How you should’ve hosted your last New Year’s Party… and ideas for the coming year!

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Did you successfully host a New Year’s Eve bash or did you feel that it was too chaotically thrown together at the last minute? With all the expectations surrounding it, sometimes it becomes overwhelming to throw the perfect New Year’s party. However, there are plenty of ways to host an easy, fun party that you and your friends will remember for a long time and you have almost another year to comb the internet and trade ideas with your friends – I’ve already been checking out Pinterest for fab party ideas for next year! From providing quality drinks, simple cuisine, and fun entertainment, plan an all-out bash with these easy tips.

Tips for perfecting your next New Year’s bash:

• Form a plan now! Decide if your party needs a theme, and how casual or formal it will be. This will aid in planning the guest list, the menu, and the decoration scheme. This step is essential for any birthday, anniversary or Halloween party so use this as the basis of your party planning throughout the year.
• Invite your friends. Consider sending a New Year’s Eve invite in your Christmas cards to save postage and time, and specify an RSVP date a few weeks before the event so that you can plan food quantities. To make things easier, consider making it a Facebook event or Evite as well so guests can respond online or ask any questions more easily.
• Decorate affordably. You’d be amazed what you can use right inside your own house. Make a festive centerpiece out of a candelabra or a glass vase stuffed with fresh flowers. Use some of your wicker baskets and line them with fine linens and use them for silverware or fresh rolls.
• Plan your menu. Decide whether you want to prepare the food or order in. Some easy appetizers include a homemade dip like a feta and spinach one served with crudités, as well as a casserole pot full of chilli or meatballs for something a little more substantial. Decide whether you want to cook for the people at your party or if you’d prefer the laidback choice of ordering different pizzas.
• Focus on quality alcohol. Your guests will remember the bubbly before the food or the decorations. Besides purchasing several bottles of champagne, consider preparing a cranberry champagne punch and prove your guests with their own glittery pom-pom stirrers.
• Hire a photo booth. Some quality places in London not only provide fun glittering gold or silver backdrops, but let you choose if you want to do photo only or a digital video photo to remember the New Year. They’ll bring fun props like party hats, tiaras, and feather boas, as well as plastic champagne glasses and “Happy New Year,” banners you can wave above as you jump in the air or clink glasses in the booth. You can even use those confetti balloons in some fun shots. Photo booth hire in London and other major UK cities are easy to find.
• Plan for some entertainment. Cue up a pre-made playlist in the background for dancing or organise some interactive activities. To avoid pushy friends taking over your stereo, plan a playlist on your iPod and hook it up to your speakers ahead of time. Begin with softer tunes during the cocktail hour and dinner and then play louder dance-type hits when you want the crowd to interact and mingle more. Alternatively, plan some activities like DIY confetti balloon bar, where guests can decorate balloons, and then pop them at the stroke of midnight.

Did you use any of these ideas when you hosted your last New Year’s bash? If so , let me know how you got on and share your tips for a great party in the comments below! Often, your guests want a simple, fun party which good food, quality alcohol, and funny photo booth pictures can provide so this plan can be used for any party throughout the year for a fun 2015!

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