New Years Eve Party Ideas
30th December 2013, 03:02 PMI loved finishing off the year with a New Years Eve Geometric Bling Bash with my fun friends at the TODAY show.
Personally, I am normally asleep before the ball drops these days, but if you are a party animal and want to throw a NYE party, you’ve got to make it super fun, memorable and ramp up the entertainment to the max. Some fun ideas on the blog today and you can also watch my first NYE segment on TODAY show, just click HERE.
THEME
The first thing that I do when planning a party is come up with a theme, this sets the whole tone for the party and you can plan everything around it. Involve some dress up requirements ie: wear gold, always a great way to shake up the party, plus theme your food, decorations, games, it’s all in the details. Get creative with ideas and names for your party, some fun NYE ones could include Pop Fizz Clink, Keep calm and count down, A Mid Summer Nights Dream, Shine Bright Like a Diamond!
I’ve gone with NYE GEO BLING BASH, as I love to bling everything, and geometrics are still really hot right now – arrows, geo patterns, and even chevron (although I am moving on from it). Gold is such a classic timeless colour and it screams party so I’ve woven it into all elements, decorations, food and entertainment and added black as the accent colour.
I pulled this together in a day as the Christmas season was very busy, so you can do amazing things with little time, just gotta get creative.
WOW DECORATIONS
BALLOONS
You want people to know there is a rockin party going on the minute they walk in the door. You can find very inexpensive and quick ways to do this. One party item I think is a must, for both it’s looks and it’s price is the party balloon, but with a twist! Some really fun ideas I found on Studio DIY include confetti balloons, hand painted balloons, giant balloons with year cut out underneath, and mini balloons for drink decoration.
Photos courtesy of www.studiodiy.com
BALLOON BAR
Why just pop the bubbly at midnight when you can pop balloons too… and shower everyone with confetti while you’re at it! Set up a balloon bar where guests can fill balloons with confetti in all varieties, fill them up and then pop as the ball drops! Love this idea from Studio DIY.
BALLOON BAR Supplies
Clear Balloons
Balloon Helium Tank
Confetti – don’t fill up too much or wont float
Funnel – a party hat can work
Trims and Ribbons for tying balloons
Jars and Other Containers for Display
Pins for Popping
Just before midnight, make sure everyone has a pin in hand to pop their balloon in celebration!
SPRAY IT BABY!
It’s amazing what a touch of spray paint can do to turn an ordinary household item into extraordinary in one spray. For just $7 you can transform glassware, cake stands, candles, cardboard boxes, paper decorations, vases, the list is endless! And it’s QUICK! These NYE letters are from Typo for just $10 and I sprayed them with gold spray paint from Bunnings and then sprayed them with craft glue spray then sprinkled them with glitter. If you have older kids, they can have fun doing this!
GARLAND / BUNTING
You can create some really unique and striking bunting / garland out of paper or even bowtie noodles! I picked up some glitter paper from Hot Dollar and cut the triangle shapes out and attached onto some fishing line with some double sided tape. You can also make tassel bunting with tissue paper (DIY here) or buy the kits from Love the Occasion. My favourite ideas I found on The Gold Jellybean was this cute glitter bowtie pasta garland, divine!
ENTERTAINMENT
This is a critical element to the party. Christmas is all about the food and family, NYE is all about letting your hair down and partying. So have lots of interactive fun elements to make your party come alive.
PHOTOBOOTH
It’s been the year of the selfie and the photo bomb, so let your guests go wild with a DIY photobooth. Backdrop can be colourful sheet on the wall, or paper craft, streamers, balloons, anything you want. Then it’s all about the props – hats, feather boas, glasses, DIY cut outs or I actually saw some at the Reject Shop!
MUSIC
Organise a great playlist ahead of time with 3 to 4 hours of rockin tunes. You can even play a game NAME THAT SONG where you play the first few bars of a piece of music and the guests have to guess. This is also fun with kids songs if you are at home with little ones.
GAMES
Yes, some games can be tacky if you don’t have kids, but there really is a big kid in all of us. Just have a few up your sleeve even if you don’t use them. A good way for guests to start mingling is the famous couples game, where they get a famous person’s name on arrival with their opposite on it and they have to fun to find them: Brad Pitt will have to find Angelina! First five couples to find each other win a prize!
FOOD
I’m always a big fan of small bite sized food for events and same goes for NYE. If catering is not your thing, outsource, work with the party planning that you love and outsource what you can. I always outsource a few items, and a feature cake for major parties is one of the main things as I think they make such a fantastic signature piece and I never have time to meticulously bake and style. The fabulous geometric cake on set was kindly created by A la Roch, cupcakes by Get Frosted and gold chocolate coated oreos by MY Sweeties. A Midnight Snack Bar is also a great way to look after your guests. You can create little snack bags and a table of treaties so they can fill their bags at midnight!
A huge thank you to everyone for being so supportive and wonderful and making my 2013 such a fun year. A special big thanks to all the beautiful contributors that have been so incredibly kind in providing product, services and support, I would NOT be able to do it without you. I hope you all have a wonderful NYE, whether you are having a quiet one like me or carving it up on the dance floor until all hours, ENJOY! And if in doubt, pull out the Gold Spray Can!!
NYE PARTY IDEAS VENDORS
Styling and party creation by Sugar Coated Mama
Geometric cake and custom topper by À la Roch Cakes & Sweets
Cupcakes by Get Frosted
Chevron sequin table cloth and black sequin backdrop by Any Occasion Events
Tassel gold/natural bunting/garland, chevron straws, Confetti goodie bags by Love the Occasion
Chocolate coated Gold Oreos by My Sweeties
Gold Pinatas by Party Pony Designer Pinatas
NYE glitter letters – Typo You will have to spray paint them gold and then sprinkle glitter on them.
Giant Balloons by Balloonaway
Robert Gordon Pottery Cake Stands from Leo & Bella
Gold gum balls and rock candy sticks from Little Big Company
Gold Spray Paint from Bunnings