35 Fun Adult Christmas Party Theme Ideas
Are you looking for a fun Christmas party theme for adults? Holiday parties are always fun, but some of the themes are a little overdone. If you’re trying to come up with a fun and unique theme for your adult holiday party, look no further.
These 35 party themes are perfect for your grown up get together this Christmas season. From festive karaoke parties to scavenger hunts, choose from the best Christmas party themes to make your next holiday party a hit.
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Christmas Party Themes for Adults
While you don’t have to have a theme for your adult Christmas party, it does make it more fun for your guests. It also tells your guests what they can expect at your get together. An adult-only holiday party will give you and your friends a chance to relax and have fun in the crazy holiday season.
How to Pick a Holiday Party Theme
Picking a Christmas party theme can be tough. There are so many fun parties to choose from as you can see from the list below. Here are some quick tips to pick the perfect theme for your party:
Choose a theme based on who you’re inviting.
You should Pick a theme that will give the most guests the most fun. For example, If you’re having a party with a group of women who love to bake, you might opt to do a Christmas cookie exchange.
However, if you have a coed group where a lot of people don’t like to bake, then a cookie exchange probably won’t be the best choice. Try to find something that most of your guests would enjoy based on their interests.
Plan something that will be easy for the amount of guests you’re expecting.
A fancy dinner might be hard to plan for a ton of people and a dance party might be kind of lame with only a few guests. Try to pick something appropriate for the number of guests you’re expecting to come.
Plan the Extras Around Your Theme
The theme you choose will determine your decor, food, drink, and activity choices. So choose something that you can create a cohesive theme around.
Adult-Only Holiday Party Ideas
Use this list to choose a theme for your Christmas party that your guests will love. This list is meant to inspire you so pick and choose things to make the perfect party for you and your guests.
Remember that the most important aspect of your party is the fun!
1. Christmas Cookie Exchange
What’s better than meeting up and trading Christmas cookies? During a cookie exchange, adults usually meet up and bring a tray of homemade cookies along with copies of the recipe.
This way other guests can keep the recipe and make the cookies themselves. This type of party is really fun and allows your guests to discover new Christmas recipes.
2. White Elephant Gift Exchange
Another popular Christmas party theme is White Elephant (also known as Yankee Swap). You can create your theme around this gift exchange game and have all of your guests bring a secret gift to play the game with during the party.
3. Gingerbread House Building Contest
Gingerbread houses are tasty and fun to make. Turn your theme into a gingerbread house contest and you’ll have a great time!
As the host, you can either provide kits or all the supplies or have your guests bring their own. Then, give everyone a timeframe in which they need to build their gingerbread house. Whoever has the best house built at the end wins!
Another fun aspect of this party theme is that the guests will get to mingle and vote on the winner once they are done building. There are also a lot of yummy drinks and food that can be planned around this theme.
4. Store Bought Christmas Ornament Exchange
You can have your guests exchange Christmas ornaments for an easy and casual Christmas party theme. Have everyone bring an ornament that they have purchased to exchange.
You can have them exchange these in a white elephant or secret santa fashion, it’s totally up to you!
5. Handmade Christmas Ornament Exchange
This works the same as exchanging purchased ornaments. However, at this party, guests will exchange ornaments they made themselves.
This is a fun idea that usually results in some silly ornaments. It’s great for adults who like to get crafty.
5. Christmas Movie Marathon
Another fun idea for an adult-only Christmas party is to gather and watch their favorite christmas movies. You can make a whole day or evening out of this and choose several movies to watch together.
This is a perfect party to break out the Christmas drinks and snacks too.
6. Ugly Christmas Sweater Party
You’ve probably attended an ugly sweater party at some point. And although this isn’t a unique Christmas party idea, it’s definitely fun! Guests put on their ugly Christmas sweaters and sometimes vote on who has the best (worst) attire.
7. Secret Santa Gift Exchange
If you’re throwing a party for a group of close friends, the adults in your family, or for your office, a Secret Santa gift exchange can be really fun. Everyone draws a name and that is the person they are shopping for.
During your party, everyone will get together and reveal whose Santa they are and give them their gift.
8. Christmas Card Craft Night
Get crafty with your adult friends and make some Christmas cards together! You can draw, paint, or use paper crafts to design Christmas cards that you can send out to loved ones during the holiday season.
Fun drinks and food are a must for this fun Christmas themed party. You’ll have a ton of fun chatting and creating fun cards together.
9. Night Out at the North Pole
Turn your house or venue into the North Pole and invite your adult friends over for a Night Out at the North Pole. This is a fun theme that can be as simple or extravagant as you want to make it.
10. Hot Chocolate Social
For a casual get together, hosting a hot cocoa bar is a great idea! You can do this earlier in the day and make it short and sweet. Guests can mingle while they dress up their hot chocolate and munch on some treats.
11. Holiday Pajama Party
Christmas pajamas are comfy, fun, and festive. So, you can make your whole party theme around a Christmas pajama party.
Have your guests show up in their favorite holiday pjs and hang out together while enjoying each other’s company and good food.
12. Christmas Paint Night
Another crafty Christmas idea is to host a holiday paint night. Like a classic paint and sip, you can serve drinks and have an instructor guide your guests in painting.
However, with this holiday spin, you can have them paint something that they can add to their Christmas decor at home. Fun Christmas painting ideas could be things like:
- Christmas trees
- Santa
- Elves
- Gnomes
- Candy canes
- Stockings
13. Holiday Crafting Extravaganza
There are so many fun Christmas decorations that you can make. So why not gather your guests and create some homemade holiday decorations together?
