New years eve is such an exciting time of the year which is why our new years eve party planning needs to be on point! As the year comes to a close, it gives us time to reflect on the past year and what we want from the next, all while celebrating with our closest friends and family.
With so many holidays occurring at the end of the year it can be difficult to plan accordingly. With that said, I have high hopes that this blog post will provide you with all the inspiration and ideas needed to have a successful new years eve party!
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How to Throw A Fun New Years Eve Party!
1. Invites
Let’s start with the basics! Who do you want to invite? When is everyone most likely available to attend?
While you think of that, here are some invitation ideas!
Although it is cute to send mailed invitations, a digital invite made in Canva is free! Canva is a website that allows you to personalize different templates whether it be for Instagram, Pinterest, or invites. It is super simple to navigate and you can really make the invites your own.
However, if you want to mail out an invite, you can print out your Canva design and mail your invitations instead of sending them digitally.
If you decide you’re short on time and can’t figure out how to use Canva, there are plenty of affordable invitations on Amazon! See some fun ones linked in the pictures below.
Lastly, another great way to send invites is by using an app called Partiful! My friends and I just started using this for girl’s nights and it works out so well. You send out a group invite using your friends phone numbers and when you make updates it will send them to your friends as well! Not only that, but everyone can see who RSVPs once they RSVP as well.
2. Activities
If you’re hosting a party of any kind it is always important to keep your guests entertained! There are so many fun card games or activities you can choose from to keep your party fun this year. Here are some great suggestions for your party this year!
Card games
Card games are a classic for entertaining guests and here are some I will always recommend and even use myself when I am having some people over!
This game seems like such a great way for your guests to get to know each other better as well as reflect on the year we all had!
UNO is a classic card game that always seems to have everyone excited!
A little challenging card game you can use for your party!
Guess the Party Member
This one is entertaining and a great way to get to know one another better!
Here is how to play:
- Print out pictures of all your attendees (or just write the names on cards if you don’t have a printer).
- When ready to play have all pictures facing down and one person can then pick their picture. Make sure they do not see who is on the picture.
- The person will then put the attendee picture on their forehead, facing the crowd of guests. Ensure that they do not see who is on the picture still.
- The crowd of guests will now provide the person holding the image with hints on who this person could be.
- The person holding the image will make guesses as to who the person on the image could be.
You have the choice to be as creative as you would like with this game, create your own rules and consequences, or you can even use celebrities to make it more interesting!
Karaoke
Karaoke is always fun and entertaining with the right crowd! Nonetheless it is super easy to set up as well.
Name the Song
Name the song is a game where you can challenge your guests to guess the song you’re referring too. However, there are many ways you can decide to play this but here is a great foundation.
- Either you can use a box game for this that is already pre-made here. Or, you can write down your own song lyrics on cards. Picking hit songs for the year would make it specific to the new years theme party!
- Break your guests in to teams and provide them with the lyric cards.
- Have your guests recite the lyrics then have the other team attempt to guess the song!
- Create your own rules and consequences to the game to make this more exciting!
3. Decor
Decorating your home for your new years eve party will really bring in the excitement for the new year! I have always found balloons a great way to decorate the home for celebrations and here are some great Amazon finds for just that!
Of course, where there are balloons helium is needed and this tank will likely last a while for future parties as well!
With that said, if balloons are too much of a hassle for you there are so many other ways to decorate without them! Here are some examples:
4. Food
New years eve party planning has to include some food! However, since the party will likely be hosted late in the evening, it may make more sense to include snack platters rather than dinner.
Charcuterie boards are a great way to get some snacks on the table. Here are a couple boards I have made myself for your inspiration:
Related post: 25 Epic Reliable New Years Eve Appetizer Ideas for New Years Eve Parties
Another great idea is to have everyone bring their own board, plates, or snacks of some sort! My friends and I love to do this for girls night and here is a perfect example of what that can look like:
5. Drinks
Drinks are something to consider along with food! New years eve is pretty simple I am sure we all think about sparkling cider or champagne when it comes to new years. However, there are so many creative ways we can elevate our new years drinks!
Related post: 16 Champagne Cocktail Recipes That Are Easy To Make For New Years
Drink station
To make things creative you could always make your own new years eve party bar or drink station for guests to visit and make their own drinks. You can pre-make the drinks and add them to a large jug for them to serve themselves with!
Drink ideas
Although a drink station or bar can make things easy, if you want to create your own cocktail drink ideas, Pinterest has so many inspiration recipes or videos! Here are some of my favorite drink finds:
6. Party favors
For your new years eve party it would be a great idea to have everyone in the festive new years mood by providing guests with party supplies or favors to grab on their way in! Here are some I recommend that you can set up at the front door or around the event for people to grab for photos or just to get in the spirit!
7. Photos
Finally, last but not least, photos. Photo stations are a great way to elevate your new years eve party and there are a few ways you can go about the ideas I have for you all.
Disposable Cameras
You can give everyone their own disposable camera, or use your own as the host, to take lots of pictures of the fun event ahead!
Polaroid Pictures
Polaroids are so fun and a great way to quickly get pictures of the party while you run around and greet your new years eve party guests! You can even give the images to your guests to make the event more memorable for them to look back on. You can also create a new years eve party photo album for yourself using the images you take.
Photo booth
Photo booths can be so much fun and they’re actually so easy to put up and do yourself! Here are some ideas an inspo to get you started.
