Four weeks out: send the invitation and get a headcount that counts kids. Three weeks out: share the dish list with a number against each dish and let guests claim. Two weeks: close the list, assign what is left, confirm who needs the oven and when. The week of: send one reminder with arrival time and what to bring it in. The day: the turkey owns the oven; everything else arrives ready or reheats.
Everything downstream depends on a number. Send one link that asks for adults, kids and plus-ones and read the total off the top. Thirty people is a different turkey, table and dish list from eighteen.
List what the table needs with a number against each dish: one turkey, two pies, three sides, two bottles of wine. Guests claim from the same link; a dish closes when its number is met, which is what stops the four pasta salads. Start from the Thanksgiving list on this site and edit it to your table.
Whatever is unclaimed, assign or drop. Ask anyone bringing a hot dish whether it needs the oven and for how long; the turkey takes it from noon, so hot sides should arrive cooked or reheat in twenty minutes.
One message, not five: the arrival time, where to park, and “bring your dish ready to serve, with its serving spoon.” People who claimed a dish get a nudge with what they claimed.
Label the counter for arrivals: cold, room temperature, needs the oven. Put drinks and ice away from the kitchen so the cooks are not tripping over guests. Somebody other than the host greets the door.
Free · guests claim a dish with their name · no app
Four weeks out. That leaves time for a headcount, a dish list guests claim from, and one reminder the week of.
Give each dish a number and let it close when claimed: two pies means the third person sees pie is covered and picks something else.
About 1½ lb of turkey per adult, 4 oz of each side, and a dessert serving and a half. Use the food calculator for your exact mix of adults and kids.