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Holiday Party Ideas: How To Cheaply Host For Christmas Or New Year's

8 Ways To Host A Great Christmas Or New Year's Party On The Cheap
Photo of champagne glasses during toast at party
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Photo of champagne glasses during toast at party

Do you want to throw a holiday bash to remember without draining your bank account? There are a number of cheap and cheerful ways to make a great impression without stressing yourself or your finances. Here, we’ve put together eight ideas you might want to try this holiday season.

Choose A Theme

Cheap And Cheerful Holiday Party

1. Choose A Theme

Themes are a great way to up the WOW factor to your next fete. They also are a great way to help you rein in your spending as you are forced into narrowing your food, décor and beverage options. Some options could include anything from karaoke to a movie theme. If you’re looking to impress, customize your event by adding monograms.

2. Co-Host A Progressive Party

Potlucks are fun, but why not up the ante by co-hosting a progressive dinner party with your neighbours? It’s sure to be a lot of fun and it will take off some of the financial pressure of hosting a party by yourself. To do this successfully, you’ll need to organize the houses in order of location, provide flashlights because it gets pretty dark after 5 p.m., and establish a dress code. Discuss ahead of time the type of food you’ll provide. It’s best to have light bites at the first couple of houses and more substantial eats at the subsequent homes.

3. Provide A Welcome Cocktail

By limiting your drink offering, you’ll instantly save money. A full bar equals: cha-ching. If you host a progressive party you may want to split the cost of buying cases of discounted beer, red and white wine. Another tip is to offer a signature champagne cocktail. If you feel like splurging, go for a bottle of Moët & Chandon’s golden sleeve magnum. It’s a luxurious way to toast Christmas or the New Year.

4. Put A Cork In It

Do you have a ton of corks hanging around? Repurpose them by either using them as place card holders. Simply slice a line down the centre and decorate with ink or glitter. Feeling really crafty? Gather about 200 of them and really create a wreath by gluing them onto a wreath board. Then, top it with a festive wired ribbon.

5. Don’t Forget The Mocktails

Are there kids or moms-to-be on your invite list? If so, you’ll need to provide some holiday-inspired non-alcoholic beverages. Save time by purchasing a few cases of pre-mixed mocktails from Walmart’s Our Finest collection. A case of four is less than $3. Add some pizzazz by throwing some sugared mint leaves; raspberries or blackberries and you’ve turned a simple mocktail into a dazzling thirst-quenching holiday treat.

6. Think Ahead

“The key to a great potluck dish is to be memorable,” says M&M Meat Shops entertaining expert Solène Thouin. Dishes that can be prepared ahead of time or prepared from frozen will help keep the party day as easy as possible. Consider a thaw-and-serve dessert for maximum convenience.

7. Consider Space

Thouin recommends calling your host ahead of time to ask about fridge and oven space, and plan your dish accordingly. If you’re hosting, make as much room available as possible.

8. Don’t Forget The Bathroom

After the kitchen, the bathroom is going to receive the most amount of traffic in your home, so why not make it a pleasant experience instead of just a perfunctory one? Interior design expert Jillian Harris suggests switching up your hardware by changing your bathroom vanity to silver, pewter or even gold for holiday. This is also an inexpensive way to transform any room in the home, including the kitchen. As well, incorporate some plush jewel-toned hand towels to help make your bathroom look more colourful for the holiday season. And above all, don’t forget to pamper your guests by adding a roll of Charmin Ultra Soft. Nobody likes the feel of low-grade toilet paper.

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