When it comes to Christmas, does the following picture come to mind: we are wrapped in blankets, holding hot cocoa, sitting by the warm fireplace, and watching the snowflakes falling outside. This year, why don’t we break the routine and have a wonderful outdoor Christmas party. Next, we will bring you eleven Christmas ideas to make your backyard Christmas party happy and memorable.
1. Choose a Fun Christmas Party Theme
Christmas is an important time to create wonderful memories, and choosing the right outdoor party theme can make the event more fun.
a. Ugly Sweater Party
Invite guests to wear the ugliest Christmas sweaters, preferably those that are fancy and funny, the more exaggerated the better. To increase the interactive fun, you can organize an ugly sweater fashion show and set up a “ugliest sweater award” to invite everyone to show their creative dresses and see who can win the most laughter and applause!
b. The Nutcracker Theme
Place several statues of the Nutcracker at the entrance to the backyard, and use red and gold as the main colors in the decoration. In order to make guests feel more involved, encourage everyone to prepare costumes related to the Nutcracker story, such as ballet skirts, Nutcracker Prince costumes or other classic character costumes. Short interpretations of the Nutcracker story or ballet performances can be interspersed in party activities to let everyone relive this classic fairy tale together.
c. Masquerade Party
Choose a spacious area in the backyard as a dance floor, and let each guest wear exquisite costumes and masks to enter. In the middle of the party, you can set up a dance competition, where everyone forms a group of two and challenges the classic ballroom dance. In the end, everyone on the scene will score and select the most popular group to award prizes.
2. Prepare a Great Dinner for the Party
Christmas dinner is a key factor for a successful party. If you still don’t know how to prepare, you can refer to our carefully designed menu, which has everything from appetizers, main courses to drinks and desserts, we hope to inspire you.
Appetizers
Creamy Stuffed Mushrooms
Grilled Vegetable Kebabs
Parmesan Brussels Sprouts
Christmas Cheese Ball
Holiday Chicken Salad
Main Courses
Christmas Prime Rib
Tangy Honey Glazed Ham
Lauren’s Apple Cider Roast Turkey
Beef Noodle Casserole
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Drinks
Peppermint Martini
Classic mulled wine
Cinnamon Orange Latte
Cranberry Sparkling Water
Apple Cider Sangria
Desserts
Easy Yorkshire Pudding
Cheese Puffs
Apple Crumble Trifle
Christmas Cup Cake
Classic Gingerbread Cookies
This video includes the production methods of some of the above dishes. If you want to know the specific ingredients and steps, please refer to the detailed tutorial in the video.
3. Give Your Dining Table a Festive Touch
A table with harmonious colors and exquisite decorations can effectively enhance the festive atmosphere and stimulate appetite.
You can use a red tablecloth as the base, woven placemats and tableware with old-fashioned Christmas patterns to create a strong festive atmosphere for the table. Stack a Christmas tree-shaped napkin on each plate and tie it with a red ribbon as the finishing touch of the overall decoration.
Place a few mini Christmas trees or cardboard Christmas houses in the center of the table, and place some small holiday ornaments such as snowmen and Christmas bells around to highlight the visual effect of the center. To enhance the atmosphere, choose candy-striped candlesticks or a few high and low scented candles. The soft light and fragrance interweave to create a warm and romantic dining environment.
4. Make Your Outdoor Space More Comfortable
When holding a party outdoors, comfort is important. Fire pit or campfire is a must-have for winter outdoor parties, providing warmth and creating a unique winter atmosphere. You can gather around the fire pit, relax and chat, or make some fire pit delicacies such as roasted marshmallows and roasted potatoes.
Cushions can increase the comfort of seats and avoid discomfort caused by sitting for a long time. And soft blankets are the perfect weapon to resist the cold, wrapping the body and bringing extra warmth. In order to cater to the theme of Christmas, we can choose cushions and pillows with red or green as the main colors, which are both practical and rich in festive atmosphere.
If you are worried that weather changes will affect the party, you can prepare patio umbrellas and gazebos. They can not only effectively prevent rain, snow, and sun, but also block wind to a certain extent, providing guests with a comfortable activity space.
5. Make the Most of Festive Decorations
To create an unforgettable Christmas party, we need to make full use of holiday decorations. By cleverly arranging Christmas trees, Santa Claus statues, etc., you can turn your backyard into a Christmas wonderland and immerse every guest in the cheer.
a. Classic Christmas Trees
Whether it is a natural pine tree or an artificial one, they are the central element of the Christmas atmosphere. To make it more appealing, you can tie a warm scarf around it, tie a big bow on the top of the tree, hang some shiny little bells, and decorate it with colorful fairy lights.
b. Inflatable Santa Claus
Inflatable Santa Claus is a creative outdoor decoration. It expands due to air injection and swings in the wind, which is very vivid. Usually with bright colors and rich patterns, it can quickly attract people’s attention and become the focus of the backyard.
c. Hanging Snowflakes Decoration
If you like snowflakes, or live in a place without snow but want to create a winter wonderland, hanging snowflake decorations is a good idea. You can buy ready-made snowflakes, or DIY them with your family then hang them on tree branches to create a dreamy atmosphere.
d. Oversized Yard Jingle Bell
Oversized Jingle bells break the conventional decoration form, very eye-catching and full of fun. Whether it is warm gold, shiny silver, or classic red bells, they are ideal for adding charm to the party.
e. Reindeer light
Reindeer light will light up your party with magical light, adding warmth and fantasy to your night. It is the perfect decoration to instantly fill the party with Christmas magic.
f. Christmas Candy Cane Light
Christmas Candy Cane Light, with its cute candy cane shape, can add a strong sense of childishness to the party. They are generally designed to be playful and can create a joyful atmosphere.
g. Christmas Waterfall Light
Christmas Waterfall Lights creates a waterfall-like visual effect with its flowing lights.They are very suitable for hanging on the tree or pavilion in the backyard, which can not only light up the entire space, but also bring a romantic holiday feeling. You can also create a unique Christmas light and shadow effect by matching light strings of different lengths and colors.
