Planning a great last minute New Year's party!

Izelle du Pisanie Izelle du Pisanie
Lámpara para piscinas, beZeep.es beZeep.es حديقة
Loading admin actions …

Shopping, planning and spending for Christmas can be a long and stressful process each year. So much so that you might be completely spent when New Year comes around if you remembered to do anything at all! Well, even if that is the case, and Christmas has come and gone, it might not be too late to plan a successful New Year’s Eve party at the last minute.

A few days may be all you need to plan an intimate gathering with close friends who are important to you. With a little ingenuity and a little help from your friends, you can whip together a memorable New Year’s in no time at all!

Be swift

Christmas Lifestyle, Habitat Habitat الغرف

As soon as you decide that you want to have a gathering for New Year’s, you should go right ahead and invite your guest as soon as possible to secure them for the evening. You can work out the details a bit later, but you do want to book the people you really want to have at your party. Just before you jump into it, though, you should set some limits for yourself – with your restricted time, you probably don’t want to invite too many guests. Also take into account how far away people live and if they are likely to show up.

Now the matter is to get the message through as quickly as possible with as little effort necessary. Using social medial is a good option. Think of a WhatsApp group, Facebook event invite, Doodle or the trusty old email.

Decorate!

Now you probably don’t have the money or time to go over the top with decorating for the party, but you surely want to give the place a bit of an easy, festive feel, don’t you? What is a New Year’s Eve party without the New Year’s spirit?

Fortunately, you have just gone through another big celebration (Christmas) and surely have some items that would work just as well for the new occasion. Re-purposing your Christmas decorations in a tasteful and appropriate manner can save you a lot of money and much time.

Take a look at some DIY Christmas decorations that will work just as well for New Year's.

If it still does not feel festive enough or appropriate, consider hiring cheap lighting, adding votive candles (they always look great!), add some ribbon, and pick fresh flowers from your own garden.

Plan around your own budget and time

Once you have your guest list settled, you have to think about our budget and how much time you have left to get everything done. When you thought of who to invite, you certainly made some preliminary calculations in your mind of what it might cost you, and as we mentioned above, you chose your number of guests around your own limits.

Now take some time to evaluate your available resources at home and how much you can reasonably spend. There is no need to overextend yourself. Do not feel guilty to ask guest to contribute in terms of food and drink, this is totally acceptable. If everyone brings just one thing, you’ll be all sorted.

Get some help

Swallow collection of homewares homify غرفة السفرة قطن Red أواني خزفية وزجاجية

Ok, so even though there is enough time to plan everything, you might still want some help, and that’s just fine! This will make things easier on your time and pocket. Consider co-hosting the party with a friend – an excellent way to lower your costs and relieving some responsibility.

If you don’t want to give up all the shine of being the host/hostess, you may still need some help, so consider hiring a caterer who can at least ensure that food and drink are all sorted so you can focus on the other stuff. This shouldn’t cost you too much, since you’re having a rather small gathering on such short notice!

Cue the music

homify غرفة المعيشة

We all know a party is absolutely nothing without music, and it is essential to get the playlist right, as the music at a party can either spoil the mood completely, or take it to the next level.

Your best option is to create an extensive playlist on iTunes to ensure that you have enough music for the entire evening without any awkward gaps. Having an expanded playlist will also ensure the avoidance of too-often song repetitions.

What you can also do is to create a playlist on Spotify, where your guests can also easily search for their own music and what they would like to hear, and the responsibility of good music doesn’t fall squarely on your shoulders.

Food and drink

Organising food and drink for a party can be a daunting task. Fortunately, it is completely socially acceptable to ask your guests to each bring something to eat or drink, and this will make light work remaining for you! Make a list of what you need and ask guest to bring these specific things. Keep track of who is bringing what, so you can see what you are left with.

Remember that this is a simple hassle-free party, so keep to appetizers, snacks and desserts. A simple self-serve buffet is always a winner. Your guest can pick and choose exactly what they want and you don’t have to stress about dishing up and out.

Here are some more pointers to keep in mind:

- Paper plates and plastic utensils will save you hours of cleaning up.

- Pre-prepared and frozen appetizers are a quick and easy choice, offered in a wide selection.

- Stick to ready-made baked treats, such as cookies, brownies and cupcakes.

- A make-your-own-sundae station is an excellent and popular option to cover dessert.

- Feel free to present left-over Christmas candies as snacks – two birds with one shot!

- Tie a little tag around wine- and champagne glasses with each person’s name/ initials so you can all keep track of your glass for the night.

Entertainment

A New Year’s Eve party is sure to go on longer than most, since there is definite wait for midnight before the actual celebrations begin. This will necessitate entertainment to keep your guests busy for quite some time.

There are many things you can easily schedule for such a party which are sure to keep your guests going, such as party games (hundreds of which are freely available on the internet and require little to no materials), karaoke, and of course, fireworks! Always just keep safety in mind and make sure your guests are on the same page regarding this.

Fortunately for us, we also live in a part of the world where New Year’s falls in the summer time, so remind your guests to bring bathing suits and think up some great water-based activities. Just splashing about in the pool is never a bad move either!

تريد مساعدة في إتمام مشروع بيتك؟
تواصل معنا الآن

يبرز من مجلتنا