Planning the perfect Christmas party

Many people enjoy hosting an annual Christmas party for friends, family and even co-workers. If you have never played host and you’re not sure where to start, here are some steps that you can easily follow to ensure a festive success every time.

Guest list

The first thing you need to do when planning a Christmas party is come up with your guest list. You need to know how many people you will be catering for and the rest of your plans will depend on the head count. You will need to decide whether to allow dates or if you are keeping the guest list a bit more limited. This will usually depend on your budget.

Location

Once you know how many people will be invited to your Christmas party, it’s time to decide on a location. Choosing the right venue is essential and you will need to decide between a simple yet elegant dinner and an event that will include a dance floor. When people get merry, they tend to enjoy a dance or two so you should certainly keep this in mind.

Food and drinks

Food and beverages are a must! If you are planning the Christmas party on your own, you might like to hire a catering service to assist. Another option is to plan your menu in such a way that your guests can contribute. This is usually the case when it comes to family dinners and lunches. Corporate events are usually catered since you don’t want your employees or clients to have to bring food along.

Festive décor

Since it is a Christmas party, you need to make sure that you have all the right decorations in place. You might like to avoid those old cliches like crepe paper decorations and streamers. Instead, you can spruce things up in a far more elegant way by using Christmas flowers to decorate. Popular colour schemes include red white and green. Alternatively, you can opt for red, green and old or even white, blue and silver. The theme should be consistent throughout the venue.

Consider gifts

To make things even more interesting, you can host a raffle for a Christmas hamper. You can also encourage everyone to bring along a gift as part of your annual Secret Santa gift giving. Setting a budget for gifts is essential, of course and it would be great to keep things as anonymous as possible.

There you have all the essential pointers for hosting a flawless Christmas party that everyone will enjoy! Remember to always be considerate of the needs of your guests in terms of beverage choices and food. Always ask for any allergies or preferences to be expressed with each RSVP.