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Favorite Things | A Fun Holiday Party Idea

This is definitely one of the best memories I have from high school. It’s a lot of fun. It requires a little bit of planning and with December (eep!) right around the corner, now is the perfect time to start organizing.
Who | This kind of party works best with a small, close-knit group of friends. (Although, see the “alternative”** in the how section if you need/want to invite a ton of people.) While some parties work well with lots of mixes of “friend groups,” this one will be more successful– and ultimately more fun– when everyone knows each other. Think of it this way, get a group of friends that would all buy nice holiday presents for each other anyway!
What | “You get a car! You get a car! YOU get a car!” Well… not quite, but sort of. Oprah’s Favorite Things list always gets a lot of buzz. But we have our own favorite things from the year too. This is the perfect way to coordinate a friend group’s gift exchange from the year. Everyone walks aways with each other’s favorite things.
Why | Is it just me, or do you think that gift giving can be… awkward. You can’t bring gifts to other parties with non-recipients and it’s a little weird to do one-on-one exchanges sometimes. This is the PERFECT way to accomodate this! Your closest friends and your favorite things. Plus, this way, you’re getting all of your friends the same, amazing thing and there’s no “comparison.” Oh… and it’s just plain fun!!! The reveal is always super exciting– like our own Oprah show!
How | The way I recommend doing the party is by having a set number of friends and each person brings their favorite thing for each. For example, I think six girls (including yourself) is a good number to aim for. In this case, I would select my favorite thing and bring five of them to the party. (Of course, wrapped and ready to go!!) When you’re going to tell your friends about the party, be as clear as possible on the invitation. Also… hint: Set a budget. $15-$20 per item is good. (That would come out to someone spending $75-$100 and crossing five friends off your gift giving list!)
[**Alternative: Everyone brings one of their favorite things at maybe a higher price point…. and then you do a secret Santa/white elephant/grab bag kind of exchange!]
The next step is finding your favorite thing. In previous parties that I’ve hosted, people have brought: fancy lipglosses, a pair of earrings, monogrammed blankets, mani/pedi gift cards, photo albums filled with pictures of all of us, Vera Bradley Diddy bag, J. Crew pajamas, etc.
I can’t say it enough: THIS IS SUCH A FUN PARTY.
For locations, I recommend a house or a comfortable restaurant. We’ve done it a couple of times in my house in Florida, but we also went to a tearoom one year which was a blast!!

More Favorite Things Ideas:


Essie Nail Polish ($8) + Minted Rose Lip Balm ($7)
Have you hosted a similar party? What would you bring as your favorite thing?

xoxo

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7 Comments

thepreppyleopard

I think this is such a fun idea! I've done something similar where I'll package together my favorite red lipstick with a matching red nail polish in a cute little bag. It makes for great thank you gifts where you might not want to spend a lot of money but it's still thoughtful.

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Cotton

If going to one of these , i would totally be inspired by essie's current pairing with bauble bar–give them a bottle of nail polish and a matching enamel bracelet!

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Kate

I love this idea! I want to do a similar party with girlfriends but my group of friends is very mixed. Might have to do a variation.

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