This holiday season, make wrapping gifts twice as much fun as giving them, by hosting a party! Invite your girlfriends over, sip your beverage of choice and wrap presents together while catching up and sharing a few laughs. Yes, you’ll still have a sore back from bending, sizing, cutting and taping but you’ll be in the company of good friends!

Ready to party? In collaboration with a few local party professionals, I designed this no-fuss party plan for you.

“IT’S A WRAP” PARTY PLAN

HOST the party on a weeknight or Sunday afternoon.

SEND invites (mail, email, phone call) at least one week before the event date.

PROVIDE wrapping paper, tissue, ribbons, bows and plenty of scissors and tape.

GET CREATIVE with your display. Wrap ribbon around Styrofoam cones and stack white tins into a cake display.

SET UP wrapping stations on tables but know that most friends will probably be more comfortable spread out on your floor.

LEVERAGE your existing holiday decorations but with a touch of whimsy.

INSPIRE creative packaging by wrapping wall mirrors and picture frames.

HANG gift tags on the chandelier.
EMBELLISH the dining room table with a secondary table cloth or fabric
SERVE an assortment of bite-size refreshments like miniature lump crab cakes and savory tarts, as well as sweet treats like cupcakes and cake pops … with lots of napkins to ensure mess-free wrappings.
OFFER a signature sip like Sparkling Pear and Cranberry Cocktails; recipe below.

SPARKLING PEAR & CRANBERRY COCKTAIL
fresh cranberries
1/2 cup pear nectar
32 ounces moscato wine
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
Divide pear nectar evenly among eight tall champagne glasses. Add a few cranberries to each glass, and then gently pour the moscato wine. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.

FIFTEEN minutes before your girlfriends arrive, take a deep breath and turn on a holiday mix of music, such as:

Christmas Time is Here
Carol of the Bells
O Christmas Tree
It Must’ve Been Ol’ Santa
Feliz Navidad
Joy to the World
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
We Three Kings

IDEAS FOR A CORPORATE PARTY
This gift wrapping party concept works well for the offi ce, too! Work with your local family shelter to “adopt” families in need and identify their holiday wish lists.

Then, encourage your employees to donate gifts and invite everyone to the gift wrapping party. Turn your conference room into a wrapping station and make sure to provide wrapping supplies, light refreshments and festive music. This non-conventional offi ce holiday party will benefit your community, as well as your business!


The following businesses contributed to this article: Sweet Mady {paper+gifts}, sweetmadys.com; Fusions Cuisine, fusionscuisine.com; We Take the Cupcake, wetakethecupcake.com; and Olivera Music Entertainment, oliveramusic.com.

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ASHLEIGH DORFMAN
Ashleigh DORFMAN, CSEP is a certified special events professional and owner of posh parties, LLC, a party planning company specializing in themed social and corporate parties and celebrations. She lives in Reston, VA with her husband and three children. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .