How to plan a New Year party to remember
The turn of a new year is always a great time to hold a party – whether you’re celebrating the welcome end of a tough year, or the fresh potential of a whole new year ahead of you.
But if you’re planning to host a New Year party for friends and family, how can you guarantee they’ll have a good time? Let alone make it a party to remember? Here are five tips to help you.
1) Create your own cocktail menu
Liven up your party with your own cocktail menu. You can theme it around the holidays, or make it personal to you and your friends.
The easiest way to create your own cocktail menu is to rename popular classics like gin and tonic and bellini. Or, if you want to be more adventurous you could invent your own cocktails.
This is the perfect excuse for a pre-party party in which you invite your friends around one evening, and between you come up with your own concoctions. (You may want to leave a few days recovery between parties…)
2) Pick a theme
Your drinks menu isn’t the only thing you can theme. Why not give the whole party a theme?
For example, 2020 is a leap year, so you might choose to make that a theme of your party. Or you could choose a theme that has nothing to do with the holiday season or new year.
If you’re stuck for inspiration, here are some other ideas for themes:
- Your favourite movie
- A popular song
- A type of music, such as Country and Western
- Your favourite colour
- A country
- An era, such as the 20s
3) Choose your menu
If you’ve planned a themed cocktail menu then you’ll want some food to soak up the alcohol! And rather than just spread out platters of unimaginative sausage rolls and quiche, why not plan a more creative offering?
If your menu or party as a whole has a theme, this can be extended to the food too. But even if not, take some time to prepare a considered spread.
Research popular party food recipes if you fancy making the food yourself. If not, most supermarkets offer party catering platters you can pre-book. If you have the budget and really wanted to impress your guests, you could even book party food with a local caterer.
4) Extend your space
Not got much space for your guests to spread out? Why not extend your party into your garden or back yard? Invest in a hexagonal gazebo from At Home Comforts by Garden & Camping and you’ll have a weatherproof space that can lead directly off your home.
You can use it as an outside chill space, a smoking room, or add an outdoor heater and use it as an extension of your main party.
5) Send your invites
When you’ve planned the finer details of your party, send out proper, formal invites to your guests. Your invite is your first chance to impress, and get them excited about your event.
Use a free online design tool like Canva to create your own invite themed to your party, with all the details your guests need, then download it as an image and send it to everyone you would like to attend.
You can attach it to emails and texts, or add as a social media image (Canva will allow you to design to each social media platform’s ideal size).
Then, all you need to do is work out what you’re wearing, and look forward to the party of the year – whether that’s 2019 or 2020!
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM
