How to Host New Year’s Eve at Home

Below, our favorite ways to throw a chic, sophisticated affair without breaking the bank.

There’s no reason you need to deck out your home with gold and silver streamers to ring in the New Year. Creating a gorgeous, refined environment where everyone feels at home is all you need to achieve. We love the idea of maintaining the spirit of the winter months with a Scandinavian-inspired tablescape, but that doesn’t mean you need to go out and purchase new plates: Social Studies offers a berry scandi setup for $42 per person that’ll have your table looking festive–but still chic–in a matter of minutes.

It’s New Year’s Eve, so you’ll need to stock up on champagne–served in these coupe glasses, naturally. But creating a signature cocktail never hurts, either, which is where our elderflower gin & tonic comes in. The sweet floral flavors of the elderflower mingle beautifully with the sharp juniper notes of the gin–be sure to make a pitcher, because this one’s a crowd pleaser. It’s also always a good idea to have options on hand for those who don’t drink–because New Year’s Eve can be a tough holiday when you’re not imbibing–our mocktail recipes, curated by a New York City mixologist, will come in handy for that.

New Year’s Eve is all about timing; you need to be ready to celebrate by midnight, but you don’t want your guests standing around all evening waiting for the main event. Starting the evening with a lovely dinner will help your guests get into a conversational groove and ensure they’re fed and happy before the main event. When it comes to the menu, start with a healthy soup to keep your guests warm, before moving onto the entree–steak is always an excellent choice. Serve it with a side of roasted cauliflower. Sit everyone back down for dessert around 11:30pm–we recommend our banoffee pie–to provide a bit of a sugar rush and keep the energy going through to the midnight ball drop.

Our favorite tip for keeping our guests dancing? Being experiential. Write to all of your guests beforehand requesting that they send through one song they’d like to hear played at the party and add it to a playlist. That way, you ensure that your guests know everything that’s being played–and that they like it.

Many of the most fun parties we’ve ever attended have had games as the marquee event. Whether that’s a rowdy round of taboo or a refined take on tic-tac-toe, be sure to have games handy for your guests so there’s never a dull moment.