While you might think most people go out for New Year’s Eve, many people choose to stay home or host a small party with family or friends. After all, staying home means avoiding traffic, big crowds, and expensive cover fees at bars or clubs. Fortunately, you can have just as much or even more fun at your home by hosting a party. If you want to make this the most epic party to start the new year, then the tips below will get you started.
1. Decorate
You can’t go wrong with a well-decorated space, especially for a party where everyone will take photos. Balloon arches, table covers, photo backdrops, and centerpieces can be used to create a festive environment, and you could even print out highlight photos from the year to display around the party area. To take your decor above and beyond, setting up a balloon drop on the ceiling is essential. You can pull the string on this at midnight so balloons fall all over your guests to begin the new year!
2. Provide Good Food
Pizza is always a people-pleasing choice of food for a party. However, you don’t have to stop with a few pizzas for your guests. Chips with various dips will keep people munching throughout the night, as will an artfully made charcuterie board. Donuts with gold and black sprinkles or a cake with a clock face are special desserts you can buy or bake to carry your theme!
If you need more food, a fondue setup is a great choice because it allows guests to serve themselves. You can make this by melting a mixture of cheeses with white wine (or non-alcoholic wine) in a crock pot. Finish off by serving with sliced-up bread, meats, vegetables, and fruits to dip.
3. Serve Great Drinks
Beyond soda, water, and sparkling water, it’s important to have champagne for your adult guests to toast with at midnight. You can dress up your traditional glass of champagne by adding cranberry juice and some fresh cranberries. Alternatively, you can make champagne punch for guests to serve themselves.
4. Plan Activities
While your guests can entertain themselves by talking to others, having a few activities for them to enjoy is a great idea. Drinking games are always a surefire hit, as are cigars for adults. Dice and card games are also good choices since most people know how to play them without having to learn.
If the weather is nice outside, then games like cornhole, mini golf, and horseshoes can be fun. For parents bringing kids, you can’t go wrong with renting a bounce house out (which adults may also be able to use).
5. Make Sure Midnight is Fun
Once the clock strikes midnight, sparklers lit outside can be fun for everyone to enjoy. Glow sticks and poppers can be fun to play with as well. You can even make DIY versions of confetti poppers to save money and make something easy for everyone to use at midnight. If choosing any of these options, practice the necessary safety precautions and clean up all debris once the party is over.
Throwing the Best Party Ever
Throwing an unforgettable New Year’s Eve party can be a lot of work, although the glory lies in the glow your guests will have when it’s over. All that hard work and planning will bring great memories, photos to last a lifetime, and a lot of fun to begin the new year! What’s even better is that you can make this a tradition and use everything you learn this year to make next year’s party even more epic.
