Favorite Things Party: How to Host & Gift Exchange Ideas. It was a party that turned out to be so much fun, that’s it’s now an annual tradition!
After planning my son’s “Woodland Friends Birthday Party,” I immediately started thinking about planning another, and the Favorite Things Party was born.
——> Stop right here if you need a free party planning checklist, and download it HERE! Then come back and check out how I host a Favorite Things shindig…
I gotta say, that I went in to planning my first “Favorite Things Party,” empty handed.
I googled…
•”Favorite Things Party Ideas,”
•”How To Host a Favorite Things Party,”
•”How Does a Favorite Things Party Work.”
All of those gave me great tips, ideas, and tricks, but I have to say I still did it my own way, which is the beauty of it.
Favorite Things Party
UPDATE: To see my other Favorite Things Parties, you can see the 2nd plaid themed Favorite Things party HERE…
…and the Summer edition, Favorite Things Party “In Bloom” HERE!
Now back to THIS Favorite Things Party…
The planning of my favorite things party, all started with my favorite drink.
Champagne
I thought and thought about creating a signature drink for the evening, but the more I thought about it, the more I was loving the idea of letting everyone get creative and serve up their own bubbly, by creating a Champagne Bar!
I provided:
• fruit garnishes (blueberries, blackberries & raspberries)
• fruit juices
• chocolates
I coated the rims of the champagne glasses with gold sprinkles, and not only did that make it super cute… but we all loved the extra “sweetness,” with every sip.
I also provided different types of champagne, in case we had “Sweet,” lovers, and “Dry,” lovers. Which… I’m glad we did, because I had a healthy mix of both “tastes” attend.
It didn’t take long for the girlies to get in the champagne. I always knew we were friends for a reason. 🙂
Favorite Things Game
I knew I wanted to designate a space for my guests to immediately drop off their gifts when they came in the door. No one wants to carry and “babysit,” gifts all night.
(For Heaven’s sake we left the kids at home. We needed to drop our bags and get a glass of champagne in our hands… quickly!)
I used my fireplace as a landing zone for the gifts. This worked out beautifully, because this is where I had everyone gather when it was time for the favorite things gift exchange, so we didn’t have far to go. I also made sure to provide a sign, explaining to everyone what they needed to do when dropping off the gifts. (Don’t worry… I’ll fill you in on how I had everyone play the game, below.)
If you follow me, you may know my style. I’m a huge fan of Kate Spade, so if I can incorporate that in to my daily life, or when celebrating… you better bet I will. So my color scheme for the Favorite Things Cocktail party was easy. White.Black.Gold. The colors I think of when I think of Kate Spade goodies.
The Menu
I was so excited to finally throw a party that could have a cocktail party “feel,” to it. I’ve thrown a ton of kids parties, so it was Momma’s turn. The menu had to be classy and tasty, so I called on my friends at 12West (a very well known local restaurant that is THE place to go in town.) They did not disappoint.
I did mention to the catering manager, that I wanted to take the goodies, and put them in my own, small “tasting,” dishes. So I just took what they gave me, and divided it all up in to the small dishes. My guests LOVED the small tasting dish options! Besides… who wouldn’t love miniature plates and forks? They’re simply just too cute.
Cocktail Bites
Buy the white tasting spoons here: White Tasting Spoons
The strawberry-spinach salad was a no-brainer for this party. It’s classy, AND delish. Since spinach leaves are so large, my dear friend helped me by chopping the spinach up in to small pieces, so it would fit better in each miniature container. It turned out ADORABLE! Don’t you think?
Buy the little square plastic dishes we used for the salads here: Mini Square Cubes
Dessert
Small, itty-bitty Snicker cake bites were a perfect dessert idea for the party, and were a huge hit. Everyone loved them… and I may have had 5 {ahem 15} myself.
Don’t EVEN get me started on gooey butter cake. Ahh… if you don’t like it… I may have to re-evaluate our friendship. I simply took small bits of the gooey butter cake, and put it in to the mini spoons, for my guests to easily grab and go. HEAVEN!
Gift Exchange
Let’s move on to the purpose of the night. The Favorite Things Gift Exchange!!! Here are my girls gathering in the living area, ready to give and receive!
How to: Favorite Things Gift Exchange
Well here’s how we did it. Remember above how everyone wrote their names down on three different pieces of paper? I had them put all three pieces of paper in to the bowl when they were done.
Each person would take turns, going up to the front of the group… grab the three gifts that they brought, and draw three names out of the bowl. Those three people would get the “drawer’s,” three favorite things! I had everyone explain why those were their favorite things, and it just gave it a little more of a personal touch!
Now… some guests brought three different favorite items, and some people brought 3 of the same favorite items. Either way worked fantabulous! (P.S. We also did a price limit. Each gift could not exceed $10.)
Girls will be Girls… with Champagne
I have NO idea what I was doing here, but I can tell you that I was having a fab time with that big ole grin on my face.
I must say… the best part of the night was sitting back and watching everyone cut loose and have a good time. It’s a rare occasion when just the girls can get together to mingle, have a cocktail {or two}, and actually get some “me,” time… so seeing smiles on my guests face all night, was truly the highlight of it all.
Unfortuneatly… we didn’t think of getting a group photo before some of the girls left. But we thought better late than never. So here they are…. the girls that made the night. What an awesome bunch they are, and we are already discussing doing this again. We are tossing around the idea of a summer fiesta favorite things party. Hmm… delish, right? 😉
To see more of the shingdigs & parties I have hosted:
Jessica ceases to surprise us with her elegance and creativity in party planning. This Party was such a fun idea and brings something different to the table around the Christmas time. It also allowed a bunch of moms who are entirely focused on shopping for their family’s favorite things to STOP and focus on what really makes themselves smile. Not only did I come home with some awesome gifts, but I learned a lot about the other gifts. After learning about everyone’s new favs, I just might have to go out and buy myself a “stocking stuffer” or two.
Jessica forgot to mention the AMAZING cocktails that were also made. My favorite was the Apple Cider Rum Chata Concoction. It kept us going back for more and more and more! Thank goodness for Tylenol the next day!
Oh Kelly…you’re so sweet!!! Thank you so much for saying those awesome things! So glad you could make it!! 🙂