Christmas and New Year's party ideas: Expert tips to make your celebration unforgettable
The best Christmas parties flow freely without feeling too prescriptive, allowing you to celebrate with your guests rather than stress over canapés alone in the kitchen.
To prepare you for the Christmas and New Year festivities, we've rounded up tips from our experts for maximum merry-making.
By consulting our expert reviews this Christmas, you can put on a dazzling spread at the dinner table and share some laughs playing top-rated party games.
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Party food
If you’re after some top-notch food to wow your guests, the results of our Christmas food surveys are a must-read.
At the start of the year, we quizzed more than 8,000 Which? members to find out which places they rated for Christmas dinner essentials, including turkey and pigs in blankets.
Respondents were particularly impressed with one budget retailer, meaning it ranked within the top five in nearly every category. Several other big supermarkets failed to impress, though. Find out more with our guide on the best places to buy turkey, trimmings and more.
We also had a chat with the experts about Christmas food ideas. TV chef Tom Kerridge had some great tips on how to make life easier by preparing ahead as much as possible.
'Nobody wants to add to the stress on Christmas Day by having to do everything on the day, so make life easier for yourself with a bit of planning,' he told us.
We've also carried out taste tests on smoked trout and the best mince pies, so do consult our findings before you buy.
Expert tip: try a multi cooker
Sam Morris, multi cooker expert at Which?, says:
'A multi cooker might be a good idea for heating up batches of food quickly without having to leave your oven on.
'Ninja, Tefal and Instant are the key brands to look out for. They all have an automatic keep-warm function that stays on for five to 24 hours (depending on the model) after you've cooked with it.
'With the Ninja ON400UK and OL750UK models you can try Buffet mode: simply select Slow cook, use the arrows next to the display to select Buffet and choose how long you want the food kept warm for.
'Meanwhile, Tefal Cook4Me and Instant Pot Duo Crisp and Air Fryer multi cookers have keep-warm modes where you just select the time it stays on for.'
Find out more with our guide on the best multi cookers, where we reveal top models for frying and roasting, the most versatile and the most energy efficient.
Save on energy and cook tasty food with an air fryer
An air fryer can help you prepare a magnificent meal for Christmas. You obviously won't be able to fit a whole turkey inside, but these massively popular appliances can tackle a range of jobs. For example, you can:
- Roast a small turkey crown or turkey breast
- Cook roast potatoes
- Roast Brussels sprouts (but make sure you add a drizzle of oil)
We run air fryers through our rigorous lab tests to see which models score top marks for quality of cooking, energy efficiency and ease of use – check our guide to the best air fryers.
For advice on using an air fryer this winter, see our walkthrough on 5 things you should know about cooking Christmas dinner in an air fryer.
Expert tip: make sure you have a good knife for food prep
Sabrina Sahota, chef's knives expert at Which?, says:
'If you want to invest in one knife for your Christmas food prep, make it a chef's knife. You can use it for chopping potatoes and veg, as well as carving your turkey.
'Chef's knives range in size from 12cm up to 20cm – a longer blade can cut more volume (like a butternut squash) but a shorter knife will feel more agile.
You don't need to spend a huge amount either – our Great Value chef's knife impressed for less than £30.'
Find out which knives are the sharpest and top for comfort with our guide on the best chef's knives.
Expert tip: a cool box will give you even more storage space
Sam Morris, cool boxes expert at Which?, says:
'Cool boxes, to me at least, are often associated with summer weather and picnics, but having one over the festive period could be a handy solution for many of the challenges Christmas throws your way.
'A cool box is brilliant for transporting food with you to the relatives, or keeping drinks chilled at an evening party. Plus, if real estate in the fridge is hard to come by, a cool box gives you extended fridge space to store food for Christmas dinner or preserve leftovers for Boxing Day.
'The electric cool boxes we've tested cost between 1p and 2p an hour to run, and are a good solution if you need the extra space for several days and don't want to think about swapping out ice packs like you would with a passive cool box.'
If you're looking to buy a cool box before Christmas Day arrives, read our page on the best cool boxes.
Expert tip: homemade bread can make a lovely addition to a buffet
Jonny Martin, bread maker expert at Which?, says:
'If you're making a large food spread for Christmas or New Year's parties, a freshly baked loaf of bread can add a great personal touch, either on its own or part of another dish.
'A quality bread maker can take a lot of the time and stress out of baking. Simply pop in your ingredients and let the machine do the rest.
'Plus, some of the models we tested can also make jam, cakes, and even soft cheeses - so there's no limit to the homemade creations you could make.'
Find out the best bread makers that impressed in our tests.
Party drinks
If you're seeking the very best festive drinks for your party, it's worth consulting our taste tests for some irresistible budget bubbles and tasty tipples.
Our expert panels have assessed champagne, sparkling wine, red wine, mulled wine and gin from the leading brands to help you track down the drinks that will get your guests in the holiday spirit - and could save you money on your shop too.
Slow cookers can come into their own if you're serving mulled wine, keeping it nice and toasty until you're ready to serve it. All you need to do is pour the wine mixture and put the slow cooker on its lowest setting.
Expert tip: use a slow cooker to keep mulled wine warm
Matthew Knight, slow cooker expert at Which?, says:
'If you're just buying a slow cooker for this purpose, I'd recommend our cheapest Best Buy model.
'For some fancy extras and a ladle holder, it's worth considering the Ninja Foodie PossibleCooker – although it's pricier than other slow cookers we've reviewed.'
Consult our reviews of the best slow cookers for more details.
