Who doesn’t love a great holiday movie? In addition to entertaining us, they can provide great inspiration for your next holiday party. Check out some of my favorite holiday movie-inspired party tips, as well as the segment that just aired on "The Better Show" here.
My Top Holiday Tips and the Movies that Inspired Them:
1. Food – More movies than you can imagine rocked the "alternative" holiday meal in multiple ways: Think the spaghetti in “Elf,” the peking duck in “A Christmas Story” or the old school presentation in “A Christmas Carol.”
- “Elf” – Serve Elf’s favorite, spaghetti with syrup.
- “A Christmas Story” – Try a Chinese buffet with chopsticks, miso soup and wontons. Decorate with Asian holiday ornaments.
- “Home Alone” – The kids will LOVE having pizza and an “all you can eat” sundae bar.
- “Little Women” – Have Christmas breakfast instead of Christmas dinner.
- “A Christmas Carol” – Serve traditional foods served on multi-layered pedestals, like raisin pudding.
2. Beverages – Coca-Cola has gotten a lot of play over the years in some of our favorite films (“Elf” and “Home Alone”) – whether it's straight out of the bottle or in a champagne flute. Rock your inner carbonation or go old-school beverage with unexpected glasses like in “The Great Gatsby.”
- “Home Alone” – Coke in a champagne flute.
- “Elf” – Coke straight out of the bottle.
- “The Great Gatsby” – Little bottles of champagne.
- “It’s a Wonderful Life” – Traditional glasses with mulled wine, Bailey’s and hot chocolate.
- “Polar Express” – Hot chocolate and marshmallows – go for jumbos, handcrafted or even dyed marshmallows.
3. Activities – Nothing beats the holiday blues like a little exercise. Think ice skating (“Serendipity”), caroling (“Love Actually”) or exchanging food as a meal (“Little Women”).
- “It’s a Wonderful Life” – Show some gratitude and have each guest share something that they are thankful for this holiday season.
- “Serendipity” – Head outside for some good ole’ fashion exercise with a party at the community ice skating rink.
- “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – Host some “Reindeer Games” (remember adding in the line “like Monopoly” when you sang it as a kid?) with a board game tournament.
- “Little Women” – A new twist on the gift exchange. Incorporate your favorite holiday breakfast pastries and have a “pastry exchange.”
- “Love Actually” – After eating and drinking, take a stroll through the neighborhood with some traditional caroling.
Will your holiday bash be full of maple syrup spaghetti and Chinese food? Tell me in the bomments section below!
For more ideas, watch the clip where I share how to recreate your favorite holiday movie scenes on "The Better Show." PS – a lot the goodies I show can be picked up at your local World Market!