How to Host a Favorite Things Party
If you’re looking for a new, fun way to exchange gifts with friends or family, you should host a Favorite Things Party! Everyone brings their favorite items from that year as gifts and at the party, each person gets to pick which two gifts they want to take home. This party can be a unique way to gives gifts this Christmas or can be hosted any time of year for a fun party theme. It’s so fun it’ll become a new annual tradition and your friends will be thinking of their “favorite things” to bring all year.
In this post, you’ll learn everything you need to know to host your own Favorite Things Party, including:
How a Favorite Things Party Works
How to Run the Gift Exchange
Hosting Ideas, especially for Christmas
Food for Hosting
BONUS: Gift Ideas
Every year, my friends and family debate how we’re giving gifts, whether it’s how much to spend, when we’re sharing them, if we’re buying or making, or who we’re getting for. A Favorite Things Party solves all that! This can be done with a small or large group and covers getting gifts for multiple people while only having to buy two gifts. Plus, everyone gets to pick what they like best so don’t worry about them not liking it! This idea takes so much stress out of gift giving and adds some extra fun to the holidays.
Let’s get into the details of how you can host your own Favorite Things Party this year!
How a Favorite Things Party Works
The best part of the Favorite Things gift exchange is that everyone gets to pick their own gift so everyone’s happy! Plus, the gift options are all great since they’re your friends’ favorite things that they’ve already tried and loved.
Everyone brings two identical gifts (a.k.a. their “favorite things”) that the other guests will get to choose from. You should set a budget so everyone’s gifts are the same value; we did $40 per gift ($80 per person) but you can really do this with any dollar amount! Each gift can be one item or a group of items as long as they add up to the budget. The gifts can be wrapped in fun ways with decorations or bows, but still should be visible so everyone knows what it is.
At the party, everyone will pick their favorite “favorite things” and get to go home with two great gifts!
How to Run the Gift Exchange
The rules are simple!
At the party, all gifts are out on display and presented by each person, explaining why it’s their favorite thing
Pick names out of a hat or use a random generator to determine the order everyone is picking. You’ll start with person #1 and go to the last person, and then snake back, starting at the last number and going back to #1. For example, if you’re the last to pick in the first round, you’re the first to pick in the second round
Important: each set of gifts must be part of Round #1 AND #2, so the same gift cannot be picked twice in one round. For example, if I brought a candle, and the first person picks that, no one else can pick my candle until after everyone got to pick at least once (when Round #2 starts)
In order, everyone picks the gift they want and, in the end, everyone goes home with two gifts!
Hosting Ideas
A Favorite Things party is great for any time of year! It works really well as a Christmas party since it’s a fun way to exchange gifts, but it’s also a cute game for a Galentine’s party, a random Girls Night, a friend anniversary, or any other excuse to host a party!
To be the best Favorite Things Party host, you’ll want to make sure you have the below:
Food –
Whether it’s something to snack on or a full meal, every party needs food!
I love using cute platters or bowls and finding interesting ways to display food. You can find really great, affordable dishes and glassware at thrift stores!
I really like putting extra little food dishes on the tables we’ll be sitting around with small foods (like candy, nuts, mini pretzels) so guests have something to snack on while we’re chatting
Try to use plates, napkins, glasses, etc. that match the theme or colors!
Drinks – It’s always fun to make a specialty or themed drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). You should always have some basics as well, like wine or Aperol Spritz ingredients. It’s good to have non-alcoholic options like sparkling waters and soda too, especially if you’re party is on a weekday
I like to set up a drink station with all the ingredients, ice, supplies, and glasses so it’s easy for guests to serve themselves. Plus, it looks cute set up!
An extra touch is adding little signs with the drink name, ingredient labels, or the recipe. I used a wooden marquee-style sign and small chalkboard clips
Decorate the glasses by tying ribbons around the stems. This was definitely my favorite detail of this party!
You should also always have water and cups easily available. I like to repurpose old wine and liquor bottles as water jugs for the table
Gift Table – Since everyone will be bringing two gifts each, you’ll need a decent amount of space to display them. You can also create little name tags so each person knows where to set theirs
Décor – Décor doesn’t have to be over the top since the purpose of the party is the gift exchange, but a few decorations related to the theme (e.g., Galentine’s, Christmas, etc.) are a nice touch that guests love.
Tip: Flowers are always an easy go-to that add lots of color (plus you get to enjoy them after the party). Head to your local grocery store and choose bushels with one color/type of flower, so you can choose ones that match your theme and make multiple bouquets!
