It’s finally time for the holidays, and what better way to spend the season than staying in with your friends? The best way you can ensure a night full of fun while staying inside is with a holiday movie night. These are low-budget but high-quality ways to de-stress during finals or kick off the start of your holiday break. Don’t know where to start? Don’t stress, here are some tips to help you have a holiday cheer-filled movie-watching experience.
The set up
The best way to get your friends into the holiday spirit for your movie night is to use decorations to create a cozy setting while maintaining the holiday cheer. These are a few decorating ideas to get your space to reflect the wintery vibes:
Blankets and Pillows: Decorate your movie space with fluffy throws, cushions and anything that will increase the comfort level of your space.
Seasonal candles: Scents like pine, cranberry and cinnamon are very embracing of the season and are very on theme.
Lights: Warm-tinted fairy lights or festive Christmas lights are the perfect way to give your room a wintery glow, whether it be dangling from the ceiling or wrapped around the TV.
Winter Décor: Paper snowflakes, Christmas trees and garlands are great ways to make your holiday movie viewing area more fitting. You can even go all out with themed snack bowls, ornaments or even a tablecloth.
movies
The most important part of any holiday movie night is, well, the movie. Whether you decide to pick a movie out of a hat or tally up votes, here are some favorites your friends are sure to love:
Classics: White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Holiday Romance: Love Actually, Holidate, Love Hard, Serendipity, Last Christmas.
Christmas Comedies: Home Alone, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Christmas with the Kranks, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.
New Favorites: The Christmas Chronicles, Spirited, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Klaus
Snacks
Snacks are imperative for any get-together, especially when it involves watching movies. Here are the most festive treats for the season:
Holiday Popcorn Bucket: No movie night is complete without popcorn. These popcorn buckets offer three different types of the snacks while also providing a festive tin.
Holiday Cookies: Grab some premade or add to your nightly antics by baking them yourselves with you and your friends.
Hot Chocolate Bar: Grab some marshmallows, candy canes, whipped cream and other fun toppings for you and your friends to add to a mug of hot chocolate for the perfect movie beverage.
Additional ideas
Here are some extra steps to really take your movie night up a notch:
Project Your Movie: Instead of using your tv, use a projector to display your film of choice onto a blank wall or sheet to add a more cozy vibe
Create a Festive Dress Code: Having friends wear pajamas, ugly holiday sweaters or even matching sweats is a great way to add to the fun of your night. These coordinated outfits also make for the cutest group photos.
Interactive Movie: Make the movie even more exciting by adding a participative aspect. A great way to do this is with holiday movie bingo. Have your friends create bingo boards with Christmas movie cliches to cross off as they appear in the movie. For the winners, offer a small prize like candy canes or other festive candies.
We hope you have a great movie night!