Christmas is about gathering together with your favourite people and enjoying good music, food and general good times.
But putting together the ultimate Christmas party means putting in a little bit of groundwork. Get it right, and you’ll end up with a memorable festive occasion that will encourage your friends and family to relax, reminisce, and generally enjoy themselves.
But what steps are involved?
Set the date
The sooner you can get the date confirmed, the more likely that your guests will be to attend. Social calendars are notorious for filling up quickly at this time of year. If you’re throwing a party at the weekend, then you might find yourself up against even greater competition. Ideally, you’ll want to send your invites out several months in advance. This might not always be practical, but sooner is always better.
Choose a theme
Your theme at this time of year will almost certainly be Christmas-related. But you can give your party a unique character by focussing your decorations and music around a more specific theme. Will it be focussed around Christmas movies, or the North Pole, or even a more explicitly religious theme? Tailor your choice to what you imagine your guests will get a kick out of.
Get decorating
The next step is to decorate the space according to the theme you’ve decided on. Ideally, you need to strike a balance between establishing the theme and keeping things fairly minimalistic. It’s better to go for a modest amount of tasteful decoration than it is to go for a lot of the cheap stuff. If you have some skill in arts and crafts, then you might even create your own decorations, just for the occasion. The personal touch can often make the party more distinctive and inviting.
You might look for a few accent pieces to arrange outdoors. Place some Christmas figurine lights in the garden, or hang a suitably impressive wreath on the front door. If you’re hiring a venue for the purpose, then it might be that they have a few decorations of their own to lend.
Plan activities
For your party to be truly memorable, it should consist of something more than a sit-down meal and an open bar. Organise some games on a Christmas theme. Ideally, they should be the sorts of games that everyone will feel compelled to get involved with. Hire a photo booth for the occasion, play Pin the Tail on the Reindeer, or resort to a classic round of charades.
In some cases, you might be able to make the entertainment part of the evening more broadly. Planning a murder mystery party requires a lot of work, but the results can often be spectacular.
