How to Throw the Ultimate Christmas Party, According to Lee Miller, Cecil Beaton, and More of Vogue’s Most Glamorous Contributors

The invitees

As the most famous event planner of the 20th century, Elsa Maxwell hosted lavish gatherings attended by everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Jackie Kennedy. Her first rule for successful evenings? No obligation guests. “One should never have to ask people to a party,” she wrote in a 1930 editorial. “Guests should be selected with as much care as a new hat, and be equally becoming.”

The cocktails

Wine is essential at any Christmas dinner, but beginning the evening with a signature cocktail is a nice touch, too. Vogue credited Cecil Beaton with inventing a festive version of the Pick-Me-Up. Make your own by whisking together an egg yolk, a glass of brandy, and a teaspoon of caster sugar—then strain into a glass and balance with champagne.

The appetizers

Follow the Duchess of Windsor’s lead, and make sure your hors d’oeuvres are more than an afterthought; Wallis Simpson served her guests “hot fish cakes,” “soda biscuits filled with cod’s roe,” and “little Welsh rarebits” at her fashionable soirées, Vogue reported in the ’30s. “One rule is born into my brain,” the royal later wrote in the magazine. “Don’t worry: It never happens.”

The menu

“We are so many fathoms deep in custom and tradition and sentiment over Christmas, only the most determined of Scrooges can actually turn their faces to the wall and ignore the whole thing when the time comes,” Elizabeth David wrote in her food column for Vogue in 1959. Lean into the festive spirit and prepare her most celebrated Christmas dish, Spiced Beef, adapted here.

Cover a 5 to 6lb round of beef all over with 3oz light brown sugar and leave in the fridge for two days. Crush 1oz black peppercorns, 1oz juniper berries and ½oz allspice berries with 4oz salt, and rub the meat with this mixture every day for at least 10 days. Rinse off any spices adhering to the beef before cooking, then pat dry. Put in a large casserole dish, and add about ½ pint of water. Cover with three layers of foil, then put on the lid. Bake at 130°C for 4 to 5 hours depending on size. Allow to cool, then remove from the liquid. Wrap in foil, and top with a plate and a 2 to 4lb weight. Leave until the next day before carving.

The centrepieces

Skip overelaborate tablescaping in favor of a classic—and seasonal—centerpiece. Constance Spry, the doyenne of British floristry, shared her favorite Christmas arrangement with the magazine: green moss spread over wire netting, then studded with cyclamens and ivy. An optional touch? A dusting of fine silver glitter.

The decorations

Just give in to the kitsch of the holiday season. “In an atmosphere of holly, mistletoe, brandy-snapping, and turkey, many differences can be forgotten, many old feuds wiped out,” Nancy Mitford wrote in a feature titled “Christmas House Parties” in the ’30s. Her suggestions for fostering good cheer: dusting faux snow on the window ledges and waking people up “with the merry sound of sleigh bells”.

The overnighters

Nothing ruins a gathering like a stressed-out host. Take Lee Miller’s advice, and trust visitors to take care of themselves—especially overnight ones. On their arrival, her guests would be “shown the kitchen, the refrigerator (well supplied with milk), introduced to the four cats and the customs of the house, and from then on expected to pour their own drinks, fetch their own ice, and be cooperative.”