A holiday party is an excellent way to bring your colleagues, friends or family together. If you are hosting a gathering this winter, there are several ways to make it more entertaining for everyone.
You can give a gift certificate to a local restaurant, have a movie night, play some board games — anything that people enjoy doing!
Having a good time with your guests is the best way to spend the day after work. You want to be sure they leave feeling relaxed and like part of the community!
Here are our top eight festive party ideas that will get anyone into the spirit of the season. Read on for all the details!
Organize a craft session
Hold a craft day or party where people can make some festive decorations or learn how to take good pictures with a new device.
Many retailers have dedicated photo days or nights during which they teach their customers how to use their smartphone for taking great photos and/or how to edit those photos using software programs like Photoshop.
These events are usually free since the vendors pay to be sponsored by the retailer, but still earn them money because of the discounts and rewards they provide attendees while there.
By having such a party, you will generate lots of buzz and attention for your business as well!
Partygoers will enjoy the activity while getting some tips from the vendor and vice versa.
Host a game night
Having a casual, fun party doesn’t mean having boring games to play! In fact, some of the best nights are full of funny jokes, laughter, and entertaining gaming experiences.
Games like Truth or Dare, Blind Date, Beat Battle, and Taboo can easily be adapted to make an easy and quick winter get-together.
For example, in Beat Battle, you pick two players, each with a board that has spaces for different things (for instance, one may have “Nature” as a space). Then, each player must go around their opponent and describe a category and then place it in a square.
Have a winter cocktail party
Winter is here, which means it is officially holiday season! If you are hosting a Christmas get-together, then there are plenty of ways to celebrate with fun decorations, drinks, and food.
A dinner party is an excellent way to have your guests enjoy some delicious snacks and beverages while meeting new people. Or, if you would prefer, you can invite only drink or snack options so that people can chat after they’ve enjoyed what they wanted.
Either option will work well for your gathering!
If you do choose the first one, make sure your friends and family members know about the event ahead of time in case they want to join. You don’t want someone to spend all day going outside looking around for their friend because they didn’t realize they were being invited as a guest.
And remember, even though this article focused more on casual parties, anything formal calls for appropriate dress.
Hold a mulled wine tasting
This is one of the most classic party themes – hold a mulled wine tasting! You can use red or white wine as your liquid, and any dried fruit you have in the house to taste. Simply mix together equal parts alcohol, water, and sugar, and add your favorite flavorings like cinnamon, cloves, and/or ginger. Add some raisins (optional) and heat until it reaches its boiling point. Let people choose their drink style- either plain or mixed!
This party idea works because everyone brings something unique to contribute. Plus, it’s pretty easy to do! If you’re having trouble finding recipes, look up “mulled wine recipe.
Host a christmas movie night
This is one of our favorite party ideas because not only are you giving your guests a good time, but you can also easily plan this one ahead! Many people enjoy watching a movie at home during the holiday season, so why not make it a fun get-together?
Many theaters have monthly subscription services where you can pick a day and month to watch a movie. You can then invite friends to join you for the movie and all they need to do is show up and watch!
This would be perfect if you know some of your neighbors or friends that could use some cheering up right now. Or maybe there’s someone in their life who they’re no longer friendly with. By inviting them over to watch a movie, you bring back the feeling of friendship that once existed.
And while you may not feel like yourself due to the current state of your own relationship, spending time together as a couple still seems possible. Plus, hanging out as friends outside of the romantic setting definitely helps break down barriers.
Have a homemade soup party
This is one of our favorite festive party ideas! We love giving people second chances, so this is a great way to do that. Plus, you can always use some help in the kitchen, right?
What we recommend doing is having each person bring along an empty bowl and spoon. Then, they should make and name their own personalized soup for next week’s lunch or dinner!
To add some fun flair to it, you can have them put their signature (or funny) flavor tip into the soup as well! For instance, if their soup was chicken noodle, then they could say something like “Add coconut milk” or “Sprinkle cayenne pepper”.
Have a roast dinner party
Having a roast dinner is one of the best ways to do winter entertaining! You can either have it as an lunch time event or as night time event. It’s always great to try out new recipes so why not create your own?
Roast dinners are typically made up of meat (usually chicken, beef, lamb or pork) and vegetables cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper. The cooking process depends on what kind of meat you use and how much butter or gravy you like to put onto it.
The most common roast dinner dishes are: shepherd’s pie, roasted veggie bake, oven baked risotto and mashed potato with bacon and onion. All these delicious foods could be made into festive decorations and hung from strings!
Festive table runners, greenery placed in bowls, and poinsettia cut-outs make lovely additions to roast dinner tables. Add some soft light candles for additional decoration and ambience.
Throw a themed dinner party
This month we are going to talk about how to throw a fun, festive Christmas party. We will go into more detail of what types of parties this includes and some easy ways to do it!
Throwing a formal night event or celebrating with friends is great, but there are so many other ways to celebrate the holidays.
Inviting few people over for drinks and snacks is a perfect way to have a winter holiday gathering. You can either make or buy the snacks and beverages and let others contribute, or you can hire professionals to do that for you.
Any type of theme can work for a casual get-together like this. Use decorations and foods related to the season, or use a specific theme such as gift giving or Santa Claus.
If you would rather invite guests to an event then use the setting up a party invitations article here we discuss how to do that.