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Hosting the Ultimate New Year's Eve Party: A Handy Checklist, 2023

Yashika Tangri
November 27, 2023
15
min read

New Year's Eve is probably the most exciting event of the year (at least for some people). Whether you are hosting a sit-down meal or a large party in a club, a New Year's party needs proper planning to make sure you end the year (or begin the new year) on the right note.

There are a lot of things to plan and consider. And the earlier you start the better.

We thought this would be the perfect time to initiate this discussion with a perfectly curated New Year Eve's party checklist. Enjoy!

A. What is a New Year's Event party?

A New Year's Eve party is a celebration that usually takes place around the end of December or the beginning of January. These events could be for anybody your clients, colleagues, friends, or even family and can look different in different places and companies.

If you are hosting a New Year's Eve for your clients and audiences, it should reflect the values of your organization.

For example, you can make it organized and grand by booking a venue and giving out New Year's Eve tickets. If your goal is to foster a culture of employee self-care and encourage mental health and wellness, you may give out gift certificates for wellness activities. 

B. What are the different types of New Year's events?

You have two best options to host a New Year's Eve Party. Either choose to organize a New Year's Eve party on December 31st and count down until the clock strikes midnight, or you can organize a daytime event on January 1st.

There are a whole lot of concepts you can choose from for the event. Typically, most people are in party mode these days and it is pretty common to go for drinks at one venue to get into the festive mood and then move to a different place in the evening for the main event.

If you don't want to go hardcore and party all night, a daytime party on December 31st would be the best option for bonding and getting into the holiday spirit.

Whichever option you choose for your organization, there are still a few different types of events you need to choose from:

1. In-person event

A common and electrifying way to organize an in-person event is to throw a party or book an exclusive venue to usher in the New Year. All you need to do is put together a guest list, organize catering and drinks, decide on the entertainment and activities, and finally roll out the New Year's Eve tickets.

You could do the following at your event:

  • Invite a popular DJ
  • Get a live band playing classic holiday hits
  • Host a magic show
  • A surprise visit from Santa! 

In-person parties are great opportunities to let the audience know be it your clients, employees, friends, or family, that you appreciate and value their presence in your life. You can also prepare a touching speech or curate an audio-visual to flash significant moments of the year.

If your budget is good enough, you can also go the extra mile to show your appreciation and prepare small gifts for everyone or you can even organize a Secret Santa gift exchange beforehand.

2. Virtual event

Even if your guests are from different locations, you can still host an exciting New Year's Eve party. Yes, meeting up in person has a different feel, but even hanging out online and staying connected can mean a lot to people in isolation, especially around winter holidays when our emotions run high.

Virtual events would be the best in these situations. These events can be as engaging and exciting as an in-person event if you know how to plan it well.

Some of our favorite activities to include are Music Mashup, Mixology classes, virtual karaoke experience, guessing the audio/visual, or giving space to the attendees to showcase their talents.

3. Hybrid event

Hybrid events are ‘the way of the future' with many people working remotely and staying afar. These events combine in-person interaction with a virtual aspect where there is an opportunity for both in-person attendees and people at home to enjoy a shared experience.

C. Why should you host a New Year's eve party?

New Year's Eve parties are not only for fun but they can help in many ways. Here's  how:

1. Nurture relationships

Whether it is for friends and family, your employees, or your customers, a new year's party is a great way to bond to nurture relationships. With games, activities, and touching speeches, you can build the foundation for strong and lasting relationships.

2. Build engagement

If you're looking to build connections or engage your customers and employees, a New Year's Eve is a great way to bring these people together and be close to your brand. If you manage to engage and impress them well, they would naturally promote your brand and event on social media building visibility.

3. Team building

Employees with close friendships at work tend to feel less stressed and more positive about their work environment. Company parties and team-building events help to foster these relationships

4. Company culture 

Near Year Eve parties can contribute to your over culture as employees will feel appreciated and motivated. A positive culture is the key to making employees happy and satisfied. 

5. It's fun! 

Holidays, festivals, friends and family get-togethers New Year's Eve parties are probably the most enjoyable events of the year. From loud music to great food and cocktails, it is one of the most effortless and fun ways to celebrate and create beautiful bonds and memories.

D. How to Host a New Year's eve party

A group of people having fun at a New Year Party

Here is how you can organize the most exciting event of the year:

1. Choose your New Year's Eve party theme

New Year's Eve themes can range from superheroes to old Hollywood. The theme that you choose will depend on many factors, but remember to tailor the theme to your audience. If the party is for adults you can go with an over-the-top theme with cocktails to match and if it is for children you need to think about how to keep the kids entertained. 

If you are unsure of what theme to put up, you can create an audience poll and leave it up to them to decide.

Here are some exciting themes to consider for your New Year's Eve party-

a. Masquerade party

These parties never go out of style and are usually quite formal. You can supply attendees with masks or ask them to bring their own. Choose a venue with ample space for a dance floor and use a black, gold, and green color scheme to make the theme come alive.

b. Decade party

Add a fun factor to your New Year's theme party by throwing a flashback party, dedicated to the 70s, 80s, or 90s. Decade parties can be a fun costume-oriented idea that encourages attendees to get creative and reminisce on some of their favorite moments in pop culture history.

c. Eco-friendly party

Head start your New Year with a firm resolution to be more eco-friendly. Start by hosting a party with eco-friendly decorations and tableware, along with organic and locally grown foods. To complement the theme, you can also purchase champagne and wine from a local vendor, in addition to sending guests off with party favors from a local shop.

d. Hollywood themed party

Who doesn't like the glam and glitz of Hollywood? Let your guests have their own Red Carpet moment by hosting a Red Carpet with photo opportunities along with a fancy cocktail hour before the big countdown.

e. New Year resolution costume party

This is a unique and fun party theme where you have your guests come dressed as their actual New Year's resolutions. This would make an ultimate costume party. Let your guests know the specific details when you send out New Year's Eve Tickets and invitations.

f. Midnight brunch

The only acceptable time to host a midnight brunch (besides Christmas Eve of course!)  is during New Year's Eve. Invite your guests over for a midnight supper surrounded by your favorite breakfast and lunch foods. 

