Holiday Party - Planning a Different Type of Event for a Different Time of Year

Let's do some holiday party planning. Before we begin, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to keep an open mind. This isn't the type of party you would normally think of in the middle of summer. It will seem weird at first, but please bear with me.

I would like to propose you change things up this summer. Throw a Christmas in July party to lighten everyone's sweaty spirits. I know that it might seem like taboo to throw it at any time other than December, but a change of time could be a nice diversion from the heat.

Now that I've convinced you (and yes, I've convinced you if you're still reading this article), it's your turn to convince some friends to go along with this unconventional type of party. It's really nothing more than a theme that revolves around a holiday.

Your sure to get a few "Are you crazy" from friends, but don't get discouraged. For every one of those, their will be two or three who think this sounds like a fun idea.

Your motto for this party should be, "No Scrooges Allowed". In fact, put a sign that states that very motto on your front door so all who enter know the terms of entry into the party.

Your menu can consist of the traditional Christmas favorites that everyone is familiar with, like turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and green bean casserole. You can also serve traditional drinks, like egg nog (yes, you can still get it in most grocery stores in the summer months), spiced tea, mulled wine, and hot chocolate.

If it seems like July might be too hot for most of these foods, you can make dishes that are Christmasy (yes, that's a word in the party planning world), yet light.

Instead of cooking a turkey on the day of your party, consider cooking it the day before and serving cold slices with a cranberry, pear, and brie spread. You can serve it with an assortment of breads and crackers. Ham is also very good cold.

If you're not in the mood for warm sweet potatoes, you can go with cold sweet potato salad; the recipe is on Martha Stewart's website, and it's delicious. You can consider replacing your mashed potatoes with vichysoisse (cold potato soup).

As for the drinks, the egg nog is already cold, so you don't need to replace it. You can substitute the mulled wine with chilled wine or room temperature red wine.

Your decorations don't need to be changed much at all. The tree is probably the only thing that will be a little hard to do, especially if you usually put up a live tree. If artificial is your tree of choice, then you can put it up if you want, but it's a lot of work for one party. Consider replacing your traditional Christmas tree with a palm, or any plant you have in your house. Throw some twinkle lights on it, and you're all set.

You can also play whatever music you normally would play around Christmas; it will get you and your guests in the mood for your unusual holiday.

Party planning involves getting people in the right frame of mind to enjoy the event you've worked so hard to put together. Why not use every means necessary to ensure that a good time is had by all?