You live in or near Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, or another large city. You run a quick Google search on New Year’s events in your area and, not to your surprise, see that there are dozens of options. You browse through the first few pages of search results and see the big downtown spectator events, the wildest dance parties, and a handful of loft parties, but nothing jumps out at you as the place you have to be. Rather than spend time, energy, and money preparing to spend another New Year’s out and building up your expectations, why not just enjoy a laid-back evening in your luxury apartment with those who mean the most to you? All that lies between you and a memorable, low-stress, low-key New Year’s Eve celebration are a few dollars and the following steps:
Leave Your Decorations Up
If your luxury apartment home is already adorned with holiday decorations, leave them up so that you do not have to do much in the way of decorating for your New Year’s gathering. Add a few New Year’s specific decorations if you have them, but the red and green, blue and silver, or other holiday colored decorations that are already on display in your luxury apartment should give your home the festive atmosphere that seems to promote New Year’s reveling. There is no need to purchase or create a slew of New Year’s Decorations, unless you feel so inclined. Whatever you decide, don’t feel compelled to take holiday decorations down until New Year’s Day or the few days following.
Casually Invite Your Friends
If you want your New Year’s gathering to be a low-key affair, then you need to emphasize this when you invite your friends. Design invitations that are cute, but casual. Stress the importance of casual dress and an evening filled with casual activities so that friends do not show up at your luxury apartment home looking like they are dressed for a top-shelf loft party and carrying the expectations that come with attending such an event. To keep your own stress level down and feelings of claustrophobia from arising, cap the guest list at eight or ten.
Keep the Menu Simple
If your goal is to create a relaxed atmosphere for catching up and celebrating in your luxury apartment home, then there is no need for you to prepare an elaborate spread of appetizers that look like the product of several hours of a sous chef labor. Purchase or prepare your favorite easy snacks and a variety of affordable, popular beverages. To make things even easier on yourself, you can ask guests to bring a beverage or snack with them, potluck-style.
Don’t Forget the Hats and Bubbly
While planning a casual New Year’s Eve celebration affords you a great deal of flexibility, there are a handful of items that are pseudo-mandatory. These include New Year’s hats and champagne or sparkling cider, which can be served in plastic champagne flutes to make broken dishes unlikely and minimize the cleanup that you’ll have to do the following day.
Regardless of where your luxury apartment is and what the weather will be like this New Year’s Eve, you can ensure that you will enjoy the holiday by putting together a gathering of the nature described above. Be sure to invite those you really care about, don’t set your expectations too high, and allow yourself to Live Life + Love Life as you transition from one year to the next.
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