Favorite Things Party

If you are looking for a unique, fun and easy idea for a get-together with friends, or a holiday party, a Favorite things party is a great idea! I have thrown one a few times, and each time was a lot of fun.

It is a great opportunity to get to know each other a little better, to laugh and to share your favorite things with a few of your favorite people! There are various ways to organize the event, but I will share a few easy ideas to help you get started!

First set the amount and quantity of favorite things that you are asking people to bring. Reasonable amounts could be: $5 per item, or $5-10 per item, or $10 per item. Each person will bring three of the same item packaged similarly. So if you set the price at $5, each person will spend a total of 15. If you set it for $10 per item, then each person will spend a total of $30, etc. Explain this part clearly to your guests so that they understand what is expected of them, and come prepared. You don’t want anyone to feel awkward. I like to give a few specific examples to help people. Like: “If your favorite thing is coffee, then you can bring a $5 Starbucks gift card, and a cute coffee mug” ($10 budget). Make sure to adapt this to the guests who will be participating. Make up is a cute gift for a group of girls, but doesn’t work if you are inviting couples! Coffee is great for couples, but may not work if you are throwing this party for kids. You can allow people to bring more than one set of three gifts if they would like, or you can also set a max on the sets of gifts that someone can bring: “Feel free to bring up to 2 sets of 3, of your favorite things!”

Next send out your invitation. Make sure that the directions for the game are clear and provide a phone number or email in case any one has any questions.

You can set up the game in 1 of 2 ways. The first is to have everyone write their name on a piece of paper for every gift that they brought (usually 3 times) and to place it in a bowl or jar. Then throughout the evening, or at a set time, the host can pass the jar to a guest. The guest picks out 3 names to give their gifts to (if they draw their own name, then they put the gift back). When your friend is sharing their favorite thing with 3 guests, have them share why it is their favorite thing. Why do love that thing, and how does it represent them. You continue this until everyone has received 3 gifts. The other way that you can do this is to have your guests bring their gifts UNWRAPPED. Then the host will draw out three names periodically throughout the night and those three people can go and pick out a gift of their choice. The problem with this second way is that it is harder to guarantee that everyone gets other people’s gifts and not their own, and also to avoid hurting people’s feelings if their gift is the last one to be chosen. But it is nice, in that each person goes home with items that they actually love and would use. So either way can work potentially.

I love to add a few “Favorite things” activities to keep with the theme of the night. Here are a few ideas that have been a lot of fun in the past:

• Have blank bookmarks, or notecards. Ask everyone to write down their favorite Bible verse, or quote and then to give it to someone during the evening together. I made bookmarks at the last party and everyone shared a Bible verse. It was a sweet way to encourage one another.
• Make a cute printable for each person with their name printed on top. Then the other party attendees can write their “favorite things” about that person throughout the night. At the end of the night they can go home with an encouraging and sometimes funny paper to stick on their fridge or at their desk! (This works well with groups of people who know each other well). You can also do this verbally. Tell each other out loud your favorite things or favorite stories about each person!
• Play a favorite things game: Make a printable for each guest with a list of several favorites. Have them fill it out and then share with the group during the evening together (this is a fun one with teens). For example: 1- Favorite song, 2- Favorite color, 3- Favorite Food, 4- Favorite place I have visited, etc.
• A fun variation of this game is to ask people to fill it out and send it in ahead of time. Then the host reads the list of favorite things out loud, and other guests try to guess who it is! It is a great way to get to know each other better and to laugh a lot too.

Every gathering is better with food! Let your guests know ahead of time what your plan is. For one Favorite Things party I held a brunch and provided all the food and drinks for everyone. The last time we did a Favorite Things party we had a taco night and each person brought one ingredient to share. You can have a dessert buffet, or a sit down dinner, the important thing is to let guests know on the invitation what will be happening, and how to dress.

Have fun! Let me know what your favorite gift you received was! Mine was a beautiful succulent plant! I love it and have officially handed it over to my husband so that it lives to see tomorrow!