6. Set Up the Perfect Outdoor Photo Corner
The perfect Christmas themed photo corner will become a highlight of your party, helping you capture unforgettable moments and leave precious memories.
First, choose an area suitable for setting up the photo corner, such as the entrance of the backyard or a corner near the fence. Hang exquisite Christmas wreaths on the wall or fence to become the photo background. Then, choose classic red, green or metallic balloons to increase the lively sense of the entire space. If the space is large, the balloons can be arranged into a curved arc door frame.
Christmas stockings are also an indispensable traditional element. You can hang them near the fence or low branches, or hang them on both sides of the photo conner. In order to make you take more interesting photos, you can also prepare some bows or elk headdresses for everyone to wear when taking pictures.
Soft natural light is the best choice for shooting during the day. If the party continues into the evening, you can add fill-in lighting equipment such as LED ring lights or light strings to ensure that the shooting effect is not affected.
7. Enjoy a Variety of Delectable Snacks for Every Tast
Placing a self-service snack table can provide guests with abundant choices and increase the mobility of the party. Guests can enjoy delicious food at any time while chatting easily, avoiding the inconvenience that may be caused by traditional methods.
You can prepare some classic Christmas desserts, such as frosted gingerbread men, Christmas tree cookies and Christmas cupcakes. Or you can prepare desserts that are popular in 2024, such as mini fruit towers and chocolate towers, creative macarons and yogurt fruit platters.
The dessert plates can also be decorated with some simple decorations, such as sprinkling some edible gold powder or candy decorations. If there is free space on the table, you can add some small Christmas decorations, such as a mini Christmas tree, a small Santa Claus sculpture or a small snowman ornament, to make the entire buffet table more creative.
8. Bottoms Up, Cheers to Good Times
If the majority of the party is adults, you can create an outdoor bar station or mobile bar cart to provide a variety of alcoholic drinks, such as cocktails, mulled wine or champagne, so that everyone can toast together when they are having fun.
This area is usually a social center. In addition to chatting together, you can also arrange some drinking games. For example, “Never Have I Ever” is a very classic drinking game. The rules are simple: players take turns saying something they have never done, and if others have done it, they need to take a sip of wine.
Or play “Cheers to the Governor”, where participants sit in a circle and take turns counting to 21 one by one. Those who say the wrong number must drink. Once they count to 21, everyone shouts “Cheers to the Governor” and drinks. If you react slowly, you will receive a small punishment. Every time the count reaches 21, the counting starts over and a new rule is added.
9. Play Some Fun Christmas Games with Kids
If it’s a traditional family Christmas gathering, we can play some classic Christmas games that are suitable for all ages.Next, we will recommend three simple and interesting games to you.
a. Decorating Gingerbread Men
Give each child an undecorated gingerbread man cookie and a variety of fun decorating materials, such as icing, candy, chocolate, etc. Parents can use their imagination with their children to decorate their own unique gingerbread man. Set a time limit before the game starts, and everyone needs to complete the decoration within the specified time. At the end, everyone will show their works together and select the most creative gingerbread man as the winner.
b. Musical Chairs
Before the start, prepare one less chair than the number of contestants and arrange the chairs in a circle. Then play Christmas music and everyone walks around in a circle to the music. When the music stops, everyone must quickly find a chair to sit down. Those who fail to find a chair will be eliminated. The game goes on until only one person remains.
c. Guess the Riddles
To ensure that people of all ages can participate in the guessing game, the host should prepare riddles of different difficulty levels, such as: What goes up but never comes down? (Answer: Your age). After announcing the question, let everyone raise their hands to answer. Those who answer correctly will receive a small prize.
10. Time to Rock the Mic
Outdoor karaoke activities have become very popular in recent years. Whether singing alone or in a group, it helps to bring the party atmosphere to a climax.
When setting up the karaoke area, if conditions permit, you can hang shining disco lights on both sides to make the entire venue more dynamic. If the space is spacious enough, you can set aside a space as a dance floor so that everyone can dance to the rhythm of the music.
If you want to arrange a choir segment, you could choose a few well-known Christmas classics, such as “Jingle Bells,” and invite everyone to join in for a sing-along.
11. Unveil the Surprise and See What’s Inside
Unwrapping gifts at Christmas is a moment full of excitement and anticipation. Behind every package there is a surprise and warmth. Different from the traditional gift exchange, we can make this moment more special by adding some interesting games.
a. Hot and Cold Gift Hunt
The host hides the gifts in different corners of the backyard in advance, and then the participants start looking for them. The host will use “hot” or “cold” to prompt them how far they are from the gifts. “Hot” means they are close to the gifts, and “cold” means they are far away from the gifts.
b. Gift Raffle
First, the host will assign a unique number to each gift, and then places them in a hidden area to ensure that no one knows which number corresponds to which gift before the draw. Then, the participants take turns to draw numbers, and the number they draw will get the corresponding gift.
Hopefully, through these creative activities, you can create a Christmas party full of joy and surprises, and leave unforgettable memories with your family and friends.
