If the festive season is bringing your inner hostess to life, award-winning event planner Jennifer Kinal has some advice for bringing your holiday house party to life.
Kinal is the owner of Edmonton’s Fresh Look Event Management and just six years after starting the company, she was named the Wedding Industry Experts Awards Most Popular Event Designer Canada for 2014.
“I do weddings and corporate events, basically anything that has a theme to it, a lot of dĂ©cor. That’s what I really enjoy is doing the decorations and creating the whole design,” Kinal says. “Christmas parties allow me to have a lot of fun with that as well.”
Everyone has been to an ugly Christmas sweater party or a standard holiday-themed fete and Kinal suggests using personal inspiration for your party rather than following trends.
“Be a little bit different, but something that also represents yourself. You’re going to have more fun if you’re doing something you really like versus just trying to stick to a theme that isn’t really your style,” she says. “Think about what makes it fun for you because it’s going to be more fun to plan it, more fun to be at it, and you’re going to have more passion toward what you’re actually creating.”
She suggests spicing things up with themes like a rustic Christmas featuring wood and bark décor and Christmas trees decorated with retro ornaments.
“You can go with a Whoville theme where you have bright colours and funky little Christmas trees. Or you can go with the classic silvers and blues,” Kinal says. “I think the best would be to pick a colour scheme or a theme to go off of and build from that.”
Bringing in a disc jockey to spin tunes or bartenders to serve drinks can also up the fun factor at a home-based holiday party.
Food and drink are often an important part of holiday get-togethers and Kinal says martini-themed parties featuring different varieties of the classic drink are popular.
“If you’re looking for non-alcoholic you could do a hot chocolate bar because that kind of goes with the cold (weather),” she says.
If you are serving alcohol, Kinal says regardless of theme, hosts should always have a selection of beer and wine for guests because those are bar staples.
“And if you know for sure that someone likes Crown Royal specifically, then bring that in for them,” Kinal says. “You don’t have to do that for every single guest, but if you’ve got someone special coming, you could look at bringing in their favourite alcohol.”
Appetizers and hors d’oeuvres are popular and easy party noshes, and Kinal says 12 to 14 pieces per person affords guests a meal-sized portion.
