Christmas is coming round again and this time it’s fallen to you to host the neighborhood Christmas party, so how do you go about organizing a party so fab that people will be talking about it for years and to which all future parties will be compared? The key is to start planning early and ensure you’ve got everything covered so that there are no last minute surprises.

First of all you need to know who will be coming to your Christmas party, will it be mostly couples or families with children? If it’s the latter then you need to make sure the kids will have enough to do to keep them entertained – this is Christmas after all, it was made for children! Also, you should arrange your entertainment depending on the type of guests you are expecting – Pictionary and charades certainly isn’t everyone’s idea of fun!

If you decide to organize any games, whether for the children or adults then they need to be quick fire games that involve discussion and communication – asking people to write their most embarrassing moment might end up just embarrassing you! One popular game is to play 10 seconds from the start of a Christmas song and have the guests name the song, the singer and for bonus points the year it was released.

Food is another important consideration, some people are on perpetual diets and may want some ‘low fat’ options, some people are vegetarians and others might have allergies – it’s best to find out this information before hand if your guests are expecting to turn up and eat. While we’re on the subject of food, don’t forget that some people will need to drive home from your Christmas party, so plenty of good non-alcoholic drinks need to be on offer – juices, soft drinks or even non-alcoholic beer are some options you can choose from.

When it comes to decorating your home, everyone has a different idea of how to decorate a house for Christmas, the main thing here is that is should feel festive, regardless of how you choose to go about it. If you’re not a fan of multi-colored string lights, then hanging up some plain white lights can help create an atmosphere when you turn down the lights. You could even bring in some natural decorations such as holly and berries still on the branch, and don’t forget the mistletoe hanging up by the front door!

To help with the festive spirit you could provide all guests with santa hats to wear when they turn up, they might feel a bit self conscious at first but a few drinks later they’ll loosen up! You can even ask the families to come in fancy dress and award prizes to the children with the best costumes.

Deciding on the music is the easiest decision when organizing a Christmas party, but make sure you plan ahead by buying a couple of Christmas compilation albums or download some upbeat songs from iTunes.