Chinoiserie-Fanon
Holiday Party Ideas
Get in the spirit of the season with these party ideas chock-full of holiday cheer!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And these holiday party ideas and winter party ideas – including holiday party invitations, winter party activities, holiday favors, and more – will turn your home into a winter wonderland!
Holiday Party Planning
For peace of mind, begin planning your holiday bash six to eight weeks in advance. This will allow you time to gather all the supplies that you need, including holiday party decorations, gifts, and menu items. Planning ahead also gives your guests time to RSVP and make travel plans, if needed. Don’t panic if you find yourself short on time; you can still plan a great party! Planning ahead simply reduces the risk of conflicts with guests’ plans and may increase your holiday party’s attendance.
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning Timeline, and read the paragraphs below for information on selecting holiday party supplies, holiday party crafts, holiday favors, and more for your child’s party.
Holiday Party Supplies and Favors
If you plan to use paper tableware and holiday party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be quite helpful. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide. White is always a good color for winter parties. For more of a Christmas feel, integrate red and green. For Hanukkah, think blue. No matter what your color scheme, simple balloons and pretty pastel streamers work perfectly.
Fill your goodie bags with stocking stuffers and other holiday party favors, like stickers, ornaments, dreidels, candles, and hot cocoa mix. Place all of these items inside clear or printed cellophane bags, and ti the bags closed with colorful ribbons.
Holiday Party Invitations
For Christmas:
Fold a piece of green construction paper in half, and cut out the shape of a basic Christmas tree. Decorate the front with stickers in the shapes of ornaments and candy canes. Draw thin lines of glue from one side of the tree to the other and sprinkle with glitter to resemble garland. Write the party details inside.
Purchase solid colored ornaments and write the party details in a circle around the outside. Package these in a box with bubble wrap and mail to your guests.
Attach a card-style invitation to a candy cane and mail in a padded envelope.
Include in the invitations if you would like guests to dress “festively”, i.e. in red and green.
For Hanukkah:
Create a card-style invitation out of white cardstock. Paste a die-cut menorah on the front, or draw one on with blue marker. Draw flames coming off each of the candle sticks, color them in with glue, and sprinkle them with gold glitter. Write “You’re Invited” on the front and all the party details inside.
Write the words to the dreidel song on the front of a card-style invitation and decorate with stickers. Write all the party details inside.
Attach a card-style invitation to a bag of gelt and hand-deliver them to your guests.
For General Winter:
Fold white cardstock in half and cut out the shape of a snowman. On the front draw two eyes and a smile. In silver marker, write “You’re Invited to [child’s name]’s Winter Party!” on the front and include the party details inside.
Make a cut-out snowflake by folding a piece of square white paper corner to corner three or four times to create a small triangle. Cut small shapes out of the folded sides and open it up to see your unique snowflake. Write all your party details on the snowflake, fold it back up, and send in an envelope. Your guests will have fun opening up the snowflake to see the invitation.
Use stickers, markers, and die-cuts from a scrapbook store to create a winter scene on the front of a card-style invitation. Try an outdoor ice skating rink with penguins and polar bears. Then write the party details inside.
Chinese Wedding Traditions
Chinese weddings are steeped in tradition. While many of these customs are no longer followed today, there are still a few that have survived the centuries and are a part of modern weddings. There is a Chinese saying, “It is natural to get married when you grow up.”And so, marriage is very important to the Chinese culture.
The Husband’s Family
In America and many other countries, the bride’s family handles the expense of the wedding. In addition, it is traditionally thought of as the bride’s “day.” For the Chinese however, it’s the groom’s day. The family of the groom might handle the festivities and when the Happy Couple marries, the bride becomes a part of the groom’s family. Years ago, the bride might expect never to see her family again. Before the wedding the bride would go into seclusion for a few days with her friends in order to day good bye. Of course, in this day and age, most couples take care of the wedding expenses themselves and the bride isn’t expect to favor one side of the family over another.
Choosing the Date
For the Chinese couple, choosing a date is not as simple as saying, “hey I’m free that weekend, why don’t we do it then?” Everything has to be in their favor. The day has to be a lucky one. The numbers of the month and days have to be lucky and the moon and stars have to be properly aligned. Most Chinese families choose their wedding date according to the lunar calendar. Dates with lucky number eight (”ba”, similar sound as “fa” which means a good fortune) are set to be a wedding day for most of the time.
Red Color
The color red plays an integral part of the wedding festivities. From the red wedding invitations, to the red gift envelopes,to the bride’s red wedding dress, you can be sure to be surrounded in this bold and lucky color if you’re attending a Chinese wedding.
The Bridal Bed
Traditionally, the parents of the groom will provide the Happy Couple with a new bed complete with all the necessary components. Comforters, pillow cases, sheets and anything else that goes with making the bed warm and comfortable are part of this gift. The parents of the groom will make the bed, and the groom will sleep on this bed the night before the wedding. A young nephew will bounce on the bed in hopes the Happy Couple will be fertile and produce an heir.
Double Happiness
The symbol for “Double Happiness” is prominent on Chinese wedding invitations, red money envelopes, and other traditional Chinese wedding accessories and decorations.
Tea Ceremony
On the day of the wedding the Happy Couple will serve tea to the parents of the bride and groom and other esteemed wedding guests, in order of seniority. In return, the guests will present the couple with gold jewelry and money in red envelopes.
Three Dresses
Traditionally the Chinese bride will wear three wedding dresses. The first is a traditional white dress with veil. This is worn during the wedding ceremony. The second wedding dress, a traditional Chinese wedding dress is worn throughout the banquet. The third is the bride’s going away dress. She changes into this just before leaving the banquet.
The Wedding Banquet
The wedding banquet, or feast, is probably the most important part of the Chinese wedding. The banquet is important to the families of the bride and groom because it allows them to save “face” with their friends and relatives. They consider it a return of all of the kindnesses paid to them throughout the years. In fact, for traditional Chinese families, the banquet is more for the parents of the bride and groom, than the Happy Couple themselves.
Most wedding banquets will serve a twelve course meal consisting of delicacies such as abalone, shark fin soup, roast pig and fried rice. While there traditionally isn’t a champagne toast or an open bar, guests at a Chinese wedding banquet can expect to drink a glass of fine cognac with the Happy Couple.




























































































































