Cleaning The House Before Company Comes Over Is Pointless
I don't mind opening up my home for company to stay over. If it saves people some coin on a hotel and they are decent human beings, they are welcome. This especially applies to family when they are coming to town for my wedding.
What I do mind, is feeling like I have to extreme clean the whole house before they get there. My significant other tips the scales on overboard with that, especially during the holidays. Maybe it's a female thing.
I want my home to be neat and clean for company, but the reality is, most of the times that guests come to stay, it ends up messy again. Plus, we don't live in pure filth and utter chaos as our norm, so to me a light once over on some areas is good enough. We do have a dog and a nine year old, so sometimes it's tough to keep the floors and bathrooms quite where they should be. Those are the spots I tend to want feeling so fresh and so clean.
I also feel that unless you have the uptight sister in-law or snooty mother in-law, most people generally don't care. I mean, it's a free place to stay. My point is, weddings and holidays are stressful enough and have enough things going on, and a deep house clean just adds to the stress. Plus, I've seen the homes of some of the people I've had stay over and if anything needs cleaning, it's their place.