The festive season is quickly approaching, therefore now is the time to start planning your holiday party. If your hosting you’ll annual party or you are attempting to host your first one, below we have provided you with guidance that will assist you plan a party that’s festive and fun that will not affect your budget greatly.
Step 1 – Establish a budget
- Make a list of potential expenses
- Prioritizes them in order of importance
- Search on line to get a feel of approximate prices
- If you have already done this type of event, refer back to your notes
Step 2 – Choose a venue
- Whether you choose a restaurant, banquet hall or other venue reserve the venue as soon as possible after you have decided on your date.
Step 3 – Start creating your invitations list
- Budget unfortunately might dictate the number of guests you invite but there might be other areas you might consider to cutting down your expenses. First ask yourself, are you planning a sit-down dinner party or something a little larger? Will your invitation list consist of family or adults only? If children will be attending, you must try your best to keep their interests and ages in mind as you plan activities. If your celebrations the holidays for example, ensure you have holiday movies in a playroom area, holiday-themed games and toys etc.
- Invitation – if you intend on using paper invitations, ensure that you send them out as soon as possible. Everyone schedules fill up fast especially over the holidays, therefore invite your guests several weeks in advance of the party.
- Email Invitation = cost saving, which can be free to send out or a small fraction of the cost of paper invitations. Email invitations allow us easy manage who has provided a response and who hasn’t responded. If you are familiar to Facebook, create an event page to invite your guests and communicate with them before the event. This is really handy when having an event where everyone is contribution a dish (potluck) as everyone can post what they are bringing and results less duplications of the same dishes.
Step 4 – Entertainment
- Hostess all want to ensure that their guests have fun at your party. You can create your own playlists using a digital music.
- If your guests enjoy singing, perhaps you can rent, buy or borrow a karaoke machine and queue it up with holiday hits. Have prizes for the best singer to encourage healthy competition.
- You can encourage your guests to wear festive attire, including holiday sweaters and offer a prize for the ugly sweater contests etc.
- Dress someone up as Santa Clause and have them hand out gifts and candy to your guests.
- If younger children are attending, create a goody bag like candy cane, crayons, colouring books and stickers.
- If gift exchange is included, consider a Secret Santa or White Elephant exchange and give your guests a budget to follow for the gift exchange, pair people together ahead of time once you know who will be attending your event. If your hosting a White Elephant exchange, provide that information on their invitation so that they bring a gift to your event.
Step 5 – Plan Your Menu
- It doesn’t mater whether you’re having your party catered, potluck or doing everything yourself, planning your menu is essential.
- Catered Parties – ensure that you hire a caterer as quickly as possible especially during the holidays because the holidays is their busiest time of the year. Recommendations from friends or on line for great caters are easy to obtain. Once a selection is made, work with your catered to create a menu that your guests will enjoy that also highlights any dietary restrictions your guests may have.
- Catering the party, yourself – search the internet and/or favourite cookbooks and magazines for recipes. Try to make as much of the meal ahead of time and freeze it and then choose dishes that have a few of the same ingredients. Other options in hosting a party is to have a potluck instead of a sit-down dinner or host a holiday brunch instead of a big dinner. In general breakfast items tend to be cheaper therefore cutting your cost of food.
- Potluck is another option to consider – suppling the main dish and asking your guests to bring their favourite dish to share with everyone is also very popular. Always ask them ahead of time what their contribution will be to avoid duplication of the same dish. If your guests are not sure what to bring, you can provide them with a recipe to follow or if they don’t cook, then ask them to bring alcohol, non-alcoholic drinks or ice.
- Serving signature drinks – can be a cost saving like eggnog or seasonal cocktail. Always try to buy non-alcoholic beverages in bulk like soft drinks, water and hot apple cider etc.
Step 5 – Decorations
- Holiday decorations shouldn’t really have to burden your budget. Try to reuse old decorations or borrow décor from family and friends. You can get creative if you have young children by having activities to get them to help to create some of one of kind décor. For example, decorate natural items like pine cones and branches with glitter, help them cut and decorate paper snowflakes or put together popcorn and paper chains. Try discounted stores for any new décor to purchase which offer a selection of low-cost, festive items. If your hosting a holiday party every year, ensure that you take advantages of the post-holiday sales and other deals that occur throughout the year.
- Cohosting a party with an additional person ensures that the budget and planning responsibilities are divided and can be a huge cost saving option.
Step 6 – Party Has Ended
- Before you guest leave there are various ways of thanking them for coming.
- Provide food storage containers ahead of time and allow them to take home leftovers and treats. This gesture is appreciated and this illuminate a refrigerator overflowing with food.
- Send your guests with centrepieces or flowers or use them as prizes for party games
- If a Polaroid or other instant camera is available, take photos throughout the party or set up a photo booth for guests to take pictures of themselves. Allow your guests to keep their photos or send them a copy with a handwritten note after the party.
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