4 New Year’s Eve DIY Party Tips

There are many things to consider when planning a New Year’s Eve party. What food will you serve your loved ones? Will you try to cook everything yourself or will you hire a catering company to take some stress off? Will you host the party at your home or in a restaurant? What about your linens? Will you try to be crafty and make them yourselves, or will you rush out to the party store to get some?

Personally, I love a good DIY party. I go all out! I plan the menu at least two weeks in advanced and try to find ways to revamp the recipes to fit a healthier lifestyle. Instead of serving cocktails, I look up mocktail recipes and try to find flavors that compliment the meal.

As for linens, despite being a designer, I prefer to not be that extra and either use what I have or purchase a set or two from Amazon. Below are four tips for the kindred spirit DIY party planner.

1) Select a Location and Time
Whether it be in your home or at your favorite restaurant, location is key. I always try to be considerate of my guests and pick a centralized location. I have one brother in West Chester, uncles in Brooklyn and Princeton, and family on Staten Island. Normally we meet at my home in the LES since it is relatively central and has the most options for mass transit for our relatives from out of town.

2) Select a Menu
Your menu items should be determined by the selection of your dinner style. You can choose to have either a mocktail party, buffet, family style, or sit down dinner. I prefer a sit down dinner for the Holidays, however for New Year's since it feels more like a marathon event, I serve a sit down dinner initially, and then have a buffet set up of snacks for guests to munch on throughout the evening.

3) Plan the Evening
Here are some ideas: are you going to watch the ball drop on tv? When will you serve dessert? Before or after the New Year? Will you have live music or a DJ? Will you play games with your guests?

A popular New Year’s game to play is to try to predict what your friends’ resolutions for the year are. This handy PDF print out from RealSimple, has a list of fill in the blank questions. All your party goers have to do is fill out their answer, place their cards inside a box or hat, and then try to guess who wrote what. You may be surprised at what your friends have written down for the new year.

4) Have Fun
Prepare properly because planning an event has many aspects to it and can be challenging. Some people underestimate the amount of work it is to do a party on your own (I know I usually do, so I normally enlist the help from my family to keep the ball rolling so to say). Try to remember to take a deep breath and have fun at you party. Be present in the moment and enjoy ringing in the New Year with your loved ones.

From the LadyCat Fashion family, to yours, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 2020 is not only the ringing in of the new year, but of a new decade. Take the next few days to reflect on how you would like your decade to roll out and try to set new goals for yourself.