Tips When Hosting Your New Year’s Eve Party

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New Years Eve Party
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There is nothing quite like the excitement of planning a New Years Eve party. It is surely going to be a memorable event no matter if you are celebrating at party venues in London or in the comfort of your own home. There are a few things to keep in mind when planning your party and if you get a head start on the preparations, then you will save yourself a lot of headaches and stress later down the line.

A New Years Eve party is not complete without a guest list. Keep in mind that many people make their plans for this special occasion several weeks or even months in advance. The city venues on this special day play an important factor as well.

Some cities have very elaborate fireworks displays and New Years Eve hotel deals that require people to register very early. When planning a party in the comfort of your home, you will want to send out the invitations, at a minimum, the first week of December.

Yes, this is a time of year when most people are sending out greeting cards, but you want to plan your guest list early. Always include an RSVP card and follow up with phone calls and emails to confirm attendance.

The next step to planning your New Years Eve party is deciding on if you will have a theme. Some people enjoy having theme or masquerade parties. It adds a festive quality to the special event of ringing in a brand new year. Besides the idea of a theme party, you will also need to determine if you will be serving alcohol.

If there is alcohol served, then you want to either arrange for guests to stay the night or arrange for taxi service. The most important factor is never allowing a person to drive when they have consumed an alcoholic beverage. This should be a time for festivities, not tragedies.

Keep the menu simple. Everyone should have fun and this includes you. Finger foods are an excellent way to allow guests to mingle and have scrumptious appetizers that do not require sitting down to eat.

Most parties include alcohol, but you also want to provide plenty of non-alcoholic drinks for those who are designated drivers or do not believe in imbibing. Travel New Years Eve is about arriving safe and sound, so once again, make sure there are designated drivers or sleeping arrangements for people who will be staying with you. This factor cannot be reiterated enough.

New Years Eve is a big event. The New Year’s ball in Times Square will be making its drop. It is a brand new ball that will slowly show the world that New York has jumped into the New Year. Others will follow and even within your home New Years Eve party, merrymaking will be occurring as people blow their horns, twirl their tassels and get ready to greet the New Year.

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New Years Eve Party Ideas for Family Parties

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Nelsons New Years Eve Party
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New Years Eve is always an exciting night so I thought I would give you a couple of New Years Eve party ideas for family parties. As I mentioned on Martha Stewart Living radio yesterday, with the current economic climate continually changing, we now, more than ever, are examining our spending habits with more care and consideration. Therefore, this New Years Eve, make it a family celebration and include the entire family when entertaining with your friends.

New Years Eve party ideas include having friends over for a potluck dinner and for your guests to enjoy and participate in, Guess Whose Baby Picture and family favorite board games could serve as the evening’s entertainment for a family celebration.

As I mentioned on radio, since we are talking about family parties, keep it simple and casual. Call the party time for early evening, request casual dress and create a menu complete with easy-to-make food items or fresh ready-served food that is easy to pick up at the market or deli.

Keep costs in check. Limit your guest list and ask guests to participate in a pot-luck dinner. Avoid duplicate food selections by tagging each family unit with the food item they need to bring. Spend more time with your guests at this family celebration and less time cleaning up by making sure your guests bring their assigned menu selections in ready-to-serve containers.

New Years Eve party ideas include the Guess Whose Baby Picture game. Simply ask each guest to bring theirs’ and their children’s infant pictures. Then randomly tape the pictures up on a board and hand out paper and pens. Each family plays as a team and the family who guesses the most correct pictures, wins a prize. For family parties, the prize could be anything from a gift certificate to a family-styled restaurant, movie tickets or a gift-card from the local market or video store.

A second family celebration oriented entertainment suggestion is to turn New Years Eve into family game night. For family parties, ask each family to bring a couple of their favorite board games such as Scrabble, Monopoly, Sorry!, Candyland, Barrel of Monkeys or Chutes and Ladders. For a more challenging time, try Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy Board Game, Wheel of Fortune or a jigsaw puzzle. For puzzle parties, set a time limit. The family who completes or is closet to completing the puzzle in the least amount of time wins.

Your New Years Eve party ideas should include a family celebration dinner menu. For family parties especially, I recommend menu items that are filling, fun, kid-friendly and easy to eat. Again make sure your menu selection is easy to prepare or can be picked up at the local market ready-to-go.

Finally, select menu items from all food groups, avoid known allergens such as nuts and whenever possible, create a menu that allows guests gluten-free food selections too.

I hope you found these New Years Eve party ideas helpful for your family celebration. New Years Eve is a great time to host family parties and what better way to celebrate the New Year than with your family. Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

With over 15 years in the special event industry, Andrea has now taken her knowledge and experiences and incorporated this information into an easy-to-read book called Budget Bash – Simply Fabulous Events on a Budget. You can talk to Andrea via Twitter @awynningevent or learn more about wedding and special event management by visiting awynningevent.com.

Easily the best way to find Party Games and Ideas is to obtain a copy of the free “Gifts For Kids” Guide which describes with illustrations hundreds of specially selected gift ideas including party games.

Find the best party games, themes and decorations. See more at:

Best Party Games and Ideas

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Plan an Overnight New Years Eve Party for Children

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Scrambled eggs
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Even though New Years Eve is thought of as an adult party night, children can take part in ringing in the New Year! Plan an overnight New Years Eve Party for children. This party is simple and easy enough to plan at the last minute. Start with making a list of guests such as neighborhood children or classmates.

