Planning a Christmas Birthday Party for an Adult

Birthdays are a time of celebration. It is the one day of the year that each person is special unto themselves. Christmas birthdays are shared with the holiday commemorating the birth of Christ. But, that's no reason not to give those Christmas babies their due. Here are some ideas if it is your job to host a Christmas birthday party.

1. Choose a theme for the party. It would be obvious for the theme to be somehow connected to winter or Christmas, but let's think outside the box. What are some of the things the birthday guy or girl likes? The theme can be anything from a murder mystery night to a Mardi gras. Just because the party is hosted on Christmas doesn't mean it has to tie in with the holiday.

2. Decide if this will be a surprise or not. Consider that around the holidays it will be hard to coordinate schedules without the birthday person thinking that something is amiss. It can be done but it will take a lot of cooperation from party invitees to keep the secret and make sure the person of the hour doesn't end up at another soiree that evening. Letting the birthday person in on the secret gives you access to all of their good ideas for making the Christmas birthday party a hit.

3. Get the invitations out the door early. Christmas is a big time party holiday so you don't want to get bumped for the office party or another engagement. Friends would much rather attend a birthday party but might feel obligated to decline if they've accepted a previous invitation. Deciding to hold the party on Christmas Eve or two days before won't interfere with plans others have to spend Christmas Day with their families.

4. Cater the affair. For kids, that may seem like much but adults will want to spend time socializing and not baking and cooking. Keep it simple. The entire group may flock to a club afterwards or go out to another Christmas party. Heavy hors d'oeuvres are a good choice. Besides, caterers set up and clean up after the food portion is over.

5. Don't forget the bubbly. No one wants to play bartender so hire one for the evening or stick with simple drinks that can be made from a mix in a jiffy like frozen daiquiris or pina coladas. Dispense with all the bartending stuff entirely and serve wine or champagne. For the teetotaler, try sparkling apple cider or sparkling grape juice.

6. Instead of Christmas games, have a meaningful "remember when" session. Party games can get a bit childish especially when alcohol is involved. Go around the room and let each person share funny memories about the birthday honoree.

7. Don't forget the cake. For a Christmas birthday, you must go all out. Have the cake custom-made with lots of sickly sweet icing that puts pounds on you just by looking at it. Everyone can go on a diet after Christmas.

One of your friends has a birthday on Christmas? No big, give them a blowout party anyway. They deserve to be celebrated separately from the occasion.