If you’re in charge of planning the annual Christmas Eve party, you’ve got more than just presents and stockings on your mind. Organizing a menu, selecting decorations, and entertaining your guests can be overwhelming, but a creative and cohesive theme can keep you on track and make decision-making simpler. Skip the standard Christmas fare and get inspired by these out-of-the-box party ideas.
International Christmas
If you have an adventurous palate, a Christmas-Around-The-World theme lets you delve into a variety of different menus without creating kitchen havoc. Forgo a main course in favor of several appetizer stations. Each table represents a different country with food from that culture. For example, a “Christmas in Italy” table might feature mozzarella, basil and tomato skewer and miniature calzones while your “Christmas in Thailand” table offers guests shot glasses of ginger carrot soup and Thai shrimp toasts. Create food labels with the country’s flag in the background and play traditional Christmas music in different languages.
Christmas Costume Party
Who says costumes are strictly Halloween fare? Indulge your guests’ inner children with a festive holiday-themed costume party. Invite guests to dress up as their favorite winter- or Christmas-related character or item. Guests might opt to don classic Mrs. Claus attire or they might think more abstractly and come swathed in cotton to represent a Nor’ Easter. Reward the most creative costume with a stocking full of small party gifts like ornaments or candy canes.
Cookie Competition
Add a little friendly competition to a traditional cookie swap with a cookie competition party. Each guest brings a tray of her most prized signature cookie. Guests then taste each cookie and vote for their top three favorite via secret ballot. You could also break down awards into categories, like Best Decorated or Most Christmas-y. The winning cookie baker walks away with a kitchen themed prize like an electric mixer or cookie press. For an added treat, ask guests to bring a copy of their cookie recipe to the party and compile the recipes into an online recipe book that guests can access after the festivities are over.
Indoor Summer Party
Put a spin on the famed “Christmas in July” theme by hosting a summer-inspired Christmas Eve party. Invite guests to bust out their favorite summer shorts and tanks, crank up the heat or woodstove and offer guests a set of flip flops upon arrival. Serve shrimp cocktail, coconut chicken, fruit salad and other island-themed fare in lieu of the standard ham and roasted potatoes. Add a tropical touch to your regular Christmas decorations: wrap your tree in leis, pin fake flowers on your stockings and invite your kids to stack coconuts to make coconut snowmen as centerpieces.
Hannah Tello - I am a high school English teacher and freelance writer from New England. I received my undergraduate degree in English from Mount Holyoke ...
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