Dinner parties are a very sociable and fun way to celebrate any occasion and have become more and more popular at New Year. You can create a wonderful table setting, serve up some great food and finish off the evening with some fun after dinner games and of course the obligatory Auld Lang Syne. This article will include some ideas for New Year’s Eve dinner party table settings, the types of food to serve and some fun games to play.

New Year is a time when you want to be with your guests and so it is the perfect time to unpack the fondue set or raclette so that you can sit with your guests around the table for much of the meal. If you don’t want to do this we would suggest cooking ahead if possible, again so that you aren’t stuck in the kitchen and can be joining in all the fun with your guests.

Table settings for New Year are traditionally in gold or silver and there are a whole host of tablecloths, napkins and table decorations available in these colours. Mix gold or silver with black or purple for a really striking look or use another strong colour such as hot pink or teal with silver.

Your tablecloth or table runner provides the base for your table décor and you can obtain paper versions in gold or silver or there are plenty of fabric table runners available with accents of gold and silver.

Most tablecloths and runners will have matching napkins available and there is a huge choice of coordinating prints in gold, silver and black or whichever colour you have chosen.

Place cards are a most for a formal dinner party and you can use the traditional tent style cards or the newer glass place cards which create a real wow factor. Dot a few table crystals around and perhaps provide a small gift for each guest in the form of a chocolate in a little box or bag and you have a lovely table setting which only needs the centrepiece. A table centrepiece can be flowers, balloons or perhaps some simple candles set in a smart candle ring.

New Year is always a time for people to have fun and there are a whole host of games which you can enjoy while sitting at the table. Some people create their own games and some buy the little boxes of trivia and ice breakers which are available in many on line stores and shops.

DIY Style New Year After Dinner Games

Who Am I: write the name of a famous person and a sticky note and place it on someone’s forehead. They have to ask you questions with yes or no answers to guess who they are.

Posers: similar to Who Am I except that the guests are divided into teams and one team sees the paper with a famous name on it. Each member of the team then poses as the famous person. The other team has to guess who the famous person is.

Two Truths and Lie: each guest tells the other three interesting facts about themselves – the more bazaar the better. The other guests have to guess which ‘fact’ is a lie.

There are also often little boxes of games you can purchase including conversation starters which are great ice breakers whether guests know each other or not and themed trivia including questions on sport, music, fashion and film.

If dinner is fairly early don’t forget some nibbles as it will be a late night and folks are likely to get peckish a few hours after dinner. Have a great time and enjoy your New Year’s Eve dinner.