how to host a favorite things party

Last week I hosted my 2^nd annual Favorite Things party! It’s a fun girls’ night (no boys allowed except to take pictures) and a chance to get to know your friends better by seeing what their favorite things are! Plus, it’s always fun to get gifts!

If you have never heard of it, it’s a little bit like a White Elephant gift exchange but with less rules. In this blog I’m breaking down the way that I throw a Favorite Things party. There are lots of different ways to do it, and you just need to tailor it to your group of friends. The party can be thrown any time of the year, but I love it during the holidays when we are already in the “gift giving” mode, and of course when all the holiday decorations are up!

The Invitation

I used Evite to email everyone an invitation. You want to make sure that everyone knows the “rules” of the Favorite Things party. Here is an example of how to word it. It’s helpful to give examples of gifts that have been brought to past parties for those who have never done this before. My rule of thumb is, if it’s your favorite thing, it’s bound to be a hit! I also love Evite because you can see who has received it and get their RSVP right away. A couple of days before the party Evite automatically sends out a reminder without you having to think about it!

The food

You can choose to make the menu yourself or have everyone bring a dish to share. Being the control freak that I am, I love to do everything myself. I stick to heavy appetizers because everyone is usually just standing around the kitchen chatting. Since it’s a Favorite Things party, I have a lot of my favorite thing, chocolate! It’s also fun to have a main cocktail or punch. The Trailer Park Sangria is a recipe I borrowed from a friend in Texas, so the ingredients are a secret. Let’s just say there are several boxes of wine involved. A mimosa bar would be fun as well!

Here is the menu I went with this time:

Charcuterie Board- a staple for all parties! I like to include 3 hard cheeses, 3 soft cheeses, 3 meats, and then fillers like fruits, nuts, and chocolate.
Pull apart pizza- serve with marinara sauce
Meatballs- a chance to use those holiday toothpicks
Veggie cups-easy to pick up and dip
Peppermint trifles- these are just really cute but also yummy!

the gifts

My rule is that each person brings 3 gifts around the $20 price range. I limit the number of gifts so the price can go a little higher. You can change the number of gifts and the price limit to whatever you want. The three gifts need to be something you love (one of your favorite things), and you buy 3 of them. Each gift is wrapped individually. At the end of the party each girlfriend will go home with 3 new things! Some people will put together 2 or 3 smaller things adding up to the $20 price. Down below I highlight a couple of the gifts that were given this year, just so you have some examples. I wish I could remember them all!

The Rules

When you arrive at the party, each guest drops off their 3 wrapped gifts on the gift table. Before the party I write everyone’s names on slip of paper and put them in 3 separate bowls. When the gift giving begins you pull a number to determine the order that we present our gifts.

Once we all have a number, Person Number 1 goes up and explains her gift, where she got it and WHY it’s her favorite thing. She then picks a name out of each bowl. Those three people get Person Number 1’s gift. If you draw your own name or if you draw the same person twice – you put that name back and draw again. Unlike White Elephant parties, at a Favorite Things party, we do not steal or freeze gifts, so the order in which you go is really not important. In the end, everyone will have 3 new gifts. I provided bags from Trader Joes for each girlfriend to keep their gifts in. That helps keep everything organized!

What a fun night of catching up, drinking wine, and exchanging our favorite things! Everyone seemed really happy with their 3 new gifts, and we all decided we should have this party several times a year!