Expert tip: make your own fizzy drinks
Chris Brookes, SodaStreams expert at Which?, says:
'If you have children, look out for ways to get them involved in the preparations – for example, by choosing the party games or getting their input on the fizzy drinks.
'You can only put water in a SodaStream, which you fizz up before adding flavours. Flavours include Pepsi and 7Up, which are likely to appeal to many kids.
'You can put any drink in the Bibo Fizz, so this might be a better choice for adults as there's more room for experimentation with cocktails. This could make it more of a party machine. Some other liquids tend to need more carbonation than water, so it’s probably worth doing a bit of practice before your party to get the fizz levels right.'
Take some time to explore our guide on the best SodaStream and sparkling water makers. If you fancy popping a cork, discover the best champagne.
Christmas party entertainment
It depends how lively an affair you want to host, but if you have a fine set of vocal cords and some understanding neighbours, you might want to head down the karaoke route.
Expert tip: bring out the karaoke machine
Joel Bates, karaoke machine expert at Which?, says:
'We recommend choosing a karaoke machine that has knobs for adjusting your sound levels, rather than buttons. When you're setting it up, one of the most important things is to get the balance just right between the volume of your backing track and the volume of your microphones, and it's so much easier to tweak it using knobs. We've found buttons can be really frustrating.
'You might also prefer a karaoke machine with wireless mics. In our tests, our panel enjoyed themselves so much more when they weren't encumbered by cables running across the floor.
'Many karaoke machines also have rechargeable batteries – they're also worth considering if you don't want your karaoke party to be limited to wherever there's a power socket.'
We’ve tested some of the most popular karaoke machines for sound, style and ease of use, and you can read the results in our article on the best karaoke machines for 2024.
Alternatively, leave the singing to the experts and try:
- Record players and turntables – treat your guests to the unmistakable sound of vinyl. If you're shopping for a new record player, tread carefully if the machine claims to be packed with features, such as built-in speakers, Bluetooth and USB sockets. In our rigorous lab tests, simpler low-frills turntables usually produced the best sound. See our guide to the best record players and turntables.
- Smart speakers – for a digital backing track, you can rely on a voice-activated smart speaker and a music streaming service to play your party hits. Most smart speakers support music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, although you might have to pay a subscription. Read our guide on how to buy the best smart speaker before you part with your money.
Party games
Sometimes, there's no better festive party than one where everyone is huddled together in garish jumpers with a few nibbles to hand, playing board games.
While you can opt for a classic, such as Cluedo, or a reworking of an old favourite, such as Monopoly Deal, you can also look into the raft of creative games that have come on to the market more recently.
When choosing games, consider the age range of your guests and how many people might want to be involved. Long strategy-based games aren’t ideal if there are young children on your guest list.
Try to pick light card games that can involve as many guests as possible – perhaps after dining to allow your food to digest. Quickfire games such as Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza or drawing party game Telestrations are ideal for this.
Check our advice on the best board games for adults and families, as well as card games and classic games.
Taking care of your guests
If some of your guests are staying the night, try to ensure their room is clutter-free prior to their arrival.
We have lots of tips in our piece on sprucing up your spare room.
If you don't have anyone staying, a vacant bedroom can also be a good place to store guests' coats during your party.
Other options for coat storage include foldaway or portable coat racks or discreet wall-mounted hangers. If your party is more casual, you could dedicate an unused chair as a temporary coat station.
See our piece on clever storage ideas for more space-saving tips
After-party clean up
Once the fun is done, the cheers quickly turn to chores. Cleaning up is the after-party that's so exclusive you might find it's just you and your vacuum cleaner on the guest list. So what do you need to tackle straight away and what can be put off until tomorrow's caffeine kicks in?
To make life easier, follow our to-do list of jobs:
- Pack away leftover food before you go to bed. No-one wants to wake up to the smell of day-old cheese that's been left out overnight. Throw away any half-eaten bits, and put the rest in the fridge if you think you'll eat it the next day. See our food storage tips to help make your food last longer.
- Tackle stains straight away. Red wine spillage? Shoe marks on the carpet? You'll want to remove them as fast as possible to avoid them becoming permanent. Make sure you're using one of the best carpet stain removers, or if it's a particularly bad mark you might need a carpet cleaner.
- Do the dishes. It's easy for plates, bowls and cutlery to pile up after a festive bash. Try to get round to them first thing in the morning, or load the dishwasher the night before if you can. Read our expert dishwasher tips if you want some help with stacking or the things you should never put in. If you're hand-washing a mountain of silverware, using one of the best washing-up liquids can make it a breeze.
- Take out the bins. Make sure your guests know where the bins are, or even place a few extra around your home for easy access. Take your rubbish out first thing to avoid it getting too smelly, and make sure you're up to date with what you can and can't recycle.
- Vacuum and mop the floor. Marks and sticky residue can be a nuisance to clean up if left for too long. Employ your vacuum cleaner (or robot vacuum, if you've got one), and then follow up with your mop or steam cleaner. And don't miss our guide to vacuuming your home effectively.
- Wipe down surfaces. Food crumbs and fingerprints will be a thing of the past with one of the best all-purpose sprays. Try to prioritise high-traffic locations, such as sitting and eating areas, as well as places where drinks may have been placed.
- Spruce up the bathroom. It's nobody's favourite job, but even a five-minute whip around the bathroom can make it feel much fresher after a party. Clean your toilet well, and use one of the best bathroom cleaning sprays to tackle any other dirt on your sink or shower.
Want more cleaning tips? See our guide: Simple ways to help with 5 household chores you hate.
