I need some ideas for an adult Christmas party we are going to be hosting. It is for my husbands co-workers, who he does not know very well, and their spouses -who we don't know at all. Most of them are younger than we are - early thirty's.
Do we play games? If so what kind?
Any suggetions would be greatly appreciated - thanks!
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I wouldn't worry Nancy. The mere fact that you volunteered to have everyone into your home speaks volumes to everyone on staff. Be sure to enjoy yourself as well.
Thanks for all the advice. I think the games will be out. I already have the music ready - thanks to all the music suggestions from here, I now have a really eclectic assortment of Christmas music.
The food will be hor d'evours, alcohol ad non-alcohol beverages.
There is going to be very few peole here- 15 or less - probably should have mentioned that in the first post. It will likely turn out to be more of a come and go.
I am quite nervous about it all and wondering what the heck I was thinking suggesting that we have the party here! Well it certainly should be interesting meeting all the staff!
If it is a crowd you are not familiar with then I would avoid 'organized ' games. Some may be offended, bored, bothered etc. I would leave a deck of cards out as a teaser for those who volunteer themselves to play.
Jazz music, cocktails, appetizers and conversation will keep an unfamiliar crowd happy.
We had a party at our Restaurant last night for a local company and they had a gag gift exchange or you could bring something useless or broken and wrap it up. DON'T do that we had to toss all the junk out after hardly anyone took it home what a waste of wrapping paper and I think some people were really insulte by thegifts given.
I personally do not like games. I agree with looking4ideas. Play some great music, good food and save the games (if you really have to) for another time when you know the crowd. I really do not like feeling like I have to play games at a party. Personally, it drives me to the door....but that may be just me. I recently went to my DH's staff party and they did the $5 gift exchange which seemed to take over the whole evening. I knew few people on his staff since he is new there and it was really LONG. Once the dancing did get started people were ready to go home....kind of dulled the party in my opinion.
DS said his Staff party they had a Poker Tournament and he said it was a lot of fun. Most had never played before and of course it was just for chip no money involved. They had 3 tables but that would depend on your group size as they had 6 per table. I love the "Ice Breaker Game" I have played that many times and we are doing it at our party and everyone knows each other but I have done it at a party that we knew noone and it was a great way to start conversations. The host tried tomatch the name up with the person and their interests. For example my DH was Gordie Howe and he then had an evenings conversation with the other Hockey dads.
I don't like organized games at all when I am with a group I'm not familiar with but since these are co-workers they will at least have a passing aquaintance with one another.
I'm a fan of games. Just simple ice breaking games. I organize all the games at almost all the parties I go to and they are always a hit!
Personally I am not a fan of organized games for adult parties. IMO they just interfere with the natural flow of conversation. If, on the other hand, you want to do [I]something[/I] that will get conversation flowing in a natural way and break the ice, I have one suggstion. As each person arrives, tape or pin the name of a famous person on their back. Authors, politicians, movie stars, fictitional characters - for example. The idea is for the person to guess who is on their back, so to speak, by asking questions of others at the party. The others are meant to give hints ...for example. The name on your back is Barack Obama and the hints could be... "American politician" , "recently won an election", "will be moving in January", "grew up in Hawaii" etc.
This way people can be enjoying the lovely music, food, drink, etc and not end up sitting all by themselves because they aren't confortable starting a conversation with someone they don't know.......
I don't think I'd plan to play games. Get some sophisticated Christmas and jazz music to play in the background, make some nice appetizers and serve some wine (Loblaw's has a great non-alcoholized sparkling wine for those who don't drink). Then, if you're going to have a sit-down dinner, this recipe is fabulous -- [url]http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/4941/beef-tenderloin-with-red-wine-sauce.html[/url]. You can get the beef tenderloin from Costco. If you're doing a buffet, then choose things that are easy to eat on your lap.