2. Select your venue

Do you need a large hall or a smaller venue like a restaurant or a bar would work better? The size of the venue will depend on the number of guests you are planning to invite.  Also, don't forget to consider the weather conditions as it is cold during this time in most places.

Remember to ask these questions when looking for the perfect venue-

  • How many guests can the venue fit?
  • How accessible is the venue?
  • Does it have WiFi set up for virtual components?
  • Will it offer sound equipment for music?
  • Will the theme you've chosen match the venue? For example, if you're hosting a champagne party, does the venue have an alcohol permit?
  • What time should a New Year's Eve party start?

A New Year's Eve party for adults typically begins from 6-8 pm, but for a children's event, you may want to begin earlier.

3. Choose games and entertainment

Card game

New Year's Eve parties are all about fun, and for that, you need games and entertainment. New Year party activities depend greatly on your event's theme and attendee demographics. But there is one thing that goes well for every kind of event and audience great music! Book a popular DJ or a fun band to make the event more lively and fun.

Here are some ideas for entertaining activities that you can plan:

  • Year-in-review trivia
  • New Year's Bingo
  • Champagne relay race
  • New Year's photo booth
  • Name that tune (best songs of the year)
  • Piñata
  • Countdown to the ball drop
  • Karaoke

4. Pick the party food

 Food and beer

Food is one of the most important elements in any event. New Year being all about fun and games and food you can afford to mess this one up. You can come up with exciting, thematic ideas for your food and beverages, but make sure to keep your audience's dietary needs and preferences in mind.

Depending on when your event begins and the size of the event, you might arrange small bites or arrange food bars rather than preparing a full sit-down dinner. If you are planning on hosting a virtual event, you get recipe kits or food delivered to your guests before the event.

Here are some interesting ideas for New Year's Eve party menus:

  • Milkshake bar
  • Themed cocktails with alcohol-free options
  • Dessert bar
  • Mini versions of classic food (e.g., burgers, pizzas, hot dogs)
  • Food trucks outside the venue
  • Fondue bar
  • Popcorn, candy
  • Bagels and spreads for midnight brunch
  • Caviar and raw bar
  • Ice cream sundae bar

5. Set up your budget

Work on setting a budget

Once you are done with the planning of the theme, venue, and food, you can start drawing your budget. Whether you are looking to raise money for charity, organize a raffle, make a profit for your business, or simply cover costs, your budget will be the ultimate deciding factor for new year's Eve tickets.

Partnering with sponsors or collaborating with other brands can help you to procure food or beverages. You can also approach local vendors and caterers and promote ‘go local' by negotiating a deal. If you're running on a tight budget, assign your team members to make your decorations or look into buying materials in bulk to get a discount.

6. Generate your New Year's Eve party tickets

An event ticket

New Year party promotion begins with a good event listing and party tickets. To roll out your New Year's Eve tickets, make sure to include the following details venue address, date and time, and some exciting information about what kind of fun guests can expect.

💡Pro Tip: A professional ticket generation software like Ticket Generator can help you create new year's Eve tickets easily with the option to customize and design your tickets.

7. Set up New Year's Eve tickets prices

Tickets signboard

After considering all the things mentioned above, you can now set a ticket price that should cover your overhead costs and still raise money for charity or profits. Depending on the audience and type of your event, you can offer different kinds of New Year's Eve tickets, such as VIP tickets to provide a more exclusive experience.

You can also start by offering early-bird prices at lower ticket prices for attendees who buy tickets earlier on and then gradually increase the prices as the event approaches.

8. Promote your New Year event

Facebook logo

As long as you promote your event well, people will turn up for your event and you can even sell out tickets. To begin with, promotion begins with:

  • Create posters and carousels to post on social media
  • Create targeted social media ad campaigns aimed at audiences
  • Create a landing page with all the important event descriptions to make it easy for people to buy tickets online
  • Partner with influencers and other brands to get your event more visibility and attention
  • Set up a drip email campaign
  • Begin as early as you can to keep the buzz on stay on people's minds for a long time
  • Set up event distribution to convert potential ticket-buyers faster

E. Roll-out the best New Year's Eve party with Ticket Generator

New Year's Eve is a big event. And remember that you are not the one hosting it. There are hundreds of events going on the same day. If people choose to come to your event leaving other parties, you have to make it worth their time and money. You cannot simply afford to mess up.

One of the ways to ensure your event runs as smoothly as possible is to trust Ticket Generator a ticketing software for events. Some of its best key features include:

  • Allows you to create multiple New Year's Eve tickets in bulk
  • Allows users to create and customize their mobile landing page with a registration form
  • Offers a unique QR Code generation where your event coordinators can validate tickets using their smartphones
  • Preventing unauthorized entries with QR codes
  • Offers event analytics to help you analyze how your event performed

Sign up now to get your first 10 tickets for free!

Yashika Tangri

Yashika Tangri is an amazing marketing manager who operates from Trycon Technology's Noida office. Her name signifies success and fame, and she has certainly lived up to these expectations.

At work, Yashika is a highly efficient digital marketing organizer and a source of inspiration to her colleagues with her positive demeanor and professional work ethics. Despite being a lifelong student of science, Yashika decided to pursue a career in marketing in 2018.

After work hours, Yashika enjoys creating new playlists on Spotify, and she is an avid reader who finds solace in escaping reality through the pages of mythology books.