What you create is totally up to you. You can set up several different stations that your guests can choose from. They’ll leave with fun memories and awesome holiday decorations!
14. Christmas Movie Theme
You can also create your adult holiday party around a favorite Christmas movie. For example, you can call your party “It’s a Wonderful Life” and create your party around the theme of the movie.
Have fun choosing the movie and creating your party based on the story line. You can decorate, serve food, and have guests come dressed as their favorite character from the movie.
15. Christmas Story Theme
This is like the movie theme, but for this theme you’ll choose your favorite Christmas story or book to base your party off of. Have fun decorating and choosing games or activities based off of a Christmas story!
16. White Christmas
If you’re looking for a more elegant party theme, White Christmas is sure to impress. You can plan your decorations, food, drinks, and the dress code around a white Christmas.
Your venue and guests will be looking extravagant in all white!
17. Vintage Christmas
When you want to get retro, host a vintage Christmas party instead. You can choose a certain decade that you’d like to relive or simply call it vintage and incorporate anything from holidays past.
This is a lot of fun and you can use recipes, music, and movies from long ago to incorporate into your theme.
18. Candy Canes
Candy canes scream Christmas and can make for a fun party theme. You can dress like candy canes, decorate with them, use them in drinks and yummy recipes.
So invite your friends over for a candy cane themed holiday party at your place!
19. Cookie Decorating Party
Although you can incorporate this theme idea with your kids, it’s also fun for an adults-only holiday party. As the host, you can bake cookies ahead of time for your guests to come decorate.
Have cookies in fun shapes available with lots of colors of icing for your guests to use to make their cookie creations. This works great with sugar and gingerbread cookies around Christmas time!
20. Christmas Carol Karaoke
Why not spread some holiday cheer through song? Holiday karaoke is a great theme for your adult Christmas party!
Take turns singing your favorite Christmas carols. You can even up the ante by having a contest and vote for the best singer.
21. Santa Hat Party
This is a simple party theme that works great for an office party or casual get together. Just have everyone wear their Santa hats. You can even make cute Santa hat desserts or appetizers.
22. Christmas Cocktails
Hosting a Christmas cocktail party is another fun way to celebrate with your friends. Have several holiday-inspired drinks available and invite others to bring their favorite drinks.
23. Holiday Game Night
Turn a regular game night into a holiday party by including Christmas-themed games and festivities. There are tons of fun Christmas games to play like trivia, word games, and pictionary that you can incorporate into your party.
24. Festive Fondue Party
A holiday party is a great excuse for fondue! You can invite your guests to bring dippable items and have cheese or chocolate fondue (or both!). Use holiday inspired appetizers and treats to dip in fondue with your friends.
25. Wrapping Party
Most of us dread wrapping all of those presents before Christmas. You can make this task way more fun by making a party out of it.
Invite your friends over and have them bring their gifts and wrapping supplies with them. You can drink, talk, and have fun while wrapping your gifts together!
26. Christmas Dinner Potluck
Christmas time is the perfect time to invite friends over and share a meal. Have everyone bring a dish and have a potluck together.
This is a perfect way to share your favorite holiday recipes and enjoy the company of those you love to be around!
27. Tree Decorating Party
Don’t want to decorate your Christmas tree alone? No problem! Make a party out of it and invite your friends over to help you while enjoying each other’s company.
28. Christmas on Ice
If you’d rather invite your friends to go out, make the theme around ice skating and hit up an ice rink together. Whether you’re pros or novices, you’re sure to have a fun time.
29. Christmas Light March
Another great way to get out and about for your Christmas party is to walk through town and check out the Christmas lights together. You can meet at a central location and fill some thermoses with hot cocoa and enjoy all of the Christmas lights and decor.
30. Holiday Dessert Party
One of my favorite things about Christmas is all of the yummy desserts that are made. From cookies to bon bons, everything about holiday dessert is amazing.
Have everyone bring their favorite Christmas dessert and spend the evening sampling delicious treats. You can even have guests write a story or the history of their recipe.
31. Holiday Scavenger Hunt
Turn your party into a friendly competition by hosting a scavenger hunt. Make a list of holiday themed things for your guests to search for either in your home at your party or around your neighborhood.
The guest who finds everything first wins!
32. Christmas Photo Booth
Holidays are great for photo ops. You can even make the center of your party theme a photo booth!
Grab some cute Christmas props and make a photo booth for your guests to use. This is a great idea for early on in the holiday season as guests can use the photos for Christmas cards and decorations.
33. Holiday Dance Party
If you’re dealing with larger groups of party guests, hosting a dance party is a great way to keep it casual and accommodate a lot of people. You can play Christmas music all night long while you and your guests dance the evening away.
34. Formal Christmas Dinner
If you’re hosting a small group of friends and are looking for elegant christmas party themes, hosting a formal dinner is the perfect way to celebrate.
Create an elaborate dinner menu with several courses and dessert. Everyone on your guest list is sure to be impressed!
35. Anti-Christmas Party
It’s hard to believe it, but not everyone loves Christmas. Some people get overwhelmed by all the holiday obligations going on.
So, you can give your guests a break from the festivities by hosting a regular party. Leave all the holiday pressure behind and just get together and have fun!
Before You Go
Hopefully you’ve found the perfect theme for your next Christmas party! Christmas is all about celebrating with the people you love.
Don’t forget the food! The following recipes may be just the thing you need to complete your party.
Easy Cherry Chip Cake Mix Cookies (Only 4 Ingredients!)
Gourmet Vanilla Cupcakes Made From Boxed Cake Mix
Jalapeno Poppers with Cream Cheese and Bacon
Plus, stop back by in October for this Halloween party theme idea list.
