Throw an Amazing New Year’s Eve Party With These Fun Ideas
Pop, fizz, clink! It’s time to break out the bubbly and toast the arrival of a new year. To help you plan the most memorable NYE celebration, here are some of our most loved New Year’s Eve party ideas. It’s your one-stop spot for everything from theme ideas and decor to games, food, and drinks. Cheers!
Themed New Year’s Eve Party Ideas
If you’re thinking about hosting a themed New Year’s Eve party this year, you’re in luck. Here are some of our favorite ideas for a themed bash that’ll get your guests talking, along with New Year’s Eve decoration ideas for each theme.
Gatsby Glamour
Design: Inspired by Luly Yang
Take it back to the Roaring 20s with a Great Gatsby-themed NYE party. Transform your space into a sophisticated, glamorous hangout with ostrich feathers and glistening gold foil curtains as a backdrop.
Invite guests to join you in their most glitzy 20s-style outfits, or opt for a sophisticated black tie dress code instead. Create that timeless atmosphere with warm lighting, classic cocktails, and a retro-inspired playlist.
Romantic Elegance
Design: Laura Bolter Design
Transport your guests into the New Year with an elegant, romantic soirée. Decorate with gorgeous pastels — think blush, lavender, and peach — with sparkling accents on your centerpieces and room decor.
Create a stunning photo area with a pastel Happy New Year banner, plenty of metallic or iridescent balloons, or a floral wall backdrop. Lay on a feast of scrumptious canapes and desserts, or stage a sophisticated sit-down dinner instead.
Decade Themed Bash
Design: Signature Greenvelope
Ring in the New Year with a decade themed bash for a fun twist. This idea is even better when entering a new decade. Invite your guests to dress up and join you for a party based on your favorite decade (90s party, anyone?). Or keep it open and ask them to wear the fashion of their favorite decade.
Continue the theme with a neon wall or table display featuring a year in events timeline. Transform this into a game and have your guests guess which order they go in to win a prize. Complete your party with a decade themed playlist, retro party games, and fun party favors to take home.
Brunch at Midnight
Design: Signature Greenvelope
Who doesn’t love brunch? Forget the traditional champagne dinner and host a brunch at midnight for your holiday party instead! You can add sparklers on top of champagne cupcakes to celebrate the New Year.
Treat your guests to delicious pastries, plus a mix of other hot and cold brunch favorites. Serve up freshly squeezed juice, fruity cocktails, and mimosa. Continue the brunch theme with fabulous fruit centerpieces. You could have fruit dipped in chocolate and dusted with edible gold.
Black and Gold
Design: butter London
Keep it classic this New Year’s Eve with a black and gold color scheme. This is one of those timeless New Year’s Eve party themes that never goes out of style.
Deck out your home in banners, balloons, and centerpieces in this winning color combination. Accessorize with metallic gold foil balloons that spell out “Happy New Year” to your guests as they arrive. Complete the look with glam gold tableware and gold star confetti.
Costume Party
Design: Colin Cowie
End the year in a playful way with a costume party. We love this idea to celebrate New Year’s Eve as it’s the perfect way to get a little more use out of those Halloween costumes you’ve worked so hard on.
Send out themed digital invitations and encourage guests to dress up in their favorite costume. Keep the options open or get more specific and ask people to come as superheroes, villains, princesses, or literary characters. Welcome everyone to the party with a brightly colored balloon arch, complete with giant golden balloons on either side.
Pajama Party
Design: Jamie Alexander
Celebrate the New Year in a cozy, relaxed way and host a pajama party for your closest friends. This New Year’s Eve party idea is perfect for catching up with your pals while you enjoy comfort food and a good movie.
Accessorize your space with plenty of cozy blankets, warm lighting, yummy snacks, and throwback tunes. Schedule a viewing of your most loved movie before midnight, then grab some confetti poppers to ring in the New Year in your PJs!
Party Games and Activities
A party just isn’t the same without a few games. Add some of these activities to your New Year’s Eve party for an event your guests will love.
Watch the Ball Drop
It wouldn’t be a New Year’s Eve party without watching the famed Times Square ball drop. Keep your eye on the countdown as midnight approaches and tune in to see everyone celebrating together in NYC as the clock strikes midnight. Toast in the moment with bubbly, noisemakers, and confetti poppers.
Photo Booth
New Year’s Eve parties are perfect for mingling and catching up with people you haven’t seen in a while. Use this as the perfect excuse to capture some fun memories with a DIY photo booth. Set up an area with a glitzy backdrop and use photo booth props to snap some hilarious photos with your loved ones.
Cocktail Mixing
Want to give your guests something to do while they wait for the big moment? Bring in a professional or rope in a friend to give everyone a mixology masterclass. Have some finger foods to pair with your drinks and have a contest for the best cocktail creation.
A Year in Trivia Game
Every year is memorable — some more so than the rest. (Um, 2020, we’re looking at you.) Recount the big moments and surprising events of the last 365 days with a year in review trivia game. Split your guests into teams and see who knows the most about the year that’s about to pass.
Karaoke
New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to let go and sing and dance the night away. Step it up by plugging in a karaoke machine and powering it with classics from the 80s right up to the present day. Make sure you’ve got some speakers, disco lighting, and a mini dancefloor so everyone can bust a move.
New Year’s Resolution Wall
Challenge your guests to make a resolution and create some fun wall decor at the same time with a New Year’s Eve resolution wall. Ask your guests to write down their resolutions or goals and pin them to a board. At the end of the night, take a photo and keep it to look back on at the end of the next year.
Board Games
Sometimes the best New Year’s Eve parties are the chill ones. If that’s what you’re all about, get cozy with a collection of board games to see you through until midnight. Ask your friends and family to bring their favorite games to share with everyone.
Delicious Food and Drink
Your guests will need some fuel if you want to keep them awake, alert, and happy for that midnight moment. Take a look at some of our favorite New Year’s Eve food and drink ideas for inspiration.
Champagne Bar
There’s nothing more classic than a glass of bubbly for a midnight toast. Encourage your guests to get creative by setting up a fun champagne cocktail bar, with different flavorings and garnishes they can add to their drink. Not a champagne lover? Recreate something similar with your favorite spirits, or create a hot chocolate station for guests instead.
Glitzy Cocktails
Give your New Year’s Eve party cocktails a little extra sparkle by adding edible glitter. This is a fun way to surprise your guests, plus they look amazing glistening under the light. Decorate your fizz and non-alcoholic drinks with colorful cocktail umbrellas, stirrers, and delicious fresh fruit.
New Year’s Eve Appetizers
Unless you’re hosting a formal dinner party for NYE, you’ll want to keep refreshments light. Serve up a collection of tasty appetizers for your guests to enjoy alongside a selection of dips, crackers, cheese, and fruit.
Bite-Sized Classics
Bring some American classics to your New Year’s Eve party by serving up mini versions of these tasty favorites. Lay out plenty of sliders and individual portions of fries as well as small cups of mac and cheese, mini pizzas, and other fun finger foods.
Holiday Cookies
We love holiday cookies during Christmas, but they’re perfect for a New Year’s Eve party too. Swap your Christmas trees for champagne flutes with this easy sugar cookie recipe that’ll result in yummy cookies for your guests to enjoy.
Fondue
Add some warmth to your New Year’s celebration with a hearty fondue. Gather your friends and family members around the pot to enjoy a cheesy feast, or swap it for chocolate for a dessert version. (Or do both!) Create a spread with marshmallows, strawberries, and graham crackers for guests to dip and enjoy.
Potluck Dinner
Swap your buffet feast for a cozy potluck dinner for a more relaxed vibe at your New Year’s Eve party. Ask your guests to bring their favorite side dish or dessert, while you prepare a delicious choice of mains for everyone to taste. This is a great way to involve all your guests and discover some tasty new recipes.
Throw a Sparkling New Year’s Eve Party This Year
It’s nearly time to say goodbye to this year, but there’s still plenty of time to make great memories at your New Year’s Eve bash. Whether you have a full-on feast or easy finger foods, tasty cocktails or alcohol-free drinks, you can usher in the New Year however you like. Plan party games and karaoke, or settle down with a movie and board games — whatever you decide, you’ll have fun sharing those special moments with the special people in your life.
