About Christmas Caroling Parties
Looking for a unique Christmas party idea? Consider turning an old-fashioned holiday tradition into a festive get together. Combine the custom of singing Christmas carols at people's doors with the more modern practice of a progressive dinner party. You might just start a new holiday ritual for your friends and family. Does this Spark an idea?
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Significance
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The central part of a caroling party is music. Make this evident from the very beginning by creating the perfect invitations. The first way to do this is to buy blank sheet music from a local music store and hand write your invitation on it. If you have Microsoft Word on your computer, open a blank document. Press "F1" to open the "Help" task pane. Type "Sheet Music" in the "Search For" box and download a template from the resulting list. Type your invitation details onto the template and print.
Time Frame
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The premise of a progressive dinner party is that three or four of the party guests serve as hosts. The group starts at the first host's home for appetizers and then sings carols to a few homes in that host's neighborhood. The group then travels to the next for a soup or main course and carols some more. Because of the traveling, eating and caroling, plan for the party to last three or four hours. Try to choose hosts who live relatively close to one another, and consider cutting out extra courses like soup and salad.
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Features
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Make sure to provide songbooks with lyrics to all the carols you wish to sing. Plan to sing them in order, making it easier to find the right lyrics. If you cannot find enough songbooks for the whole group, make your own. Find lyrics online (check the "Resource" section of this article for some help) and print them out. You could also type them into your word processing program and print them out for a more professional look. Punch holes and place them in binders.
Effects
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Do not forget to give out party favors. Personalize Santa hats with glitter and glue, writing each guest's name on a hat for a festive effect. Another option is hats or headbands with reindeer antlers, dangling snowflakes or flashing Christmas lights. When everyone dons a hat and heads out into the cold together, it will be impossible not to feel merry. If everyone dresses in red and green, it will enhance the effect even further.
Considerations
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Keep the menus simple, since the focus of the party is singing together. Make sure to have lots of fresh water, tea and lemonade at each stop to keep your carolers' vocal chords limber. It is advisable to avoid serving alcohol, at least until you have reached the final host's house. Consider serving hot cocoa, wassail, mulled apple cider and alcoholic beverages at the one last house, where everyone can rest their weary feet, warm up and laugh about the events of the evening.
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Resources
- Photo Credit www.morguefile.com/ppdigital
