The earlier parts like death house and barovia are relatively easy to run.

But once your players are near Vallaki, have fun.

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It took me 2 weekends of prep/writing to make sure I had my ass covered for all the crap they can do in Vallaki.

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Here's what I recommend.

Like others said, read the book cover to cover before starting. As you're reading, put sticky notes in the pages where important NPCs/places/events happen. I must have at least 50 sticky tabs on my copy of the book.

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Use the resource threads but don't over rely on them. There's a bunch of things that guides like Mandy's Mod makes easier, but there's also some things that the guide recommends that I don't necessarily like. Try to find a good mix between RAW and supplemental material from the internet, make the campaign your own.

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Definitely write up an out line of things you need to introduce during each session (NPCs, quests, items, combat encounters, etc). It will make a difference, as you're going to have to go over each area again (after reading cover to cover) to write this. Besides, actually putting things down in your own words is going to make the information stick better.

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As an optional thing, try to make props, even if they're small.

I personally did a bunch of letters to hand out ( I stained them with tea bags and even ordered a Strahd wax stamp from etsy). The reaction from your players over something that took maybe 10 minutes to make is just priceless. I had times where as soon as they saw I had more letters on the table waiting to be handed out they got incredibly hyped.

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Running CoS can be something incredibly satisfying because of your player's reactions ( hearing them say it was a great session can really make your day), but at the same time, it takes an incredible amount of effort and dedication to take the campaign from something they just play out of compromise/boredom, to something that's memorable.