Throwing an Epic Christmas Party

This is the time of year when we deck the halls, put up a tree, climb up in the attic or garage and bring out the ornaments and get everything ready for the holidays. This is also the time when everyone you know has a Christmas party and they all decide to hold them on the same night!

Have you ever noticed that some holiday parties are way more fun than others? Why? It’s really pretty simple. Some people are better at entertaining than others. They think creatively about the party experience. Conversely, some people are better at being entertained than others. I tend to fall into the latter category. However, I know some world class raconteurs and they know how to throw a party.

If you’re not that great at giving parties, there’s still hope. Like most things in life, all it takes is a good plan and the determination to execute it. As a public service, here are some ideas on ways to throw a better Christmas party.

Ambiance

Having the right look for the house is important in order to get your guests in the mood to be merry. While it’s not necessary to transform your home into a winter wonderland, tasteful Christmas decorations on a real tree will go a long way towards building ambiance. You don’t need a full-sized train that runs through the house carrying guests from room-to-room, but any cool, old toys add to the feeling of Christmas.

A few years ago, as couple that were known to give the best parties invited us for the Christmas shindig and they did a couple of things that were very cool. First, they had the classic black and white movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (with the volume down) running on their big screen TV in one room and “A Christmas Carol” (again, volume down) running on another TV. This was an immediate conversation starter because everyone has a story associated with either these stories or Christmases that they have had in the past.

The other thing they did was tie their party to a kid’s charity. Every guest was asked to bring an unwrapped gift for a specific age range of kids and all of these gifts were taken to the charity for kids that would have otherwise not had a great Christmas. Having all of these toys sitting under the tree was a very cool effect for the party.

Food

Food is even more important than the décor at any holiday party. This is where you’ve lucked out this Christmas because you’ve stumbled upon this blog! Here are some scrumptious suggestions for your holiday party and the best part – they’re easy to prepare.

Fajita Nachos Party Layered Dip Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip Spinach Artichoke Dip Fajita Soft Tacos Quesadillas Philly Steak & Cheese

While we aren't necessarily saying mexican food is best for christmas, it certainly doesn't hurt.

Fun

More often than not, Christmas parties are just “meet and greet” events with very little fun. Think about the birthday parties you went to as a kid. Would any mom or dad in their right mind throw a birthday party without planning some fun stuff to do? Of course not. OK, here are three ideas to get your holiday party started.

#1 Hire a Santa with a BIG personality. Encourage your guests to sit on his knee and tell him (a) if they’ve been naughty or nice (have him insist that they tell him why), (b) what they want for Christmas this year and why. Be sure that there is a microphone nearby so that everyone can hear everything that’s being said and set up a video camera on a tripod to tape every encounter. Then post the best of these videos on your Facebook page for all your friends to remember the party. Not surprisingly, the comments are often outrageous and always hysterical and they get better as the hour gets later!

#2 Have a contest for the ugliest Christmas sweater, tie or other apparel and be sure to include reference to the contest on the invitation. This will ensure that you will have plenty of contestants because everyone has a tasteless, but FESTIVE sweater, tie or shirt. This will also provide some great Facebook postings after the party.

#3 Give every guest their own stocking stuffed with party favors as they are leaving the party. You can find inexpensive Christmas stockings at any party store and the goodies can be anything from fruit, candy, little toys, pocketknives for the guys and diaries for the girls.

Holiday parties can be a blast and with digital cameras, the fun can keep going for days on your social networks. Let us know if you used any of these ideas and how your guests responded.