Tips for Organising the Perfect Year-End Party

The celebrations don’t end once Christmas is over. In just about a week after we welcome Santa into our homes, we have the end of the year to deal with.

We love New Year’s as it always represents a brand new start. But before we can ring in 2019 we’ve got to give 2018 the send-off that it deserves.

That means it’s party time!

So how do you create the perfect year-end party for you and your friends? Just follow these simple steps.

Get a Good Mix of Italian Wine

Your party will include all sorts of people, which means you’re going to have to buy plenty of drinks to cater for every taste.

Of course, you have the traditional year-end drinks. A good sparkling white wine will do the job here. Prosecco is the obvious choice, but you may want to give Franciacorta a try too. We’d also recommend having a few lighter Italian white wines to serve throughout the party.

If you’re going to serve food and have a more relaxed affair, a few reds won’t go amiss. However, we don’t recommend them if people are going to be up and dancing throughout the night.

Tell People Nice and Early

The end of the year is always one of the busiest in terms of social events. People have plenty of friends and family to see, which means you’ve got to get in nice and early if you’re going to have a chance of getting plenty of people to come to your party.

Thankfully, you don’t have to go the route of sending fancy invites out anymore. Just head onto Facebook and create a Group Event. Invite all of the people you want and the job’s done. You can check back with the group to get specific numbers closer to the day so that you know what you need to order for the party.

We recommend getting the invites out a couple of months in advance. It’s likely that most people will receive a few invitations for the end of the year, so you want to try and get yours in first if at all possible.

Of course, you may have a few friends who aren’t on Facebook. Send them a call or text message to let them know what’s going on.

Encourage People to Bring Their Friends

It’s the end of the year, so the more the merrier at your party!

Encourage your invitees to bring their friends along as well. This is an especially good move if you’re arranging a party as part of some fundraising efforts. The more people you can get to come, the more money you’re going to make from the event.

Create a Great Music Playlist

You want to get people up on the floor and dancing, which means you’ve got to create an awesome playlist of music.

New Years is a time to break out the classics too. You have a lot of people, possibly of many different ages, coming to the party. We recommend a playlist that mixes in a few modern tracks with some well-known party tunes that get everybody up and participating.

And of course, you have to include Auld Lang Syne. Make sure you time it so that it plays after the clock strikes midnight.

The likes of Spotify even provide ready-made playlists for you to steal from if you don’t feel like making one of your own.

Speaking of the music…

Get a Good Sound System

In an ideal world, you’ll be able to hire a DJ so you can benefit from their sound set up. They’re also going to be able to create a playlist for you, which takes another worry out of your hands.

However, if there’s no DJ around, you want to get as good a sound system as possible. As strange as it may sound, consider buying a sound bar for the event. Yes, you’ll usually use these to create the illusion of surround sound when watching TV. But plugging your phone into the bar allows you to use it as a big and booming speaker that’s ideal for your party. It’s louder than most standard Bluetooth speakers and it delivers a far higher quality of sound.

Ditch the Formalities

There’s always that early period in a party where people start arriving and shuffle around awkwardly.

If you make the event too formal, you’re only going to make that period more awkward. Instead, go for making things fun right off the bat.

It helps if you can get a few people to arrive early and help you with the set up. That means that there’s already a good group of people who’ve gotten the party started by the time other people start to turn up.

Choose A Theme

You may want people to stick to a theme during the party. After all, dressing up is fun and there’s no better time to do it than during your party.

If that’s the case, you have to let people know about the theme well ahead of the party. Make it a prominent part of the invitations and group event so that everyone knows what they need to do.

Leaving this too late means you’ll get a bunch of people turning up out of costume, which can make you look slightly ridiculous.

Keep the Food Simple

Finger food is the name of the game when it comes to a New Year’s Eve party. You don’t want anything too heavy and complicated. Light snacks that complement your Italian wine choices are the way to go.

Make sure you offer a few vegetarian options too. A good mix of savoury and sweet is also recommended so that people can create their own servings and eat at their leisure.

The Final Word

You may have to go into panic mode if you’re only just arranging your Year-End party now.

But with these tips, you should be able to pull something together. Most importantly, just remember to have fun with it all.