Christmas and Holiday parties are such a fun way to get all of your friends together during the holiday season. Not every party needs to have a gift exchange, you can have many other elements that are just as fun and possibly more cost effective for everyone in attendance. In this blog, we are going to dive into some fun themes out there to possibly inspire your holiday season gatherings!
When thinking about the theme you are going to go with, take a look at the audience you are expecting to entertain. If there will be some children present, you could still go with a more adult centered theme and just have elements here and there for the kids.
Also think about the amount of people you are going to have over. Depending on the theme you go with, large groups could break the bank.
1. Christmas Carol-oke
If your crew loves to sing, be loud, and laugh together then this is a great theme for you to go with. You need very little supplies to carry out this party, really just a karaoke machine loaded with Christmas carols and songs. We do recommend some booze on the side to get those notes just right, but it is not necessary at all! The songs and beverage pairing can be determined based off of your guests.
For a party with just that activity, we would also recommend pairing it with a gift exchange of some sort. This would be so you could have some other activity at the event incase singing became a little too much, or possibly too loud for the setting.
2. Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition
Let them go wild! There are many options and ideas to go off of, we would suggest to require them to hand make their sweater for the best results. At the event have a very official ;) panel of judges and a fun prize for the winner and possibly runner up to score.
With food and other games this would be an option where you would not need a gift exchange.
3. Martinis & Mistletoe
A really fun way to spice up the evening is to provide an array of martinis for your guests to try. They do not all need to be full glasses, but more of a sampling.
Town and Country provides a great list of different holiday themed beverages for you to explore. There are many resources you could reference though to get the best beverages.
Like the Christmas Carol-oke, we would suggest pairing this theme with a gift exchange. Something that would pair well with this would be a White Elephant (Dirty Santa), where gifts get stolen and there is a lot of involvement from all of the guests present. If you were looking to keep the event more formal, a traditional Secret Santa would fit perfectly!
4. Gingerbread Decorating
Now, the example provided is elaborate and not realistic, but we just had to show off how pretty it was!
A gingerbread decorating party can be done a couple of different ways. You could ask all guests, in lieu of a gift for an exchange to bring their own starter kit. You could then just fill your space with additional decorating elements to help make the process longer and more exciting.
We suggest having lots of extra icing, it just makes everyone happier!
You could just have a few hours of fun decorating, their could be a competition, or you could all work together to build a gingerbread town! Really, the options are endless.
5. Murder Mystery
The example to the right kinda combines a couple of themes in this list, but there are many ways you could go about this idea. A lot of sites have made free printables, instructions, and costume/character ideas to follow.
This is a really fun and interactive party idea that could be done with a lot or a little amount of people. You can let guests know of the background and their character information before the even. You can also make it as casual or formal as you would like!
With how involved this theme is, it would be perfectly fine to not have a gift exchange option in the midst of your festivities!
6. Ornament Decorating
Another way to get crafty is to hold an ornament decorating party! Each guest can bring blank, clear, or old ornaments they are looking to repurpose.
This would be another party where you would not necessarily need to have a gift exchange as well. Guests could swap ornaments or have a table were they could pick their favorite out and take that home instead.
All you would need to worry about doing is gathering some extra supplies and warming a lot of hot glue for people to use! A fun idea would be to have empty take out boxes for guests to take their new ornament home in!
Christmas and Holiday parties do not need to be extremely stressful or extravagant! We hope that all of these ideas help you think of what can work best for you. Add in some fun food and holiday music and we are positive your guests will have an amazing time! Cheers and Happy Holiday partying season!