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Entertainment Magazine: VirtualMall: Party Ideas for New Year's Eve New Year's Eve Party IdeasHosting a New Year's Eve party is a great way to ring in the New Year with good friends, family and perhaps some coworkers. Between shopping for presents, deciding on your contribution to this year's Christmas meal at your sister's and helping your son practice his lines for the school play, you may feel this might not be doable. Believe it or not, all you need is a couple hours planning and creativity after Christmas to pull off a great New Year's Party. And to your delight, you will be able to do so without breaking your bank account. There are a few facets to keep in mind:
And how late you want it to run till (midnight or later is traditional of course!) Theme and Decorations
One fun and common theme is the New Year's Times Square Style Think New Year's Rockin' Eve with Dick Clark and the dropping ball. Another fun idea is a casino theme party. Let's go into more detail on themes: Casino NightThis is a great opportunity for everyone to dress up in their best threads. If men own one, request they wear a tuxedo and if not, a suit is perfectly acceptable as well. Encourage women to wear an evening gown. Now you've got the makings of a classy and stylish casino "? la Monaco. You can rent a few round tables or maybe borrow from family and friends and you've got the set up for card games ??Ì?S Black Jack, Poker, 21 and Rummoli are commonly played games. A great touch would be to have servers (which could be you and family members) passing trays of hors d'oeuvres and taking drink orders. The dimmer the light, the better for this one. Remember, you're creating ambiance and sophistication. Perhaps a little background music of Jazz or Classical might complete the scene. New York StyleFor this one, the gaudier the better! Put up decorations like a mock New Year's ball that drops at midnight. For this one, you want plenty of lighting, hot drinks and things like popcorn and chips for snacks. If you are holding your Times Square Party outdoors, faux snow makes for lots of fun unless of course Mother Nature is happy to produce this for you on her own. To really recreate the New York experience, you can purchase giant wall displays called "scene setters" of the New York City skyline. Simply pin these sheets to your walls with sticky tack, and viola, you're in the middle of Madison Square! When celebrating, you will definitely want to have the loudest noisemakers, cheesiest hats and tackiest decorations for this theme. New Year's ResolutionsResolutions don't have to be boring. You can create games that have your guests making mini resolutions that have to be agreed to for a small amount of time. They of course can be silly, such as not speaking for one hour or resisting alcohol for one hour, etc. You can offer prizes for anyone who makes it and by all means, the more ridiculous the resolutions, the better. Food and DrinksMost New Year's parties are going to be saturated with alcohol; champagne for the toast at midnight, with beer and wine leading up to it. If your budget allows, hard liquor will certainly be appreciated. Not to be the party pooper, just be mindful of anyone who gets too intoxicated and ensure you have a bed for him or her to sleep it off before going home. Food needn't be elaborate. Given that people tend to associate New Year's with drinking, finger foods such as veggie, cheese and fruit platters, chicken wings, chicken satay or fondue are perfect. Fondue is surprisingly fun and easy and can be part of any theme you choose. There are plenty of kinds of fondue to make - chocolate, cheese, chicken and veggies are just a few of the many things that can be dipped. Other foods to consider will fall more in line with your theme. Champagne is of course the traditional New Year's toast drink. It is better to offer half a glass of good bubbly than large quantities of the cheap stuff. Nothing spells headache faster than mediocre carbonated white wine. The main idea with New Year's is to bring loved ones together for a good time and to ring in the New Year together. To that end, enthusiasm, good food, good conversation and good drink will carry you farther than a large budget. Entertainment Magazine Home Page© 2009-2011 EMOL.org / Entertainment Magazine On Line. All rights reserved. |
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