How To Host an Elegant New Year's Eve Party At Home
With the year drawing to a close, it’s time to start planning ahead for a luxury New Year’s Eve party filled with delicious food, decadent drinks and a decorative backdrop that’s elegant yet festive. This festive season, treat your guests to a dazzling experience and create the perfect setting for celebration and joy.
In this guide, we’ll provide tips for hosting a New Year’s Eve party at home – with inspiration for themes, activities, music and décor. Whether you want to throw an event that’s spectacular and bold, or you’d prefer something a little more intimate and understated, you can create the New Year’s party of your dreams.
In this guide, we’ll provide tips for hosting a New Year’s Eve party at home – with inspiration for themes, activities, music and décor. Whether you want to throw an event that’s spectacular and bold, or you’d prefer something a little more intimate and understated, you can create the New Year’s party of your dreams.
Theme and Decorations
Deciding upon a theme for your New Year’s Eve party at home will make it easier to plan your decorative scheme and menu. Your theme doesn’t need to be complicated – in fact, simplicity is very often the key to elegance. You might like to choose a colour scheme and go from there, or perhaps choose an interactive theme such as a masquerade ball or a ‘Roaring Twenties’ celebration complete with jazz records and art deco details.Once you’ve chosen a theme, it’s time to get creative! Here are some suggestions for enhancing the sophistication and glamour of your event:
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Create stunning visual centrepieces: Decorative bowls such as Waterford’s Irish Lace Bowl can be filled with crystal ornaments or natural objects such as pine cones, seed pods and rose petals to create beautiful centrepieces.
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Decorate with seasonal blooms: Bouquets of fresh flowers will add colour to your home. Fine crystal vases are best for creating exquisite floral displays – for a look that embodies timeless style and contemporary elegance, the Ocean Mastercraft Wave Vase is a lovely choice.
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Add flair with balloon garlands: You can arrange balloons in arch shapes over doorways and mantelpieces, or create celebratory balloon wreaths in colours to match your colour scheme.
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Hang shiny curtains:Foil fringe curtains make excellent backdrops for photos, plus they’ll give your party an added element of verve and whimsy.
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Light candles:Scented candles will create a twinkling sea of soft light for your guests to enjoy. String lights can also generate an intimate atmosphere, perfect for illuminating the smiling faces of your friends at midnight.
Food
For a truly outstanding party, it’s important to serve beautifully presented, quality food. Your menu plan will depend on the theme and style of your party, and whether you want your guests to sit down at the dinner table or you’d prefer to let everyone circulate as they graze on hors d'oeuvres.Let’s take a look at some delicious food options to suit different party styles:
formal dinner party
If you love cooking and want to treat your friends to a proper sit-down meal, a dinner party is a sophisticated option for welcoming in the New Year.Here are some tips for serving a memorable and scrumptious meal:
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Prepare ahead of time: The more you pre-prepare, the less time you’ll need to spend inside the kitchen on the big night. Dishes such as lasagna and stews are great choices, as they can be prepared the day before and reheated in the oven.
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Stick to your strengths: Try to stick to dishes you’ve cooked before, rather than overly ambitious recipes.
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Use the best ingredients: Fresh, organic ingredients are essential for a winning dinner party. All the best chefs in the world know that great cooking isn’t possible without quality ingredients such as free range meat and locally-sourced vegetables.
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Decorate your table:Take the time to set your dining table with beautiful dinnerware, glassware and cutlery. To create a truly stunning table setting, Waterford’s Lismore Black Decorative Plate will provide that show stopping wow factor – perfect for serving cheese, fruit or decadent cakes.
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Charcuterie boards: Use wooden chopping boards to create attractive platters of cheese, nuts, bread, crackers, dip, deli meat and other savoury snacks. Dessert boards piled high with strawberries dipped in chocolate, brioche, brownies and mini cupcakes can also be served.
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Fondue: If you have a fondue set, this could set the tone for your entire evening with a Sixties theme. Freshly baked bread served with oozy cheese fondue will keep everyone entertained and well-fed.
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Bite-sized finger foods: For cocktail parties, it’s a good idea to serve food that’s easy to pick up. Good examples include mini quiches, rice paper rolls, sushi, satay skewers, mini burgers and arancini balls.
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Impressive desserts:You can enhance the ‘wow factor’ at your event by presenting your desserts as a visually stunning centrepiece. Mini cupcakes can be arranged on beautiful cake stands, or you could even consider building a profiterole tower.
Cocktail soiree
You might prefer to host a party where your guests can move around and help themselves to an array of appetising treats. Here are some ways you can keep your guests nourished in between dancing the night away:Drinks
Designing a unique cocktail menu and choosing glassware that’s in keeping with your theme will take your New Year hosting to the next level. Plan ahead to make sure you have enough wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks available, and make sure there’s enough ice to keep everyone’s drinks chilled.The drink most commonly associated with New Year’s Eve is champagne. There’s just something about the pop of the cork and the fizz of the bubbles that generates a festive atmosphere where people can truly let their hair down.
When you’re drinking French champagne, it’s essential to serve it in a champagne glass that’s designed for maximum enjoyment. Waterford’s Marquis by Waterford Markham Flutes provide the clarity and weight needed for serving premium champagne, for a party that will be remembered fondly.
This year, why not get creative by building a champagne tower? The Lismore Arcus Coupe champagne glasses are perfect for creating theatre and opulence with a cascading waterfall of champagne.
For those who love mixing cocktails, Waterford’s Mixology Circon Cocktail Shaker is a must-have. If you’re hosting a New Year's Eve party with a glamorous and glitzy aesthetic, crystal barware such as the Lismore Nouveau Pitcher will provide the perfect finishing touch.
Activities and Entertainment
The great thing about hosting a New Year’s party at home is you get the chance to play games and have fun. Here are some creative options for entertainment to keep everyone in high spirits:-
Set up a photo booth: By installing a sparkly background and giving your guests a Polaroid camera to play with, you can have fun all night – plus you’ll end up with cute snapshots of the merriment! Consider also supplying a box of props such as hats and wigs, so people can get creative with their party portraits.
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Party games: If your friends enjoy card games, you might like to consider hosting a poker or blackjack themed New Year’s event. Other fun activities include charades and murder mystery games.
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Hire a professional DJ: Music is an essential element of any successful party. This year, you might like to consider hiring a professional DJ to keep the dance floor packed long into the night.
FAQ
How do you throw a great New Year’s Eve party in a small house?
Hosting New Year's Eve in a small house is possible as long as you keep your guest list under control. It might help to send out formal invitations, and politely ask your guests to RSVP ahead of time so you know exactly how many people to expect.Floor space is important for parties. Consider moving some bulky furniture items (such as armchairs or coffee tables) into the garage so your guests can walk around and dance with ease.
You’ll also need to make sure that food and drink is easy to access. This could be a matter of providing multiple platters of food in different locations, so people can always grab a snack. If you have a backyard, consider setting up party lights and a stereo (and perhaps also a marquee) so the party can spill outside.