Holiday Hostess

Holiday Hostess

Planning A Holiday Celebration: Christmas Party Invitations, Decorations & More

It may seem strange to think about planning a Christmas party at this time of year, but early planning can help reduce costs, minimize stress, and ensure that all the details are worked out long before the busy holiday season arrives. Also, if any of your guests will be traveling, early reservations are far easier to get and cost significantly less. Do your guests and yourself a favor by planning holiday season get-togethers now.

Planning an enjoyable and successful holiday celebration simply requires some basic organization skills, a thorough to-do list, and a guest list. The simplest way to create a guest list is to look through your address book or holiday cards list. This is also an excellent time to update addresses, phone numbers, and email contact information, as well as add any new family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Creating the guest list first simplifies every other aspect of event planning. It provides the number of Christmas party invitations that must be ordered, the number of people to plan feeding, and to help determine the budget. The makeup of the guest list can also help to determine the best theme for the gathering.

Christmas Party Invitations For Themed Parties

Themed parties are easier to plan as the theme helps to determine the style and format of Christmas party invitations, decorations, menu items, and activities. For example, a tree trimming celebration would feature holiday cards and food shaped like evergreens, wreaths, or decorations, and ornaments could be given as favors. Or guests may be invited to a Secret Santa event with Santa Claus style Christmas party invitations. Santa hats would be given as favors, and cookies and milk (or eggnog!) would certainly be offered. Selecting the theme best suited to the guest list increases the likelihood that everyone will have a delightful time and that the host or hostess will have time to enjoy the celebration as well.

Christmas party invitations are as much fun to design as they are to receive. Today's technology makes creating unique photo holiday cards and Christmas party invitations as simple as pushing a button. Family photographs can be integrated into the invitations to add a highly personal touch, along with customized messages in the color schemes and fonts that match the overall theme of the party. Christmas party invitations must include all the standard information, such as date, time, and location for the event, in addition to any other special information guests may need, such as bringing a gift for a gift exchange activity. When ordering your unique Christmas party invitations, you can add a special touch to your event and your Christmas by ordering matching gift cards and thank you notes. Preprinted gift cards, thank you notes, and addressed envelopes save hours of effort that can be better spent enjoying the company of family and friends during this special time of year.

Decorating Ideas

As with planning any type of celebration, some supplies and decorating ideas are universal. Disposable cups, plates, and flatware are your best bet for simplicity's sake. There are plenty of theme-oriented and holiday colored items to choose from that won't break your bank account. Simple centerpieces can be made with pinecones, tree ornaments, and red, green, gold, and silver ribbon placed on a simple red or green table runner. Add a few red and green candles and your guests will think you spent a fortune to transform your home into a winter wonderland. Old holiday cards can be put to use as decorations as well, placed on shelves, tucked into the tree branches, and added to other displays.

Planning The Event

In selecting activities, invitations, and food for a holiday gathering, themes again eliminate much of the uncertainty. Activities are generally associated with the theme. Most holiday parties are casual affairs that feature gift exchanges, tree trimming, cookie decorating, cocktails, eggnog, and singing carols. Food at Christmas gatherings can range from traditional eggnog and cookies to BBQ pork ribs and cornbread. The menu is really up to the host or hostess, the budget, and the guests' tastes and preferences. Finger foods are always a good idea for casual parties as they allow guests to walk about and mingle. Sit-down dinner parties are another type of gathering altogether that have their own standards of etiquette and decor. It is always a good idea to find out ahead of time if any of the guests have food allergies that must be taken into account.

Planning and organizing a gathering now makes ordering Christmas party invitations, decoration, and gifts all that much easier.

About the Author

Chris Harmen enjoys creating custom holiday cards and Christmas party invitations to share with her loved ones.

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