Weddings/Events

The Best Holiday Party Planning Tips

5 ways to make your holiday party the merriest
I'm Kari!

Wedding planner, designer, photographer and creative entrepreneur who helps curate epic events and sparks joy for clients through curated photography art. Let's hang and chat!

hey there

Get My Free
Venue Guide

Gimme that

Sharing more about my personal life, products I love + books I'm reading and daily habits.

TOp categories

Spilling the tea on business and everything I've learned over the last 9+ years as well. 

Check out our prints, our process and why we started the shop and more!

Get inspired with our wedding designs and all the details. Whether it's color, neutral palettes, traditional or very non-traditional. Plus lots of wedding planning tips!

5 Things To Know To Host the Best Holiday Party Ever

Happy holidays, friends! We are finally at the end of the year and at the end of this decade! Isn’t that so crazy to think about! Here at Feathered Arrow, we specialize in wedding planning but I’ve loved sharing my other planning tips with you this year. Whether you were planning a Thanksgiving party or even a birthday party, I hope the tips were helpful to you! To wrap up the year (get it?!), I’m sharing my top 5 tips to planning the best holiday party. 

5 ways to make your holiday party the merriest

 Set Your Guest List

The holiday season can be such a hectic time, but your holiday party shouldn’t add to the stress. I suggest keeping the guest list on the smaller side only inviting your closest friends and family members. Keeping your gathering on the smaller side allows people to mingle and truly wind down and not feel overwhelmed.  

Create a Festive Playlist

One of my top tips to planning any party is to set the mood with a great playlist. I’m a firm believer music can totally make a party. Luckily, there are so many different covers of holiday songs these days it’s easy to make a great holiday playlist. You can go all classics, add a country vibe or mix it up and combine classics with modern twists. 

5 ways to make your holiday party the merriest

Deck the Halls

Tis the season to decorate! Don’t be shy about the merry touches you can sprinkle around your place. This doesn’t stop at the décor your guests can see; you can also add holiday touches to your menu. Rice crispy Christmas trees and holiday cookies are always a hit.  And for a drink, consider a delicious spiced cider to serve your guests. Bonus points: it’ll make your place smell so incredible! 

5 ways to make your holiday party the merriest

Create Memories

While planning your holiday party, it’s also a great idea to plan a way for guests to interact. Consider hosting a white elephant or Secret Santa gift exchange for your guests to participate in. Another fun idea is an ugly Christmas sweater party or holiday cookie decorating! Whatever you plan, make it low key but pack on the fun. 

Celebrate!

This is the most important tip of them all. Be sure to take a moment away from the kitchen and planning to simply celebrate being with your friends and family. The older I get the more I realize just how important friends and family are and how fleeting these moments together can be. The holidays are all about being with loved ones and being grateful

And that’s it, friends! I hope these tips were helpful to make your holiday party a hit! If you want more holiday party tips, check out an earlier blog post here. If you want a few tips on other ways to rest up before the New Year, check out this post here! 

Feathered Arrow Signature Kari Dirksen

LATTE OBSESSED, CHRONIC OVERACHIEVER, OUTDOOR GIRL, SUCKER FOR LIVE MUSIC, DONUT FANATIC, LIFE LONG GREY'S ANATOMY FAN + DOG MOM. 

Expert Party Planner, Podcaster, and Creative Entrepreneur.

I'm a creative entrepreneur at heart and have been running my business for over 10 years and have planned and executed over 150+ weddings. I'm an expert in this industry and care deeply about my clients and making sure they have the best experience. I just launched a podcast with my work wife, Gabby Pinkerton of Cause We Can Events, called Just Another Biz Podcast! Go check it out!

Learn more

Did you just get engaged and wondering how the heck you should budget for the big day? Download my free guide to help you lay out a budget and how to plan for your big day.  

TOP RESOURCES

TOP RESOURCES

Download HERE

Take Me to the blog

Before You Go, Don't forget we have free stuff!

If you're looking for free tips to get started planning your dream wedding, head to this blog post for a round up of all our secrets and best planning advice.

© Feathered Arrow Studio 2014 -2023. All rights reserved. | Legal | Design by TONIC

@featheredarrowstudio

Planning epic celebrations + curating one of kind weddings since 2014. 
Los Angeles based but open to travel!

Feathered Arrow studio