So you have decided to throw your own party to welcome in 2020 and now you need some really hot New Year’s Eve party ideas. Well, if you want to start the New year off the right way, you need the best party ever! There’s nothing quite like a great festive bash to get everyone ready for the New Year, and we have some fabulous ideas to share with you for your New Year’s Eve party.

We give you step by step instructions on how to throw a New Year’s Eve party and how to throw a great Gatsby themed party, as well as all the New Year’s Eve decorations you will need. So let’s start with the decorations first, then move onto how to throw your party!

New Year’s Eve decorations

If you decorated your home for Christmas, you might just decide to leave these decorations up for your New Year’s Eve party. There’s nothing wrong in doing this and it’s something that lots of people do, not removing them until after the New Year. If you didn’t decorate for Christmas or have already removed these decorations, what can you do for your New Year’s Eve decorations?

Do you want a laid back affair or a sophisticated soiree? The type of party you want to host will go some way to determining the decorations you select for the evening. From balloons to disco balls, sparkly cake toppers, streamers, glitter balls, fairy lights, candles and banners – the decorations you select will set the ambience for your party. If you’re not sure which way you want to go, you can check out our ideas for how to throw a great Gatsby themed party below, but for now, we have a few more ideas for decorations to share.

Just before the clock strikes midnight and everyone has a glass of champagne to hand, why not give everyone a gold confetti shooter so everyone can be showered with a glitzy surprise? You can swap your red and green Christmas decorations for more pastel colours, and string pink tassel garlands throughout your home with strings of silver beads. You can also purchase balloons in the form of letters that spell out ‘2020 HAPPY NEW YEAR’ and hang them on the wall inside or outside. This collection of New Year’s Eve decorations should get you started, so let’s move on to hosting your own New Year’s Eve soiree.

How to throw a New Year’s Eve party

There are three essential elements to every party and if you get these right, your party will be remembered all year long! These elements are the food, drinks and the music – so let’s get these sorted for you right now.

New Year’s Eve food: It’s best to send out invitations so that you have a fair idea of the numbers you need to cater for on the night. With that said, finger food or a BBQ are the best ways to feed everyone, otherwise, you will be in the kitchen cooking for hours! Finger food for your New Year’s Eve party can include a mango and avocado salsa or guacamole with tomatoes, mini quiches, coconut prawns, sushi rolls, meatballs and tomato dipping sauce, spring rolls, spinach and ricotta rolls, honey chicken wings, blue cheese dips, prawns wrapped in bacon, salt and pepper calamari, mini burgers, kebabs, and the list goes on. For desserts think about coconut, custard or caramel tarts, mini meringues, red velvet cupcakes, chocolate brownies, and even a big bowl of trifle.

New Year’s Eve drinks: Champagne is the drink for New Year’s Eve celebrations, so why not set up a cocktail bar and make everyone Champagne cocktails? Here are a few of our favourites to get you started:

• Grand Royal with 4 parts Champagne to one part Grand Mariner.
• Mimosa with orange and pineapple juice, grenadine and Champagne.
• Hemingway’s death in the afternoon with 4 parts Champagne to one part absinthe.
• French 75 with gin, sugar, lemon juice and Champagne.
• Black velvet with Guinness and Champagne.
• Atomic blast with equal parts vodka, brandy and Champagne and a drop of sherry.
• Mango Bellini with fresh mango blended with Champagne.
• Sgroppino with Champagne poured over lemon sorbet.
• Raspberry fizz with champagne poured over crushed raspberries & raspberry liqueur.

New Year’s Eve music: If everyone is of a similar age, then you can put together a playlist that gets everyone off their chairs and dancing the night away. On the other hand, if you have a wide range of ages, then create a few different playlists to suit each age group and everyone can shake a leg!

How to throw a great Gatsby themed party

The ultimate New Year party must be a Gatsby party! So start with deco-inspired invitations and let everyone know that they need to wear Gatsby inspired 1920s costumes on the night. Decorations can include gold fabric swathed across the ceiling, gold candelabras and chandeliers, feather boas, floral arrangements and strings of pearls or glass beads. Champagne is also the drink for a Gatsby party, so check out the ideas above and make sure you have plenty of Champagne on hand. Music should focus on jazz, so look for inspiration to the classic movie ‘The Great Gatsby’, and food should herald from the same era.

Finger food is the best option for large numbers of people, so think about deviled eggs and grilled oysters, prawn cocktail, artichoke and salmon sandwiches, cheese platters, Caesar salad, stuffed mushrooms, glazed ham, roasted nuts, Waldorf salad and croquettes, finishing with a decadent chocolate cake! Set all the food out on the patio and take advantage of the evening’s cool breezes to kick up your feet and bring in the New year with your fabulous Gatsby party!

Don’t forget that you will need a Gatsby party costume and the best place to find fabulous Gatsby costumes is CostumeBox! We have a stunning collection of Gatsby 1920s outfits that will make you the belle of the ball and we even have some fab gangster suits for the guys! We also have lots of other costumes in our vaults, so you can have a fabulous New Year’s Eve party, regardless of the theme. Let the good times roll and have a wonderful 2020!