New Year’s Eve Party Ideas
New Year’s Eve in Western North Carolina used to be a time of bell ringing, fireworks and even shooting guns into the air. These activities — accompanied by music, dancing and drinking from the still — are actual Appalachian New Year’s Eve traditions. Flash-forward to today and a few of these traditions are still practiced. But put away your moonshine. Here are some bright new ideas you can share with your loved ones as you ring in 2015.
Resolutions They’ll Remember
New technology can come to the aid of old traditions. Instead of having your New Year’s Eve guests write down their resolutions on scraps of paper that mysteriously disappear by March, we have a better idea. Use your cell phone! At your party, take a cell phone photo of each of your guests and add their resolution. Send it to them on New Year’s Day or better yet, post it on Facebook so that everyone can hold them to their promises.
A New Twist on Resolutions
Instead of forcing friends and families to come up with a resolution on the spot, make it easier for them. Here are several ways:
The Card Game. Print out some cards that say things like:
“The person I most want to be like: ___________.”
“The skill I most want to learn is: ___________.”
“This is the year I stop this habit: ___________.”
The Resolution Draw. If you want to jump-start your friends’ resolutions, print up a bunch of random resolutions and place them in a bowl. Then have each of your friends pick one. Be imaginative. The more random, the better, such as:
“I will buy more houseplants.”
“I will improve my penmanship.”
“I will use my turn signals.”
Old Traditions, New Wrinkles
While cornbread, greens and black-eyed peas are supposed to bring good luck on New Year’s Eve, no one will suspect that you’ve combined them into one recipe. It may not be the tastiest dish on the table, but it will be unforgettable.
Before you inflate all those balloons to drop at midnight, stick a note into each one. Depending on your guests, these notes can be simple (“Eat dessert. Again.”) or more extravagant (“Take a friend to lunch.”). If you supply safety pins, each of your guests can choose a balloon to pop. Extra credit: Fill each balloon with helium, tie a long string to each and then secure them to your ceiling with a net. At midnight, the balloons won’t drop, but the strings will.
Take Advantage of Our Weather
Yes, it gets chilly in the mountains, but it rarely gets frigid. If you want to delight your friends, do something different and hold your party beneath an outdoor tent. Don’t laugh; with sides attached, a tent becomes a fully enclosed space that heats up quickly. All you need is a big enough backyard. Hendersonville Tents can supply the tent, a dance floor, heaters and a sound system. Add a buffet, champagne and your friends, and you’ve created an instant party. You don’t have pick up afterward, either.
Hendersonville Tents is a family-owned and operated company. 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of providing tents, tables, chairs, pipe and drapes, tableware, games, specialty lighting, PA systems…everything you need to host a memorable outdoor event. Hendersonville Tents provides a personal touch to any event in Western North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina and surrounding areas. The company provides tents for any size function to fit any size budget. Whatever your needs, Hendersonville Tents has you covered.
