This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UFL chapter.

‘Tis the season to make up any reason to throw a party with your friends

The holidays are for giving, loving and celebrating. But most importantly, they are for planning nonstop events with your friends. This year, finals surrounding the holidays has been rough, but it has not stopped me and my friends from making pages-long lists of treats and activities we can do when we get together to celebrate. Because we come from different cultures and hold a variety of family traditions, we mix all our favorite dishes and activities and end the semester on the right foot.

Here are some of the planning tips I have to share, with contributions from my friends and our need to transform everything into a celebration.

Setting the date

This is by far the most difficult step of planning any reunion with your friends. One day your friend has to study for a test, another day you catch a cold. There is no perfect formula to avoid all the inconveniences that might ruin the day of your plans, but the best advice I can give is to set a date as early as possible. Once the date is set in stone, and you make sure it is on all your friends’ calendars, it is easier to plan around it without risking conflicts.

Getting decorations

Although a lot of people have decked their halls by this point of the month, it is never a bad idea to put up some extra holiday spirit for the party. You can get a couple fancy Christmas themed cups and plates, but the best decorations are DIY or at the dollar store.

A personal favorite of mine is my friends’ crooked mini-Christmas tree, for which we have bought a ridiculous variety of ornaments from Minecraft creepers to a plastic bottle of ranch. My mom has my siblings and I make personalized ornaments for the tree every year, so I suggested the same thing to my friends. We follow the instructions by The Lady DIY blog and make the cutest Christmas wish ornaments.

Cooking the food

Per the advice from the best host I’ve ever met (my mom), we make cooking part of the entertainment. Apart from the designated snacks, such as chips and salsa and a cheese board, we made cookies and decorated them together. If you want to add some more spice to the menu for the night, you can also make the party a “bring your own” event, where every friend brings an appetizer and/or drink that represents their major, their culture or their favorite color. Make the food a fun part of the event and involve your friends, that way you add to the enjoyment of the party and save yourself having to do all the cooking.

Choosing the entertainment

Like I said, sometimes the best entertainment at a party is being part of the planning. For example, you can give your party a theme, tell everyone to dress up as a character from their favorite Christmas movie or make it a rhyme party, where people partner up and dress up as two things that rhyme (holiday themed, of course). Include everyone decoration making; you can do crafts like the ornaments I mentioned decorate a giant gingerbread house among all the invitees. Of course, you cannot forget about one of the best holiday activities: watching Christmas movies. It can be anything from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to Die Hard (it technically happens during the holiday season) or any holiday episode from Friends, New Girl or The Office.

If those options still leave you with some down time, board games can never go wrong. Bring along Scrabble if your friends are English majors or Clue if they are interested in solving crimes. With my friends, Cards Against Humanity is always a hit and we have a special appreciation for the online Jackbox games.

Celebrating the holidays

Don’t forget the whole reason you started this party-planning was because of the upcoming holidays. If you and your friends have the resources, add in a Secret Santa. There are great online versions of it that let you make wish lists like Elfster, and you can spice up the gift exchange by making participants imitate mannerisms of whoever they bought for.

If gift-giving is not the way of your friend group, try making each other silly Christmas cards. One year, I did not have enough money to give complex gifts to all my friends, so I made them cards with my drawings and ridiculous puns like “wrapping paper” and the drawing of two hip-hop rapping rolls of gift wrapping.

Enjoying your party

Last but not least, enjoy your party! Don’t let the stress of planning take away from your fun and don’t forget that your friends love you no matter what. The holidays are for giving and celebrating, but they are also for spending time with those we love. As long as most of your friends are in the room, it doesn’t matter whether there are gifts, arts and crafts, Christmas cookies or boardgames, you are all bound to have a good time.

How To Plan the Perfect Holiday Party with Your Friends