Planning Your Best Holiday Party

We all know that the holidays can be a little stressful, especially when planning a party. But, it can be just as fun too! You get to choose your own décor, plan your own activities, make your own desserts, and create personal favors! With the help of an event planner, your holiday party will be the best one of the year! Here are some ideas that you can include in your next upcoming holiday party.

Lights: One absolute necessity to dazzle up a room would easily be lights: Christmas light or lanterns. Nothing can lighten up a room as well as those two.

Mason Jars: Mason Jars have become extremely popular over time considering everything there is you can do with them. You can use them simply for candles, flowers, or you can use them to create fall or winter decorations and get crafty!

Photographs: Whether it is a wedding, baby shower, birthday party, bridal shower, engagement party, etc. you will always find people taking photos! No one wants to forget that special event and having pictures make it that much more memorable. Having pictures hung up around an event not only adds onto décor but also provides sentimental memories everyone can appreciate. Another great way to have pictures taken at an event and make them look even better is having a photo booth! Guests will love to take silly photos with funky props to remember your event.

Centerpieces: No one could possibly forget centerpieces, which are what completes a table. Varying from vases, to boxes, to flowers, anything is capable of being created into a wonderful centerpiece that will make each table standout with some holiday spirit and bring attention to it.

Banners: Last but certainly not least, some homemade chalk banners with twine. These banners are perfect for any event and anyone can pick and choose whether they would prefer to add more or less décor to these banners.

Holiday Song Karaoke: Have your guests show off their singing skills with a Holiday Song Karaoke session! They can create teams such as kids versus adults, or men versus women, to battle for the most laughter and cheers. The winner can even take home a holiday gift provided by the host!

Gingerbread House Making: This activity is great for people of all ages. Have a gingerbread house making station where guests can create their own gingerbread houses. There should be colorful gumdrops, frosting, candy, and of course, gingerbread cookies for everyone to express their creativity.

Gift Hot Potato: Sit in a circle and pass around a wrapped gift. When the music stops, the person holding the gift is out and gets to keep the gift!

White Elephant Gift Exchange: This game works best with about 6+ people. All the wrapped gifts are first placed in the center. Player #1 chooses a gift, unwraps it, and shows it to the rest of the players. Next, player #2 gets to decide whether he or she wants to ‘steal’ any of the unwrapped gifts (at this point, player #1’s gift) or choose another gift to unwrap. Then, player #3 and so on are given the same options. If a gift is ‘stolen’, that player that’s gift was stolen has the option of stealing someone else’s gift or choosing another gift to unwrap. The game ends when everyone has a gift!

Red Nose Rudolph: This game can get really funny! Place two bowls in front of each player, one with red cotton balls and one with nothing. The goal of the game is get as many cotton balls from one bowl to the other using your nose. Rub each player’s nose with some Vaseline and see who can transfer the most cotton balls the fastest!

Dance-off: A fun way to get the party started is to have a dance-off. Plan out a space for guests to dance and play some upbeat and fun music. You can have a great time watching your guests dance the Cupid Shuffle, or you can join them too!

Snowman Cupcake: This is a simple, but cute dessert! Use a chocolate M&M as the snowman’s hat and two marshmallows as it’s body—cut a slice off the top one then squish it to make it smaller. Then, use dabs of icing to hold the parts together. This snowman’s eyes are chocolate sprinkles (poke a whole with a wet toothpick), and his nose is cut from a gummy fish.

Gingerbread Men: You know its holiday season when you start seeing gingerbread people and gingerbread houses. Having these desserts is a classic for a holiday party.

Little Bite Size Brownies: These are perfect for the holiday season. They are cute, quick and inexpensive; all you need are some bite size brownies, whipped cream or frosting, strawberries and some peppermints for display decoration.

Peppermint Snowball Treats: Peppermint is a flavor that we can all associate with the holidays. For this little holiday treat, all you need are a few mini candy canes, marshmallows, white chocolate and sprinkles to design it any way you like.

Favors

DIY Ornaments: Here’s a fun, simple, and cost effective way to create some party favors. You can use clear ornaments and decorate them or fill them up. Have your guests leave your party with a unique and memorable gift!

DIY Mason jar Cocktails: This is a fun gift for the adults! Fill up mason jars with small canned drinks and tie mini alcoholic treats to the side. Use colorful paper straws and string to add decorations. Your guests will greatly appreciate these personal cocktails!

Oreo Pops: If you want your guests to have a taste of your baking skills, prepare these sweet treats! Try different flavors, such as peppermint, vanilla, or chocolate. It will be a hit for both the kids and the adults!

Holiday Take-out Gift Boxes: Use these cute gift boxes as your holiday favors! You can put anything you want inside, such as toys for the kids, or candles for the adults! You can even put small desserts, candy, cards, or anything personal to remind your guests of the fun time they had at your event!

These are just a few ideas that you can incorporate into your next holiday party. After getting your décor, activities, desserts, and favors ready, the last thing left to do is have a great time! We hope you have a happy holiday!

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