If the thought of going to a crowded club or even being caught in traffic while attending a live concert or heading to a restaurant makes you want to skip New Year’s Eve altogether, how about doing this? How about hosting an intimate couples-only dinner party at your house on New Year’s Eve?
Sure, New Year’s Eve is (can you believe it?!) less than two weeks away, but if you follow our 10 tips, you can whip something pretty spectacular in no time that will be fun, memorable and relative inexpensive too!
Send Out Evites
Image via Unsplash
Don’t get caught up in the Christmas rush by mailing invitations. Send them via an email or text invite; one that you designed yourself. One of our favorite apps for this is Punch Bowl, but feel free to go to your favorite search engine and put “free invitation apps” for either iPhone or Android in the search field to see which one you like most.
Serve Traditional New Year’s Eve Foods
Image via Unsplash
As far as cuisine goes, feel free to serve whatever you like (it is YOUR PARTY, after all). But if you want to fall in like with the New Year’s Eve theme and eat some traditional NYE foods, black-eyed peas symbolize coins; noodles represent longevity; pomegranates represent prosperity; fish represents abundance and cake? If it’s a ring-shaped cake, it represents life coming full circle (perhaps like the wedding rings you, yours and some of your guests will be wearing!).
And Two NYE-Themed Drinks
Image via Unsplash
It’s a classic move to serve champagne (more on that in just a sec) for everyone to toast at midnight. But why not break with tradition and have some other NYE-themed drinks? Maybe a Leap Year (a gin martini), a Figgy Sparkler (a champagne drink that’s infused with a variety of fruit) or a Pomegranate Poinsettia which is a combination of sparkling wine and orange liqueur and pomegranate liquer and cranberry juice. Or, you can create a signature drink to ring in the New Year in a memorable way!
Have A Dessert Bar
Image via Lydi Out Loud
Definitely have some sort of dessert bar. It doesn’t have to be outlandish or over the top. Maybe ask your guests what their favorite dessert is or even what kind they liked to eat most as a child. There’s nothing like fond or sweet memories to put you and your guests in a great mood as you wait for midnight to come.
Make A Moon-Shaped Pinata
Image via Etsy
As far as entertainment, music or even a throwback movie (maybe a favorite romantic comedy) can be fun. For a twist, make a moon-shaped piñata. You can put candy in it, fortune cookies with fortunes in them or even little positive messages and wishes for your guests for the upcoming year. Or, all of the above!
Buy Some Fresh Journals
Image via Unsplash
Here’s a part of where the resolutions theme comes in. After dessert, give all of the couples with a new journal—one that has a personal handwritten message in the front from you and yours about what you appreciated about them over the past year and what you wish for them in the New Year. Then ask each couple to take out 10 minutes or so to write down five resolutions they have for their relationship and to share them with everyone else. It’s thoughtful, it’s romantic and will put everyone in the loving-yet-festive mood.
Get Mini-Champagne Bottles
Image via Williams Sonoma
If you really want to have champagne at your dinner party, how about getting some mini-ones and getting a customized label? It’s not expensive as you might think and it’s super classy.
And Some NYE Party Favors
Image via No Biggie
Another cute way to incorporate fortune cookies is to use them as party favors for your guests. Of course, there are dozens of other cool ideas. Click here to check out a few of ‘em.
Give Blank Vision Boards For Couples To Take Home
Image via In My Sacred Space
Something else that would be fun to give all of your guests with is their own blank vision board and maybe a few art supplies to get them started. Let them know that it’s another way to not only make some relationship resolutions but to actually visualize them (studies indicate that you significantly increase your chances of making a goal happen if you actually write them down and vision boards are an enjoyable way of doing it).
Have A Ball!
Image via Unsplash
More than anything else, just have fun! Don’t overthink it. Don’t pressure people to dress up (if they don’t want to). Just let them know that you wanted a way for them to ring in the New Year with people they care about and the one that they love. Is there any better way to celebrate New Year’s Eve than that? Happy (Almost New Year!)