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Your guide to planning your New Year’s Eve party

The New Year’s Eve party. Always filled with so many expectations and high hopes. For organisers and hosts, it’s the marathon of parties. You have to keep guests entertained and fed while keeping the drinks and fun coming into the early hours of the morning.

It takes some careful planning and a whole lot of inspiration. And that’s what we’re here for. Here’s our guide to New Year’s Eve party planning essentials and some fun ideas:

Timing is everything

As we said, a New Year’s Eve party is more of a marathon than a sprint. So you want to be sure you’re pacing yourself, and your guests. The start time you choose for the party is very important for setting your guest’s expectations – and helping you plan food, drinks and entertainment.

The earlier the start time, the more variety you’re going to have to pack into your evening. On the other hand, if you go for a later start time – such as after dinner, you’re immediately setting the expectation that your guests will be arriving for a razzle rather than a sit down meal. Decide what will work best for you, and use that as the starting point for your planning.

Feed the troops

Just having dinner and then hanging around until the countdown may work for some (especially those with a very well-stocked bar) but it’s always better to plan provisions throughout the evening.

Varied bite-sized snacks are always a good idea for New Year’s Eve parties – plan options that offer a diverse range of tastes and textures. Not sure about you, but we are definitely always perked up by the prospect of an interesting new snack to try, even at 11.30pm.

Think sliders, tartlets, breads and dips, skewers, pinwheels and platters. And don’t forget the all-important midnight snack which will keep your guests going into the early hours – especially if it’s a sugary dessert (champagne can do this too, but we’ll leave that decision up to you).

We offer a wide variety of catering equipmentand serveware for everything from sit-down dinners to buffets so you can be sure whatever food you serve, looks amazing.

Designate a dance floor

If there’s any time to be hitting the dance floor, the final moments of the year are definitely it. If you’re hosting the party at home, make sure you consider where your guests will be able to loosen up without worrying about knocking over your grandmother’s porcelain vase.

Alternatively, consider setting up a marquee with flooringin your garden to extend the party space – perfect for balmy summer nights. By offering a dance floor you also need to make sure you have a sound system that’s loud enough. Few things will clear out a New Year’s party faster than trying to get a dancefloor going while blasting music from a distorted little speaker.

Plan some activities

Not all parties need group activities, but it’s a good idea to have some in your back pocket should your guests start fading by 8.30pm. If you’re not keen on games, try to make your food and drinks stations a little interactive. DIY cocktail or dessert bars and piñatas are easy hits (pun fully intended).

Going big this New Year’s Eve? We’d love to help you plan your big New Year’s bash. From marquee hire to catering equipment and event accessories, we do it all and have many years’ experience working on events of every size and type. Get in touchwith us for a custom quote.