09 Dec 11 A New Year’s Countdown to Midnight Party

Before we even discuss the planning of a countdown to midnight party, you need to inform your guests that it’s happening. Send out New Years invitations; let your guests know of where it’s happening, when, and what they should expect.

All of the ideas listed here are designed for an adult party, but they can be adapted for teenagers or children.

A themed party makes it easy to mingle.

The Introductions: When people arrive at your party, they may need some incentives to talk, mingle, and socialize. Not everyone is rip-roaring ready to start partying. A theme, however, such as costumes or adult masks, can easily break the ice for your guests – it gives them something to talk about.

Of course, party favors are also useful icebreakers for guests, especially if each bag of party favors contains something different. Guests can swap and share them with each other.

As for the food and drinks, encourage people to contribute to the party. Cooking and hosting can be expensive, but if everyone helps out, it becomes more of a community process. All of your guests add their own flair to the night.

The Pre-Midnight Party: Let your guests float about your party, allow them to mingle with ease, and always keep the food and drinks stocked. The time after introductions and before the countdown, it’s perfect for forming friendships and bonds with people.

Continuing along with the idea of a theme, you could hand out puzzle pieces with the party favors. Tell everyone they must then find their matching puzzle piece, which is contained in someone else’s bag. This forces people to talk, discuss, and move about the party. Plus, people can meet someone new.

The Countdown to Midnight: By now, people should have mingled, met friends, taken embarrassing pictures, and had all sorts of fun. They should be in a merry mood, ready for the final countdown to a new year. And this is where a New Years theme party really kicks off.

Make sure to hush everyone during those final moments. Get a big clock traditional clock ready for everyone to watch. Build up the anticipation. Countdown those final moments, getting louder with every passing second. When the final second ticks, allow all hell to break loose. Then enjoy the rest of your evening.