Your Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party Checklist

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New Year’s Eve is fast approaching, and you will definitely want to finish the year with a party to remember and start off the new year right. Those who are planning that perfect party will need a checklist. There are many things you need to consider like food, drinks, decor, venue, and party favours. Here’s everything you need to know to throw a New Year’s Eve party to remember.

Create the mood

Envision what you want your party to be like and what you want your guests to feel. For New Year’s Eve, you should want an exciting and decorative party for your guests. Invest in glitzy and sparkly decorations like streamers, gold and silver balloons and sparkly curly strings. Even consider confetti to decorate tables or for your guests to play around with.

Invest in some cheesy glasses, noisemakers, and party hats to add to the fun. These items might seem silly but they are essential for many people during a New Year’s Eve party. If your party is more formal, consider having a strictly gold and silver theme for decorations so they look more put together.

You can even add in a festive backdrop for your guest to take pictures and create memories that will last a lifetime. You can also hang up a blank piece of paper on the wall for your guest to write down their New Year’s resolutions and goals.

Plan the menu

If you don’t plan on serving a full meal during your party, ensure that you do have food and snacks on hand. You can have a set menu made before the party to ensure that you have all of the items made on time, or you can even go with simple finger foods. Snacks like veggie and dip, pretzels, chips, mini pizzas will do the job. Be sure to also include sugary and sweet snacks like cake, macaroons, candy, and cookies to satisfy your guests with a sweet tooth. Another good idea is a potluck style party, which will ensure a variety of different dishes and it’s also budget friendly! A little tip to save on some money is to shop right after the Christmas holiday where there will be lots of amazing deals on party food, decorations, and dinnerware.

Think about drinks

You can’t have a New Year’s Eve party without champagne! Be sure to have plenty of bubbly on hand. Also, consider having other beverages like beer and wine for those who don’t enjoy champagne. You can also make it a BYOB to save some money and allow your guests to have alcohol that they enjoy that you might not be providing. To add a little extra fun, you can create your own custom cocktail tailored to your party for your guests to enjoy.

Be sure to have drink options for those who don’t drink alcohol. Drinks like pop, water, and even Shirley Temples will be good to have on hand.

Source your playlist

Having good music is crucial to having a good New Year’s Eve party, next to champagne. You can ask all of your guests to give you two of their favourite songs when they RSVP, which will allow you to create a custom playlist with all of your guests’ favourites! You can also look up a playlist of the top hits of the year to bring back some memories. You can even take it to the next level and hire a DJ who can take song requests from your guests which will make it even more fun.

Plan games

Games are a great way to break the ice and get the party conversation started. A game like “highlights of the year” is a good way to get your guests engaged and excited. To play the game, write questions like: best song of the year, best movie, most embarrassing moment, most memorable trip, etc. on card or paper stock. Put all the cards with the questions on it in a glass bowl and pass it around your group. Each guest will pick a card, read it aloud and give their answer. Then throw the cards back in the bowl and pass it around again! It’s a great method to hear about everyone’s favourite memories from the past year.

You can even make your own New Year’s Eve photo booth with fun props. It will give your guests a fun memory to take home with them!

The special midnight countdown

A New Year’s Eve party isn’t really a party without planning a countdown at midnight. Give your guests noisemakers and poppers to create some excitement. You can turn on the television to watch the ball drop or even do your own version of it. You can have confetti cannons or pop balloons full of confetti right at midnight to make your party a little more special and will add to the fun and celebration.

Party favours

Party favours will add some fun to your party and make it more special for your guests, and who doesn’t love party favours? Plan something thought and fun for your guests to take home, and wish them luck for the new year. You can create fun bags of fortune cookies to wish your guests “good fortune” for the coming year. Even care packages for the next day are fun as well because we know some of your guests will be exhausted from activities from the previous night. Fill small bags with things like vitamin C, Aspirin, and coffee to gives your guest a boost of energy the next day.

Put these tasks on a checklist to help you throw an unforgettable New Year’s Eve party for your friends and family. You can also use this checklist for other parties through the year and adjust it to the occasion!

If you’re looking to throw your party and can’t find the right venue try Château Le Jardin Event Venue function hall located in Vaughan. With over 38,000 sq. ft. of beautifully appointed banquet hall that provides fine catering services for all types of events, including but not limited to, weddings, anniversaries, conferences, seminars, and holiday parties! They even have event coordinators, highly trained staff, entertainment and decor services to ensure that your party will be what everyone is talking about for a long time. To learn more about the venue, contact Le Jardin here.