Now that Thanksgiving is over, its time to start planning ahead to your upcoming Christmas party! We have the free Christmas Party ideas you need to help you plan your Company Christmas Party, or a gathering for family and friends.
The most traditional and popular colors for the Christmas season are, of course, red and green. We suggest that with these colors, you choose a specific theme to center all of your party decorations around. Some of these themes would be:
North Pole Enchantment
Old Fashioned Christmas
Arctic Fun
Peppermint and Candy Canes
Gingerbread Men
Snowmen
Another fresh idea is to go with a Winter Wonderland theme using whites, blues and silvers. It says elegance and it’ll be a color scheme no one will forget.
If you are planning a Christmas party for work, or a large open house where you’ll want a buffet, here are some estimates for planning your food and beverages:
For individual meats, fish, poultry:
• 5 – 6 ounces per person
• If the cuts of meat have bones in them, consider adding more weight per person.
For multiple meat meals and buffets:
• 4 – 6 ounces per person
For pasta dishes:
• A pound will serve 8-10 people.
For vegetables:
• With a premixed salad, estimate one handful per person.
• One head of lettuce will feed approximately 5 people, 4 medium heads will serve 15-20.
For appetizers:
• Estimate about 10-12 items total per person.
• Make 3-4 of each item per person, keep in mind that everyone may not take all of the items.
For desserts:
• Calculate one full portion of dessert per person.
• For multiple desserts, people will taste smaller portions of each item.
• A normal cake will serve approximately 10, but 15 will be fed if you are also serving pie.
Remember that doubling and tripling recipes is something of an art, so it is best to work small and work your way up. You will have a much better success rate with most recipes if you make multiple batches of a single recipe rather than trying to multiply the quantities by 3, 4, or more.
Consider having a couple of the following seasonal beverages to fit the festive occasion:
Eggnog
Wassail
Cranberry Cocktail
Hot Chocolate
Coffee Bar – set out a few flavored liqueurs, brandy, whipped cream, and grated chocolate. Garnish drinks with decorative ice cubes. Try using shaped ice-cube trays, adding a little food coloring into the water, or add mint leaves or raspberries to the water before freezing.
If you plan on setting up a basic bar, plan to have the following on hand for every 10 adult guests:
1 case of beer
2 liters of seltzer
3 liters of soft drinks (diet and regular)
2 quarts of fruit juice
Plenty of chilled bottled mineral water (sparkling and flat)
2 bottles of wine – one red, one white
Hard liquor – a fifth makes aprox. 14 drinks
Lemon and lime wedges and twists, olives and other garnish
Lots of ice – plan on 1 lb. per adult guest for the evening.
Invite a group of friends to caravan together to see the best and brightest holiday light displays. Plan your route in advance so that you will be sure to see the best your town has to offer. Lots of horn honking is sure to be part of the festivities. To make the caravan even more fun, rent a couple of stretch limousines or a trolley, so all your guests can travel as a group. End the party with some holiday cheer at your home…wassail, hot and steamy cocoa, and lots of home-baked goodies.
Organize a “Gift Exchange”…this will work in a classroom with young children, for a church group, a corporate party, an intimate group of friends…you name it! Select a specific “theme” for your exchange (Ornaments, books, white elephant, music, etc.), and specify a dollar limit for the gift ($5.00-$10.00 is perfectly appropriate). Ask each guest to bring a wrapped gift, appropriate to your theme, without a tag. Stack all the gifts together. When you are ready to begin the gift exchange, have each guest draw a number out of a hat (a Santa Hats would be adorable). The guest who draws number “1″ selects a gift from the pile, and opens it. The guest who draws number “2″ has the option of stealing the gift from number “1″, or choosing another unwrapped gift from the pile. Continue until the last guest has chosen or stolen a gift.
Organize a Progressive Dinner…spread the joy of having a party around. Several couples or families can host this event. A progressive meal is one in which guests travel from home to home, eating one course at each stop. The joint hosts/hostesses get together to plan the affair and that can be half the fun! Design the invitation to look like a tri-fold restaurant menu or a treasure map, and even include pictures of each host family (easy with access to a color copier). Let guests know which course they will enjoy at each stop, and include a map if necessary. A great idea for the holidays would be to rent either a few stretch limousines, or a trolley. Check the options in your city, so that everyone can travel together. At the time of year when budgets are stretched tightest, this is an ideal way to entertain at a fraction of the cost of a full-fledged party. Each host will also be able to take advantage of Christmas decorations already on display inside and outside their home. Don’t hesitate to use disposable dishes and glasses and plastic cutlery! The progressive dinner is easiest if five host couples share the responsibility, but can be combined to reduce the number of stops. Ideally, the dinner would work in the following manner:
1st home – appetizers and cocktails
2nd home – soup and salad
3rd home – the main course
4th home – dessert and coffee
5th home – fruit, cheese and liqueurs (easiest preparation)
The last home would also be the ideal stop to sing Christmas Carols, enjoy a simple gift exchange, and play a game or two. Check out our “Christmas Games” party tip for some holly jolly ideas.
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