It was our first Christmas party in our new home and it was so special! We decided to do a White Elephant gift exchange party and it was a HIT! Everyone had so much fun! I'm going to share a few of the details that would be easy to recreate for your own party in the future! This will also be a great post for me to reference next year when I want to remember all of the things I wish I had done!
White Elephant Gift Exchange
We loved it! I was actually nervous about it, but it turned out so well. Here's the key: set the gift amount at $50! I know that may not work for everyone, but we found that it was a sweet spot of affordable and guaranteed a decent gift that people would be excited to steal.
You know what ended up happening? Everyone was trying to steal back the stuff they brought because they brought good gifts! LOL ok not everyone, but it was pretty funny. The top gifts that were stolen were cheeseboards, wine decanters, and golf balls! It was so much fun to see what everyone brought!
Of course, set the rules before you start the game. We had everyone draw a number out of a bowl and we played where an item could be stolen twice then it was frozen. BUT THEN the person who had #1 got to go again at the very end and they could steal any gift, frozen or not! So that started a whole new round of steals...it was a blast!
Food & Bevs
I loved our menu items that we served, so I wanted to round up the recipes all in one place for you. We had an assortment of sweet and savory bites, as well as cocktails and non-alcoholic options for our guests.
- Adam's Bacon-Wrapped Dates - ok I haven't been able to get the recipe from him yet, but there are so many recipes out there...some form of a cheese-filled, bacon-wrapped date and it will be good! People went for these first!
2. Rhonda's Homemade Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies - these went next! I made a random recipe for gingerbread men but it turned out to be way too soft and stick of a dough, so I rolled the dough into balls and added some finishing touches, and they were DELISH! I need to write my own version of this recipe to document exactly what I did, but here is the original recipe - just don't try to cut them into gingerbread men. Trust me!
3. White Christmas Margarita - I made this recipe that I posted a few weeks ago! I made a pitcher of them "on the rocks" and everyone loved it. Of course we had to garnish with dried citrus!
4. Apricot Bites - these were a hit and so easy to make! I used dried apricots, goat cheese, walnut halves, and honey to create a fun colorful bite. Everyone loved them!
Menu Cards
I made small menu cards with information about each food and beverage item, so people would be able to see ingredients and know what things were right away! Menu cards are something that I always want to do, but then it comes down to the wire and I run out of time to write them out!
This time, I was ahead of the game and outsmarted myself ;) I created the layout in Canva and made the cards the day before the party. I sent them to print at a local Kinko's and Adam was able to pick them up for me before the party. Pro tip: stick to a black and white design to cut down on cost. I had them printed on plain cardstock for around $5! Worth it to save time right before the party and they looked so nice!