Party Ideas by Shindigz

Elegant or Casual?

Everyone, at one point or another in their life, strives to host an amazing party.  Those parties often fall on or around holidays.  Once you’ve decided which holiday you want to create and amazing party for, you can decide whether you want it to be fun and casual or a bit more elegant.  Mind you, occasions such as St. Patrick’s Day are not always the best holiday to throw an elegant party for.  If you want a bit more elegance, try New Year’s Day (or Eve), Valentine’s Day, or Christmas, maybe even Halloween.  Halloween could also be a holiday for which you throw an amazing casual party—other holidays in this category could include Cinco de Mayo, the Fourth of July, and Earth Day.  You could even create an amazing party for lesser-known holidays, like National Dog Day, National Ice Cream Day, and Sweetest Day.

Now that you’ve chosen not only your holiday, but also whether you want to throw an amazing casual party or an amazing elegant party, you can start selecting your decorations.  Many decorations can work for either an elegant holiday party or a more casual holiday party.  Let’s tackle the elegant decorations first.

Amazingly Elegant Holiday Party

Hosting an elegant holiday party does not mean you have to procure fine china.  “Elegant party” does not always equal “sit-down dinner”.  You could provide snacks for your guests and supply beverage napkins and small dessert plates for them to use.   Don’t make all the snacks sugary and sweet.  Do add some healthy treats, too, especially if you offer bubbly, sweet beverages to your guests.

The beverages you serve can also reflect what type of party you’re hosting.  For an elegant holiday party, choose sparkling water or sparkling juice, so guests can use champagne flutes—this will uphold the feeling of elegance and create a sense of sophistication among your guests.  In order to add to not only the elegance, but also the decorations, look into personalized bottle labels.  This way, you’ll have a clearly labeled bottle that will appear as though it was created for your amazing holiday party.

Holiday Party Favors

Moving on, just because you want your party to be elegant does not mean you should leave balloons or favors out.  Whether you decide to have small standing tables for guests to gather around or larger tables for guests to sit at or even just your coffee table and end tables, every table needs a centerpiece.  These centerpieces can be made up of small balloons at a lower height (for the larger tables or your coffee table) or simply a glass cylinder filled with colored stones.

When you start to think about favors for an elegant holiday party, remember that edible favors are always a great idea.  This could be your chance to let the creative bug bite you.  Whether you decide to create personalized candy bars or lollipops or bake a little something extra and go out of your way to find, say, small picture frames to fill with thank-you-for-coming cards, you can put together a small favor bag for each of your guests so they have a way to remember your amazing holiday party.  The favors could also be holiday-appropriate, too.  If you’re hosting an elegant Christmas party, get crafty with some paint and empty Christmas ornaments—make an ornament for each guest, write the date in small print around the top of the ornament, and you have a wonderful favor that your guests will see each year.  For a more elegant Halloween party, create a larger treat bag with the classics: decorated sugar cookies, mini chocolates, and maybe homemade caramel apples (in their own bag inside the treat bag, of course).  The possibilities here are endless; you just have to find the right fit to your amazingly elegant holiday party.

Casual and Fun Holiday Party

Certain holidays make for easy casual holiday parties.  St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and the Fourth of July are examples of holidays you’d be much more likely to create a casual party for—and understandably so!  Many of the holidays that fall into the “casual party” mindset fall during the warm-weather months; many people hear “Fourth of July” and think, “Hey, why not have a barbecue with the family?”

Those same small dessert plates and beverage napkins that were suggested for your amazingly elegant holiday party would be perfect for a fun, casual holiday party, also—especially for a party at which there are more snacks than actual food.  If you decide to host a backyard barbecue for your holiday party, full-sized plates are necessary.  As far as snacks go for a casual holiday party, this is the time you can fill bowls with potato chips, pretzels, and other salty snacks.  You can then balance out those salty snacks with cupcakes, cookies, and other classic desserts.

Because it’s a casual holiday party, you could make a fun, tropical punch for your guests.  Also, fill a metal tub with ice and stock up on water bottles and maybe even bottles of root beer and other types of soda.  This is another fun way to include those bottle labels and give your guests reason to think your holiday party is that much more amazing than others they’ve been to.  These labeled bottles can also be used as favors or decorations.  Decorations are a lot easier for a casual holiday party.  It’s also easy to find decorations and favors that are specific to each holiday.  By using those holiday-specific decorations and favors, a bit of stress is lifted off your shoulders so you can focus on the fun of the party.

Whatever holiday you choose, whether casual or elegant, throwing an amazing holiday party is easier than you think.  All the details are at your fingertips!  Once you’ve planned and hosted one holiday party, you’ll want to plan more—what better way to get your family and friends together than for an amazing holiday party?  Let your creative juices flow and plan away!