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Christmas is the season of celebration and it often feels like once it gets to about the 10th December every night is party night. As much as I love attending parties, I adore to throw a good party right here at Thrifty Towers….on a tight budget, of course.
How To Throw A Budget Friendly Christmas Party
Booze
It is no longer frowned upon to issue a BYOB with your invitation however it is always the done thing to make sure you have an appropriate amount of alcohol for your guests – we usually provide all the hard stuff and a small amount of wine and beer etc. and guests seem happy to bring a bottle.This is where we start to look at budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl. We’re huge fans of Aldi wines (which have won all kinds of awards) and we’ve picked up some brilliant wine in Lidl over the past few weeks – they currently have a drop of Pouilly Fume which is reasonably priced considering how well it compares to more expensive wines from elsewhere. We rarely buy anything other than own brand spirits. Now I’m not talking value level paint-stripper style but the mid range spirits are really no different than the big brands and you could easily knock £10-£15 off the price of a bottle.Punch or vast pots of mulled wine and cider always go down well and no one need know you have used cheaper ingredients. A big bubbling pot of something festively scented and delicious tasting will always go down well as long as you’re generous with ladling it into glasses.
Food
We love a dinner party or feeding friends but when it comes to a large Christmas party we look to keep food to a minimum. Our parties tend to start after 8 so hopefully most people will have eaten a meal before coming out, meaning we don’t have to serve vast quantities of filling food, rather keeping it to nibbles and something to soak up alcohol.
So many parties feature a sad little buffet in the corner which is largely ignored and ends up in the bin.
A great cheese board always goes down well and you can put something together on a very limited budget if you’re thoughtful about your choice of flavours.Easy to graze on items seem to hit the spot more than something like a sandwich – something like these spicy cinnamon chickpeas are festive, interesting and tasty without feeling too heavy.
Music And Activities
When it comes to music Youtube is your friend baby! Create a great playlist of your favourite Christmas tracks and hit play. I created this Christmas music Youtube playlist and another Christmas carol and hymns playlist.
Some parties are activity friendly and some aren’t – know your audience. Move your furniture about to allow for both comfortable chatting and mingling.
Decorations
The best Christmas party we ever threw was a ‘decorating party’. Our friends pitched up with a small decoration each and we spent the evening munching cheese, hanging our Christmas decorations and drinking wine to sounds of our favourite Christmas carols.If you’re looking to have the decorations all done in time for the arrival of your guests don’t worry about spending a fortune. If you have access to a printer you can print out some beautiful free printable Christmas decorations (actually I put together this post about free Christmas printables just last week) and once you look past the tacky stuff in the cheaper shops I guarantee you’ll find a few nice items under £2 which in the right setting will look utterly beautifully. Think simplicity.And after all that remember your guests are there to spend time with you. Don’t worry about perfection just make it easy, fun and a relaxed way to celebrate.
Follow A Thrifty Mrs’s board Thrifty Christmas on Pinterest.
This is the 9th post in my series 12 Thrifty Days of Christmas
Day 1- Who, Where When?
Day 2 – How to set a Christmas budget
Day 3 – How to manage your family’s Christmas gift expectations
Day 4 – 36 homemade gifts you’ll be proud to give
Day 5 – How to make extra cash for Christmas
Day 6 – 20 homemade food gifts for Christmas
Day 7 – Should you ditch Christmas traditions to save money?
Day 8 – 34 Free Christmas Printables
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