When I was a little girl, my mom used to throw the most amazing parties throughout the year. My house was the hot spot for the years Super Bowl party, Fourth of July party, summer barbecues, all kinds of things! There were decorations, games, themed food, the whole shebang! As I got older, I adopted her love of party planning and have become quite the hostess if I say so myself. I have planned my fair share of wedding and baby showers, and my Halloween parties were to die for! This year I am hosting Friendsmas and I am going to walk you through how to throw a Christmas party.
Step One: Pick A Theme
Your theme will determine what colors you decorate with, what kind of food you have, and the dress code. One theme I tossed around was Christmas Morning. Everyone would come in their pajamas, and I would offer some different breakfast foods for dinner. The decorations would be fun and colorful and a little over the top! Another option I considered was Elegant Christmas. This would be a semi-formal Christmas party with a traditional Christmas dinner, and a very specific color scheme, probably red and gold. The theme can be anything you want it to be and can really make your party look put together.
Step Two: Pick A Menu
If your guest list is less than 10, the host will probably be in charge of providing all of the food. My Christmas party has a guest list of over 20, so I asked all of my guests to bring a dish, dessert, or 2-liter to help distribute the burden since I can't afford to cook and feed everyone on my own. If I use the Christmas Morning theme I will fix french toast and bacon and have people try to bring breakfast foods like fruit salad, muffins, and hash browns. For an Elegant Christmas, I would fix a ham and have people bring more traditional foods like sweet potato casserole, green beans, and mac and cheese. The menu for your party sets the whole tone so choose wisely.
Step Three: Create a Guest List
This step is really completely up to interpretation. The guest list is entirely based on the size of the party you want to have. The only advice I can offer is not to invite people you don't want to. This sounds silly, but I was guilted by many friends to invite people to my parties that I frankly didn't want to. Learn from my mistakes, and just don't.
Step Four: Decorations
The decorations you choose should match your theme. Don't spend too much, your closest dollar store or WalMart should have plenty of quality decorations that won't break the bank. My staple decorations are themed plates, cups, and napkins. These items are useful, so you aren't wasting money, and they're very easy to find. Beyond that, your normal household Christmas decorations should suffice.
Step Five: Cleaning and Prep
The last step before you host your party is setting up. I like to do this the day before I have the party. I go through my party area and put away all the loose ends and wipe everything down. Then I set up my decorations and make everything look the way I want it to. That way on the day of the party I can spend time getting ready and focus on fixing the food I need to make.
Step Six: Have Fun!
If you've made it to step six you have successfully planned your Christmas party! Now the only thing left is to sit back and really enjoy the time you get to spend with your friends or family. It's rare that things are always perfect so don't be too hard on yourself if there is a stocking out of place. The most important part is the company you are spending time with.
