Required Time: 2 days (the ultimate in slow food)
A few tips:

The key to good tamales is to spread the masa (dough) thinly on the husk. I never get more disgusted than when I try tamales at a restaurant that are really just logs of steamed masa, with hardly any filling to speak of.
The more the merrier when it comes to making tamales. They are certainly labor intensive, but oh, so rewarding. If you can’t talk your friends or family into helping, there must be plenty of good music to get you through.
Plan two days for the project, and make sure you (or your neighbors) have enough freezer space to preserve the abundance.
If you are a pro, serve tamales like my Grandma or my mom does with beef or chicken enchiladas, refried pinto beans or tostadas, and some Spanish rice.
If you are planning to be a pro (moi?), start by serving your tamales with a Pozole soup (see here and here) which can be cooked all day or just simply Spanish rice.
We like to mix the beef and pork for the tamales, but if you’re a purist, feel free to go with one or the other.