With the festive season in full swing, your thoughts have no doubt already turned to how you are going to welcome in 2018 on New Year’s Eve. Want an exciting, memorable evening that will impress your friends and family? Fear not! Catawiki has it covered with our fail-safe tips on how to throw your own perfect soirée. The devil is in the detail, from the invites to the drinks, so start next year as you mean to go on as we show you how to throw the perfect New Year's Eve party.
The Invitations
Set the tone for the evening by taking the time to send individual invitations. Our diaries can be saturated by social media invites at this time of year and nothing goes down better than a personalised invite providing details for the evening. You could even go all-out by hand-making your invitations using card, a simple design and handwritten information. Don't forget to include your name, contact info, the time, location, dress code, and theme, if applicable. Which brings us to...
The Theme
A theme is a great excuse to get dressed up and get people in the mood for celebrating. Looking for inspiration? We have a few suggestions up our sparkly sleeves which might inspire an evening of elegance and sophistication: If you fancy hosting an evening 'shaken, not stirred' a Bond theme is always guaranteed to add the luxe factor. Or for some mystery and intrigue, try a masquerade party where everyone must wear a mask or disguise. Or instead of reigning in 2018, why not throwback to 30 years ago and have a 1988 or 80s theme? Whatever theme you choose, ensure your guests come dressed to impress and make sure you build the party around the theme by picking suitable decorations, activities and other accessories to match.
The Music
Cram your party playlist for the evening full of music classics. In recent years vinyl has spun its way back into our lives. It even outsold digital downloads in the UK in 2016. Ditch your usual digitally compressed, downloadable tunes and opt for the more resonant sounds of vinyl on a vinyl player or even a jukebox. You can capture your crowd’s attention with nostalgic tunes, movie soundtracks or even your recent chart toppers - whatever you think will get the party going. On Catawiki you can find a wide range of vinyl records, jukeboxes and record players.
The Games
Keep your guest's smartphones firmly in their bags by initiating some mid-evening games during the lead-up to the countdown. You could start with the classics like charades or 'two resolutions and a lie' where everyone states 3 resolutions that they intend to make, except one is a lie, and then the rest of the group has to guess which is not true. Or if perhaps you need something to keep a more intimate group of adults and children entertained, go for family-favourite boardgames. Monopoly is a failsafe crowd pleaser, and so is Snakes and Ladders or Mousetrap.
The Food and Drink
At this last hurrah of the year, everyone will be looking forward to the continual flow of fizz and an abundance of good food. Finger foods served on napkins might be wise if you're expecting a lot of guests or if it's a sit-down dinner, choose something hearty but not too heavy like soup and salmon. Be prepared to cater for a few different dietary requirements and remember to save some food for after midnight when guests might start to get peckish once more. But what about drinks? Our guide to matching different bottles of Champagne with any evening dish can make this process a breeze. Choosing the best Champagne has never been easier! Choose charismatic champagnes with some delicious dishes and snacks, and you will be guaranteed to host an evening of flavour some frivolity. If you are looking for a rare and unique Champagne to wow all your guest with we recommend you to take a look at our weekly Champagne auctions. All bottles are hand-selected by our team of wine auctioneers.
The Countdown
Throwing an international affair? Why not set some of your clocks to different time zones so each guest can celebrate their own country’s New Year when it rolls around? For example, Greece’s 2018 will have started 2 hours before the UK and 1 hour before the Netherlands and Denmark. But when it comes to the countdown of the country you're in? Put a televised countdown on in the background and get everyone counting down together. Enjoy lots of hugs, toasting and singing, and this will be a great way to kick-start the year ahead.
Visit our weekly auctions to be inspired for your New Year's Eve party where you'll find everything from what to wear to what music to play. And why not make getting rid of some of your old collectables one of your new year's resolutions? Selling on Catawiki is a great way to make some extra cash while clearing out your attic at the same time. We're always looking for rare, unique and unusual objects so become a seller and start selling in the new year. We can’t wait to see you in 2018!
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