How to Throw an Alcohol Free New Year's Party

Good, clean fun on New Year's Eve

No matter the reason you decide to throw an alcohol-free New Year's Eve party, the practical side effect is that you won't have to be concerned about your guests getting behind the wheel after having had too much to drink. And by no means does alcohol-free have to mean fun-free, so use these ideas to give your guests a fabulous party to kick off the new year.

Instructions

1. Rent out a conference room in a hotel or a private room in a gorgeous restaurant. Choose a venue so amazing that your guests will be busy admiring it instead of searching out the bar.

2. Decorate your venue extravagantly to give guests something else wonderful to look at and to create a festive ambiance. Metallic streamers, a disco ball and a banner welcoming in the new year will all help set the mood.

3. Hire a DJ or a local band, set up a dance floor, and give your guests a place to boogie the night away.

4. Compensate for the lack of alcohol with a lavish assortment of delicacies and edible treats in the form of a buffet, sit-down meal or appetizers served throughout the night. For smaller budgets, make an assortment of hors d'oeuvres yourself, rather than splurging on a full-blown catered meal.

5. Mix up batches of fun mocktails, an alcohol-free answer to cocktails. These are so tasty that your guests will never miss the alcohol.

6. Offer engaging activities for your guests to participate in throughout the evening. Consider setting up a poker table or creating an area where those who want to can play board games (Taboo, Cranium, Win Lose or Draw, Trivial Pursuit and similar others are fun for group gatherings). And of course, karaoke is always a popular option for groups.

7. Toast in the new year with sparkling grape juice-it's just as nose-tickling as champagne and probably tastes even better.

Tips & Warnings

• Tell your guests when you invite them to the party that the party will be alcohol-free. This will prevent an awkward moment when a guest arrives with a bottle of wine or comes in looking for the bar.

• Make the invitation enticing so that guests will be attracted to the party and forget about the fact that it is alcohol-free.

• Consider serving fondue as the meal. A fun and delicious alternative to a traditional sit-down meal, fondue also gives your guests something to do throughout the evening.