December welcomes Christmas

PartyThe arrival of December brings along the frosty winter air, celestial specks of snow, and the resonance of the church bells and the sweet humming sounds of Christmas carols. Ah! Christmas is just round the corner when one would celebrate the day with kith and kin, cook delicious turkeys and sip coffee by the fireside till late hours in the quiet December nights, talking about your best friend’s hairstyle or the next door neighbour’s dog.

It is one of those times in the year where everyone gets a vacation and reason to celebrate regardless of who they are. It is the time to forget about all the soreness of life and relish the moments one is blessed with. It is the time to feel and enjoy the love and warmth of close ones.

It is one of the times when one celebrates precious moments with people who are special to one.  Many broken relations unite and bitter feelings diminish. This time of the year is certainly one of the most treasured moments of one’s life. Christmas is a legacy for all and is a source of bliss for people from all walks of life.

Enjoyment at Christmas

Christmas never comes alone. It brings along hope and enthusiasm, delight and pleasure. The dazzling Christmas trees with the Christmas gifts right under its shade, the fluffy Santa and his promise to fulfil all the wishes keep on evoking that life is, indeed, beautiful.

Since Christmas is the month of Christ, this month is a source of glee for all. Christmas also promises to bring along an exquisite Christmas party, which is essential to the occasion, bringing together the distant loved ones.

Party in Snow

As soon as the month of November ages giving way to the snowy December, the air of Christmas starts hovering around. The kids start counting the days when Santa would come from a distant land with a bag full of their dreams and desires. The elderly, on the other hand, start romanticizing about the leisure time they would spend with their dear ones.

Every household starts planning about the arrangements of Christmas party without which the festival remains incomplete. The party includes all the facets of Christmas – a glittering Christmas tree, Christmas presents, good food and drinks, decorations, flowers, music, games and activities, fire, guests and lots of love to share.

Christmas party is the ideal way to let go of your pains and troubles and to mingle with the people who make you feel alive.

The Christmas party is not only a family affair; it is a gathering in which you can relax, enjoy, eat and socialize with all the people you know but are unable to spend time with otherwise. It is time to take pictures and make movies, to get drunk and to overeat.

Christmas party is the time in year where you can spoil your loved ones and get spoiled yourself. It is one of those celebrations which induce the feelings of love, care and concern all around. The Christmas party is also the best way to entertain those who care for you.

Boxing Day – December the 26th

Christmas is the glorious time of the year that spreads love all around. People of all ages wait for Christmas all year long. Christmas holidays are a great time to socialize with your family and friends. But this is not all what Christmas is so special about.

Christmas also invokes feelings of well-being and love for fellow humans. It gives us the perfect opportunity to help the less fortunate. This momentous time of the year gives parents the time to teach their children to give and share with others.

Boxing Day / St Stephen's day

Every year on the 26th of December is the Boxing Day, a day when the affluent people give gifts to the people of the lower classes. It is called Boxing Day because traditionally, gifts of food, clothing, cash and other goods were given in boxes on this day. The gifts are handed to the people who needed them.

Boxing Day began in the mid 19th century in England during the rule of Queen Victoria. It was a day to honour and thank the lower community for their help and effort all year long. Maids, drivers, postmen and other service renderers were thanked with gifts. This is a great day for parents to teach their kids to contribute towards the well being of the society.

Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen’s Day. Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr stoned to death in Jerusalem for his devotion to Christ. He begged God to forgive his killers. Feast of St Stephen also takes place on this day.

Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, and other Commonwealth nations with Christian population. The day is also known as Day of Goodwill in South Africa.

In America, the 26th of December is the Shopping Day. Shops are opened very early in the morning, and the day has grown famous for earning large revenues for shop keepers. The American alternative to the Boxing Day is the Black Friday, which comes right after Thanksgiving.

Boxing Day Gifts:

Your family should also involve in the customary gift-giving ceremony which is held on this day. Find out some less fortunate people around you who are really in need of help. Tell your kids how happy Santa would be if they spared some of their gifts for other children. You could also help some organization that seeks to look after the poor.

Besides family, it’s also a great idea to bring your friends into this. Ask them to spare a few things. They’ll be more than willing to help you.

Boxing Day Party:

With the Christmas barely one day old, it is unbearable if you don’t celebrate this day and gather around for a nice party. You could make it pretty simple actually. There’s going to be a lot of food left from the previous day. You could ask your friends and family to help you finish it. Perhaps your friends would also have a lot of food to bring with them. Like every other party, there should be drinks, and food and a lot of fun.

There is a lot of travelling in the modern day life. Some people travel in search of better opportunities.

Others go on holiday's for fun and leisure. No matter what the nature of travel is, moving away from one place can be very difficult. With time, you tend to develop a deep rooted affection for a place. You get used to people around you and begin to enjoy their presence. But then, one day, when you suddenly realize that someone is going to go away from you and shift to another place, it can all get very difficult.

