It’s no secret that the holidays have officially moved in. Lucky for you, moving is what Bekins does best. You have started checking items off your holiday shopping list and begun your holiday baking. Now what? A great way to dive into the season is to host a holiday party. It is an easy excuse to get your friends and family together for a celebration. Planning a holiday party may sound overwhelming, but not if you take the proper steps to prepare. Here are a few simple tips to make your holiday party planning a breeze.
Tip one: A good theme
A good theme is the crucial basis of a holiday party. Choose a theme that will make your party come alive. Dig a little deeper for a theme that will generate effort or participation from your attendees.
One suggestion – an ugly holiday sweater party: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the famous ugly sweater party. The idea behind the theme of this party is to find an old sweater that is as decked out with as much Christmas spirit as possible. Generally speaking, the beauty of this theme is that the sweater is both cost effective and entertaining. At the end of the night, have a vote for the top three ugliest sweaters and hand out prizes or baked treats to the winners.
Tip Two: A thoughtful invite
Anyone can send out a Facebook invite with the click of a button. And let’s be honest, do we even look at the Facebook invites we receive half of the time? They are not personalized and are often spam. On the flip-side, there is nothing like getting a good and meaningful invitation. It doesn’t have to convey that it took hours to create. Rather, a critical piece to your invite is getting your guests to RSVP. This will allow you to plan accordingly for the amount of food, drink and other essentials. Below is a simple DIY Christmas party invitation that will show your guests you care about their presence enough to take a few minutes to personalize their invite.
Check out additional ideas from Pinterest here: http://bit.ly/19x4jF9
Tip Three: A good playlist
Behind every good party are some great tunes. Get a playlist together of your favorite Christmas songs. Ask each attendee to write down their favorite holiday song for the playlist when they RSVP. This allows everyone to feel included and all can enjoy the soundtrack for the party. We did a little research to jump start your playlist. Some top holiday picks include:
- White Christmas
- The Chipmunk Song
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
- I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Jingle Bell Rock
Check out http://bit.ly/1dhphdX for a list of more top Christmas songs.
Tip Four: A recipe swap
For many, the holidays are busy. Take some of the party hosting pressure off of yourself by involving everyone in preparing the food for the party. Include in the invitation the request for each person or family to bring a side dish or dessert to the party. You can make it fun by calling it a recipe swap. Request each person bring an old family recipe and then provide a recipe card for each guest to write down the recipes they enjoyed. This is an easy way to cut the work in half for yourself and make it fun for your guests. This also leaves time for you to prepare your house and other details for the big day.