Music – You can make your own playlist with light background music or even easier, find a pre-made Spotify playlist!
Optional: Invitations & Favors – Sending guests a formal invitation gets everyone even more excited for your party. You can create one on Canva and send them as a picture over text or mail them. If you want to go above and beyond, give each of your guests a party favor to remember the night!
Ideas for a Christmas Favorite Things Party
I hosted my first Favorite Things party as a Christmas party so it was really fun to deck out the house in festive décor, food, music, and every little detail! Here are the specific details I did:
Food – Everything Christmas. Christmas colors, shapes, desserts, accents. Read below for the specific foods I made
Drink – The signature drink was a ‘Santa Spritz’: 2 parts prosecco, 1 part cranberry juice, a splash of pomegranate juice, and garnished with a sprig of rosemary and cranberries. I found cute double-sided, red and green ribbon that I tied around my coupe glasses
Décor – I had multiple Christmas trees, tons of lights, pines, wreaths, and other decorations. Be sure to decorate the table you’ll be sitting at with a garland, lights, candles, a table runner, flowers, etc., as well as around the food, drinks, and gifts. I also lit a lot of candles (real and fake) and put a fireplace scene on the tv!
Invitation – I designed an invitation on Canva by starting with a pre-designed template, which is by far the easiest way to create an invitation (and most designs for a party!)
Favors – If you can connect the favor to the party’s theme or something you know all the guests would like, even better! I’ve been obsessed with collecting matchboxes from Charleston restaurants and since I knew all the other girls are too, what better favor than a matchbox customized for the party (shoutout to my sister for the idea)! I bought generic matchboxes, created a graphic with the same design as the invitation, formatted to the correct dimensions, printed it onto a sticker sheet (I use Avery brand), and stuck them onto the boxes.
If you’re hosting a Favorite Things party another time of year, fun themes to lean into the Favorite Things vibe could be:
Favorite Things & Foods – in addition to gifting your favorite things, everyone brings their favorite appetizer or dessert to share
Galentine’s – all things hearts, pink, and adorable
Wine Tasting – pick up a few different types of wine, create little tasting cards, and everyone can try them while exchanging gifts
Cookie Exchange for Christmas – everyone brings a couple dozen of one type of cookie and everyone trades and takes home a tin full of different types
Self-Care Day – while gifting each other our favorite things, treat yourself even more with foot baths, face masks, cucumber eye masks, massagers, etc.
Food for Hosting
You really can’t go wrong with food at a party! Just try to pick crowd pleasers, make sure no one has food allergies, and don’t give yourself too much work beforehand (it’s okay to buy pre-made!). Here are some ideas that I did at my Favorite Things Christmas party:
A charcuterie board shaped as a wreath with a bow
Pull-apart cheesy bread shaped as a Christmas tree
Chocolate-covered strawberries as reindeers or with fun sprinkles
Chocolate-covered pretzels with red and green M&Ms
Classic Christmas cookies
Some other great options for a party are:
Pre-made platters from the grocery store, like fruit trays, peel-and-eat shrimp, or veggie platters
Oven-ready appetizers, like chicken tenders or jalapeño poppers
Chips and dip (Trader Joe’s has lots of yummy options)
Homemade pizzas or ham-and-cheese sliders
Any dessert, either homemade or from your local bakery
Bonus: Gift Ideas
My “favorite thing” gift was a glass jewelry box that I use to display my matchbox collection, as well as my favorite candle from a local business and a large shell from a nearby beach that I use as a jewelry dish.
The other guests brought:
Fuzzy robes
Framed paintings from a local artist
Blankets and candles
Weekender bags
Anthropologie Icon Juice Glass sets
Candles and lip glosses
All-natural laundry detergent powders & scent beads
Other ideas are your favorite self-care products, home goods, anything from a local business, a game, glassware – anything that you love to use, your friends will too!
A Favorite Things party is perfect for a holiday gift exchange, a unique theme for your Galentine’s party, or just a great reason to host a fun at-home get-together with friends! It makes gift giving so much easier, stress-free, affordable, and best of all: more fun.
Now start thinking of your “favorite things” you want to gift your friends and pick a date to host a Favorite Things party!
If you’re looking for other fun activities to do with friends, try starting a Book Club! I promise it’s easier than you think, and you’ll learn everything you need to know in our post: How to Host Your Own Book Club
Or check out our some of other ideas for hosting parties at home:
