The Best Way to Celebrate New Year’s Eve

In my younger days, two of my good friends and I decided that we were going to ring in the New Year in Las Vegas. We bought our plane tickets, booked the hotel, and met up at the slot machines (we’re high-class like that).

Considering I’m the type of person who likes to do, oh, other things besides gamble, I was having a hard time pretending to have fun. Come New Year’s night, as we waited for 2 hours to get into an empty party that we had paid $300 to attend (!!), I learned one of my biggest life lessons: NewYear’s Eve is totally overrated.

It didn’t stop me from planning other New Year’s Eve getaways, but after every trip, I left with a feeling that I’d been cheated somehow. For me, the worst part was the countdown, when, after hugging my one or two friends, I’d realize that the rest of the people I really wanted to celebrate with were back home.

Maybe you already knew about this NYE fallacy, but I tend to be a late bloomer on matters like these. Now, I like my New Year’s Eve celebrations to remain low-key, with my good friends around, and enough champagne to last the remainder of the night. It’s always way more fulfilling, with the built-in bonus that they’re easy on the wallet.

So, my suggestion for the best type of New Year’s celebration is to throw a house party, with the help of your good friends and a few simple things:

1) MUSIC PLAYLIST
The music you play will set the tone for your party. Do you want it to be a night of conversation, one of dancing and debauchery, or maybe a little of both? Your music will inspire your guests to go either way—it’s up to you to decide.

Don’t throw a bunch of your CDs in a corner by your stereo and expect the right combination of songs to magically start playing. And nope, a simple iPOD set up with all your albums playing in a row isn’t good enough either. You should make a playlist—at least 5 hours worth of songs. Once you get going it’s really fun and easy to do. If you don’t want to deal with this part or just don’t have the time, assign the music part to your DJ friend. Music, like your guest list, will single-handedly make or break a party.

2) SIGNATURE DRINK
It’s a New Year’s party, so there should be a choice of champagne or sparkling cider at the very least. And, it’s always a little fun to throw in a subtle theme for your soiree by coming up with a signature drink. Not only is it a great way to offer a drink to your guests, but it’s also a great conversation starter for strangers who might bump into each other at the punch bowl. Plus, when you provide a signature drink, you can make it a BYOB occasion for anyone who wishes to go their own way and save some money.

3) MAKE IT A POTLUCK
I’ve never been to a dinner party where even half of the food was eaten (ok, except for Thanksgiving). So, I say don’t waste your time or money overdoing it with the entrees. Make it a potluck and have your friends each bring a dish. Or, just serve appetizers and finger foods to keep everyone satiated through the night.

4) HATS, HORNS, and OTHER KNICK KNACKS
You can never get adults to wear them for kid’s parties, but for some reason, everyone will wear the hat on New Year’s Eve. And they’ll blow the horn and all that stuff. So don’t leave out this small detail. Go to your dollar store and check out their selection of party goodies. They might even have disposable champagne glasses and a bunch of other things that’ll add a little more fun to the party.