We’ll cut to the chase: yes, holiday parties are very different this year, but that doesn’t mean you have to completely ditch the team celebration. You also don’t have to skip out on planning a fancy holiday outfit—any excuse to get dressed up these days, right?
To kickstart your digital bash, we tapped celebrity event planner, Mindy Weiss (the woman behind nearly every Kardashian/Jenner extravaganza), to share five ways to ~virtually~ host a festive fête this year.
“1. Choose a theme. If you feel overwhelmed, it helps to focus on one theme. (It’s a nice way to pull all your thoughts together.) For instance, a candy cane design—your colors can be red and white. Everything you include then fits that theme and color palette. And when celebrating on Zoom, the palette will really pop!
2. Get creative with decorations you already own. Open the cabinets in your home and create a Christmas wonderland with everything you already have. Pulling out all your holiday pieces is a great place to start if you don’t want to go with a full-on theme.
3. Consider a baking or cooking class. When everyone is at home for the holidays, host a Zoom baking class for cookies or a guided cooking class. You can even host multiple days and create a virtual cookie exchange, where each day a different family member pre-shares the ingredients and recipe to their favorite holiday treat. The guests then bake together and share their masterpieces in a virtual cookie exchange.
4. Host a Zoom holiday house tour. When your family or team members are all gathered together on Zoom, ask each household to give a holiday house tour to show off their decorations and explain the details. To add a level of competition to the family or work fun, you can vote on the most creative, best use of decorations, and who did it best for a playful holiday game from afar.
5. Share a holiday playlist. Host a virtual holiday dance party and ask guests to send in their favorite song selections in advance. Then ask the family members or coworkers to guess who suggested which song.
Most importantly, stay safe and still honor your traditions. Don’t miss out on celebrating, even though it looks a little different this year.”
If you’re looking for more virtual games to amuse your guests, here’s a starter list:
Scattergories: Pick a letter and five categories, and each player has 60 seconds to submit a word that fits each category. You can download the free version here.
Heads Up!: Download the app on your phone and play via Skype or Zoom. If you haven’t played already, it’s a blast and so funny to rewatch each round.
House Party: Once you download the app, there’s a selection of games to choose from.
Trivia: Test your random facts knowledge with a round of good ole trivia.
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