen dollars for four. These are the plates that make your appetizers look like they belong in a maga...
4ct Ceramic Christmas Holly Appetizer Plates - Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia
This platter is proof that texture does all the work. The embossed leaf design in cream looks elegant and expensive, and at eleven dollars it is the cheapest tablescape upgrade on this list. Fair warning, it is more of a side-dish size than a turkey ...
12.25" Stoneware Embossed Serving Platter Cream - Threshold™
Dessert, Coffee & Sweet Extra
Cloth napkins are one of those things that separate the hosts from the heroes. These red and green stripes on ivory look festive without being cheesy, they are machine washable, and they make even a pizza night feel like a holiday dinner. Buy the set...
4ct Stripe Napkin Christmas Red/Green - Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia
A hot chocolate bar is the easiest crowd-pleaser at any holiday party, and starting with the good stuff matters. This set gives you classic and peppermint, and both taste like the holidays in a mug. Set out marshmallows, whipped cream, and crushed ca...
Williams Sonoma Peppermint Hot Chocolate & Classic Hot Chocolate Set
You need festive mugs for the cocoa bar, and this striped two-pack is exactly right. Big 15-ounce size, classic red and green, and they look great sitting out on the counter all December. Fifteen dollars for the pair means you can grab a few sets and...
15 fl oz 2pk Mug Merry Christmas Red/Green Striped - Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia
This is the one holiday treat I will defend to the death. Williams Sonoma peppermint bark is not like the other barks, the chocolate is richer, the peppermint snap is perfect, and the tin looks beautiful sitting out on the dessert table. It also make...
The Original™ Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark
Fondue is the ultimate party trick because it turns dessert into an activity. This little Staub set keeps chocolate perfectly melty with just a tea light, and the cast iron means it stays warm to the very last strawberry. It is also, frankly, adorabl...
STAUB Cast Iron 0.25-qt Mini Chocolate Fondue Set