Bon Voyage Party before holiday

Bon Voyage parties are thrown to honour closed ones who leave on a long vacation or move away otherwise. These parties are a wonderful way of showing your friends and family how special they are to you. These parties hold a lot of significance and you remember them all your life. Though the times are sad, there are plenty of great ways of throwing life and fun into these parties to form what could be called one last HURRAH!

One of the most exciting ideas would be to plan a surprise party. Discuss the whole theme with all your friends but keep it at a ‘TOP SECRET’ priority. No matter what happens, your guests of honour should not find out. Give them a wonderful surprise at the party. They’ll love you for it, and remember the moment all their life.
Circulate a poster around your friends with a message saying “You’ll miss Sara and John because……….”. Hand over this poster at the surprise party. They’ll love reading this poster about them.

Relevance of dresses at parties

Fancy dress parties are also a lot of fun, and make a great Bon Voyage party. You can ask your guests to show up in different costumes. Friends could also imitate one another and throw a few jokes around. Remember, the idea is to lighten things up.

Once the party has started, don’t let it fade. Put on some very good music. You could play the departing guests’ favourite tracks. Create conversation, and involve everyone in it. Talk about the times you’d all spent together, and laugh over the silly things you did.

Lovely Food

Serve good food, but don’t get yourself very busy in the cooking as you’d want to spend more time with your friends. You could also order food like pizza, and serve desserts afterwards. Another good idea would be to cook the favourite dish of the guests of honour. These little gestures don’t go unnoticed.

Lovely Gifts adds to glow of Party

Don’t forget the gifts. Honour your friends with special, unique gifts. Keep in mind their destination. Say if they’re heading towards the shores, a beach cap would do very nice. Some great gift ideas could be a bottle of champagne, foreign dictionary of the place they’re heading to, backpack, camera, a good book, or a photo album with many memories of the times you’ve spent together.

Keep in mind that no one leaves before the special guests. See them off together. Wave and shout good byes to them.

Bon Voyage is a difficult time, but little zeal and interest can make the departing people happy.

Relieving the Countdown of the 80’s

There have been countless party themes that have been created and sometimes it’s a bit confusing to choose a party theme because of the numerous options that one have.  One of the most popular party themes is the era party themes that centre on certain decades like the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.  Another is the movie party theme such as Star Wars, Harry Potter and even Lord of the Rings party themes.

What is the 80’s Countdown Party?

If you are a bit choosy on your party theme and would like a party theme that would be a stand- out among the rest, then you can go for something like the 80’s Countdown Party.  
Ever heard of it?

The 80’s Countdown Party is a party theme that is focused on the 80’s Australian music program - Countdown.  This party theme is very unique in the sense that it doesn’t just follow the conventional party themes like era or movies that were overly used. The 80’s Countdown Party is a genre on its own because it is a cross breed between an era and tv show party themes.

This party theme is based on Countdown that is one of well-liked music programs in the history of Australia tv industry.  Countdown ran for 14 long years in Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1974 to 1987 featuring both local artists in Australia as well as international stars.

What to wear in the 80’s Countdown Party attire?

Next thing that you will ask is how you will dress up for the 80’s Countdown Party.
Needless to say, the ideal attire to wear in a party with the 80’s Countdown Party theme should reflect the 1980’s fashion!  The 80’s fashion is a distinctive era because of the chunky accessories and the loud colours and contrasting designs of the clothes.  The signature of the 80’s fashion that is probably the wide shoulder blouses.
Here are some suggestions:

Clothes

Bring out the good wide shoulder blouses with large shoulder pads and matching chunky and glittering buttons.  Shirts with beadworks will also pass as being 80’s.  You may also consider that the colours in this period are loud so it is recommended to use apple green, bright yellow, bright pink, etc.
Hairstyle

This is the era that popularized the huge hairstyles with the use of a generous amount of hair spray.  Flat and conservative hairstyles are out.

Accessories

In the show, the Countdown, Ian “Molly” Meldrum the host of the show has a signature look which is his Akubra Hat.  This accessory item is compulsory for the hosts of the 80’s Countdown Party!  For the guests, the chunky and gold accessories can be worn as well as pearl jewelleries.  Don’t forget that it should be complemented with an equally 80’s bag.  Clutch bags were in during the 80’s.  If you have the money to spare, go for the classic Chanel or Louis Vuitton bags that started their popularity in the 80’s.

How to recreate the 80’s Countdown Party ambience?

From the venue down to the minute details such as the invitations, the 80’s Countdown Party theme should be reflected.

Venue

For the venue, try to combine the elements of the 80’s as well as those of the Countdown music program to create a perfect 80’s Countdown Party ambience.  The cheapest and probably the easiest items where you can create an 80’s ambience would be the use of colourful balloons to decorate the area.   You can also decorate the venue with a disco ball in the centre.

Music

Music is a non-negotiable item in the list.  Play music that has been popularized in the 80’s to set the 80’s ambience.