Holidays approaching- nervous about hosting a party?  

Not for everyone,
but i have a half dozen sheep skins. Tossed on a fabric chair is really
good protection and they wash fine.
I have two black ones i bought at the Union Sq market on the couch.
Daily dog protection.
(i have a 16yr old large breed dog in diapers these days : )
My home is lived-in and enjoyed. Nothing is more valuable than family
and friendship.
I do think it is a reasonable concern to prep some things for guests. Days later
when your dealing with the restore of a scotch ring sucks...a little prevention is not
that hard.
I have some fucked-up friends. Writers and artists. Some successful and some
should-be. One mistook a stickley rocker by my bed as a toilet.
Rehab a few times has finally paid off. Another found a sharpee and drew
all over my bathroom walls...fantastic really. I kept it for a few years...

Wow, Rockland!
Your crew is wild!
I've backed off on the big parties too, though. I used to throw a big Winter Solstice party. We'd be preparing for weeks, the hubs usually made a keg of beer for the event. We had over 80 people in the house one year, luckily that place could take it! But I developed many of the same tricks you did. I usually baked muffins and had other brunch-y things on hand. Several friends from long distances were always invited to stay. I still have a box tucked away in the back of my closet of about 100 million coasters! I also resent plastic so I have a large collection of those french jelly jar glasses, they are pretty much indestructable, and a bunch of plain white luncheon plates that I got at a restaurant supply that are equally impervious. A little forethought goes a long long way!

I used to be obsessive over...
I used to be obsessive over this too. I think it's something you eventually get over, either by choice or force. For me it was the constant negative feelings I had to parties in my own house which turned me into an OCD grouch. I literally slapped myself one day and thought 'enough'. Like most people have said - get plenty of covers and coasters and let it be.
You're a long time dead.
;O)

Not much to add
For my last party I pulled a few of the more delicate pieces into the bedroom where I knew guests wouldnt go. I put out oversized coasters ($0.99 at Ikea). And I promised myself that I wouldn't care about the furniture for the evening. It was a blast.
In the morning the rug had a few spots that needed to be cleaned, the LCW had a few scratches from jean rivets, and my bathroom rug had been neatly folded... I think into an impromptu pillow. Always the sign of a good party.
I was a little proactive in the drink area - no red wine to be seen. All lighter (in color anyway) drinks.
And if you can plow through the awful graphic and the notion that it's a 6 page article the Boston Globe link below reaches the interesting conclusion that money spent on friends and social situations makes people more happy than money spend on objects for themselve. So go ahead and have that holiday party - Eames chairs be dammed!
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/08/23/happiness_a_...