Next enlist the children in making invitations to send or give out to their friends. Make a simple invitation in the shape of a clock marked at midnight or one with lots of streamers and glitter decorated on it. List the important information such as time to arrive and time to be picked up in the morning. Most importantly, list items to bring to the overnight party such as toothbrush, pajamas, sleeping bag and pillow.

Decorations for this New Years Eve party for children can be as simple as using lots of streamers, confetti, and balloons. Use lots of balloons gathered into a net from the ceiling for a balloon drop at midnight. Pick up noisemakers and New Years Eve hats to add to the festivities.

After the children arrive serve finger-food snacks set up buffet style or have a baked potato bar with all the fixings. Serve fancy cupcakes sprinkled with candy confetti. Play group games such as Twister, Charades and Pictionary while waiting for the stroke of midnight. Children will enjoy watching the countdown to midnight and the New York Times Square ball drop on television.

In the morning, serve a breakfast buffet with simple foods such as sausage-in-a-blanket made with link sausage wrapped in a refrigerator biscuit. Bagels, muffins, scrambled eggs with cheese, cut-up fruit, juice and milk completes your buffet. If there is time after breakfast, discuss ideas for New Years resolutions that children can make such as:

  • Wear a helmet when riding their bike.
  • Completing and turning in homework on time.
  • Help with chores without being reminded.
  • Eat the required fruits and vegetables each day.

Give each child a 3” x 5” index card to write down their resolution to take home and post up in their room. Plus send each child home with a treat bag. Ideas for the treat bag could include little toys, cards, pencils and a small calendar for the New Year. Your New Years Eve party for children will be a hit!

As a mother, grandmother, and child development professional, Nancy Johnson, shares over 20 years experience working with children and planning activities on her website, Creative-Child-Activity-Notebook.com. Check it out for more school age child activity ideas including winter, holiday, learning, nature, and child party activity ideas.

Easily the best way to find Party Games and Ideas is to obtain a copy of the free “Gifts For Kids” Guide which describes with illustrations hundreds of specially selected gift ideas including party games.

Find the best party games, themes and decorations. See more at:

Best Party Games and Ideas

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Your New Years Eve Questions Answered

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The Christmas holiday is over and with it a sense of relief. You dashed around and finished all of your shopping on time. The holiday gatherings are over and the food has been eaten.

You should have an immense sense of relief but there is always that nagging sensation of being let down. Perhaps it is time to take some recreational fun for you and your loved ones. New Years Eve is one of the biggest party days of the year.

Adults around the world celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year. Small, intimate gatherings or large celebrations bring out the party animal in us all. There are plenty of places to visit on this special night each year and it can all seem confusing if you attempt to do this at the last minute.

You may be the club sort or simply want to host your own New Years Eve party. The choices are endless and can be anything you want it to be. If you are unsure of what to do on New Years Eve, this article is for you. You can get ideas on what to do to ring in the New Year in style.

What is the history of New Years Eve?

Celebrating the New Year is not a modern tradition. This history begins with the Babylonians hosting festivities that lasted for days to mark the first New Moon after the First day of spring each year. But you have to keep in mind that the calendar in which modern humanity uses has changed over the years through the whims of different rulers.

It was not until Julius Caesar developed the Julian calendar that the days began to coincide with modern festivities. Over the centuries festivities have marked the end of the old year with the birth of a new year. Each culture has had different ways of celebrating this rebirth.

What are New Years Eve cruises?

New Years Eve cruises are exactly as the name implies. It is a cruise aboard a ship that is out to sea or in port on New Years Eve. Most cruise lines are operational during this time period and offer package deals for families and individuals wanting to ring in the New Year in a different manner than the typical party.

Cruise lines may have a ball or some type of party that fits in with any traveler’s desire. You can elect to cruise the Mediterranean or the Caribbean waters. The choice is completely up to you but make sure you book your trip in advance because space fills up quickly.

How far in advance should I make New Years Eve plans?

If you have been invited to a party at a nearby destination or friend’s house you will want to RSVP quickly as a courtesy to the host or hostess. If you intend to book a package deal, travel abroad or take a cruise you will want to book your vacation as far in advance as possible to avoid the rush.

This is especially true if you are flying. Some hotels offer last minute packages to sell out unused rooms but you do not want to count on this as part of your determining factors in where to go. It is best to have your New Years Eve plans in place at least by Christmas. I have young children and they cannot be awake until midnight. What can I do to celebrate the New Years with them?

Many parents of young children fool their kids into thinking midnight has arrived by setting the clocks forward. You can turn the channel to a television station in another part of the world that is on a different time zone.

Most small children do not realize the difference between nine o-clock and midnight. If you feel uncomfortable with the deception then just explain to them that they are not old enough to stay up until midnight.

Children under the age of seven will fall asleep before reaching the magic hour. You can let them try to stay up as late as they can and chances are they will have the time of their lives just with that extra bit of freedom from a regularly scheduled bedtime.

Are there inexpensive parties and trips for New Years Eve?

If you cannot afford a trip out of area there are usually many local parties in your neck of the country. Local country clubs, hotels and resorts often have New Years Eve festivities. Some airlines and travel agents have last minute deals to popular resorts.

It is always better to make arrangements before New Years Eve but if you cannot there is always the possibility of last minute packages that become available due to cancellation. You will have to stay diligent but you can have a great time ringing in the New Year.

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Easily the best way to find Party Games and Ideas is to obtain a copy of the free “Gifts For Kids” Guide which describes with illustrations hundreds of specially selected gift ideas including party games.

Find the best party games, themes and decorations. See more at:

Best Party Games and Ideas

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

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