Favorite Things Party

Last night my mom and I hosted a “Favorite Things Party”! We have been wanting to host one for a couple of years, and thought that this holiday season would be the perfect opportunity.

My mom has 5 best friends, and they all have daughters, so it was the perfect guest list. We had my mom’s best friends and their daughters all come together for an evening of fun, food, drinks, and favorite things!

If you haven’t heard about a Favorite Things Party, you’re in for a serious treat. We all have products that we absolutely adore. Have you ever tried a new brand of deodorant or swear by a particular brand of mascara and love to tell everyone you know about these products? 

We naturally want to share our favorite things with our friends so that they can have the same fantastic experience and benefits with the products we recommend. That’s the idea behind a Favorite things party, sharing your favorite items with your friends.

What Exactly is a Favorite Things Party?

A favorite things party is a party where you share, or gift, your favorite items in your life with your friends. You can choose to invite as few or as many friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers as you want to enjoy the party with you. 

Typically, this type of party will last anywhere from one to three hours. If a Favorite Things Party sounds fun, follow these steps to create your own party.

How to Host a Favorite Things Party

1. Start by Setting a Budget

Before sending out the invitations, you need to set a budget limit. The idea is that each guest will bring a certain number of items depending on how many guests are attending. That means if 10 guests are going to show up, your guests will bring 10 gifts to the party.

If you’re planning on inviting a ton of guests, use a low budget limit of $5 per gift to ensure that everyone can participate. However, if you’re inviting fewer guests, you could change the limit to be anywhere between $10-$30. 

It’s super important to determine the budget and make it clear to every invitee so that everyone is on the same page.

We did a budget of $5-$10 since there was going to be 8 of us total.

2. Pick Your Favorite Things Party Strategy

There are three different ways you can choose to run your Favorite Things Party. There is no right way. It just depends on what sounds more fun to you.

Classic Favorite Things Party

The classic favorite things party is when each guest brings enough items for every other guest at the party to enjoy. We asked each of our guests to wrap all of their things so we each can open them individually.

Every person gets a turn to showcase their specific item and talk about why they chose it. After everyone has spoken about the things they brought, each guest will get to take one of each to take home.

3. Invite Your Guests

It’s time to create a guest list and send out your invites. Start by choosing a time, date, and location for your party. You can choose to host the party in your own home or host your event at a restaurant. A home is preferable because you don’t have to set a time limit for your party.

Send out your invitations at least two weeks in advance. You can keep this simple with a phone call or text, a custom invite or use an online platform to send out free digital invitations. 

Make sure you include the party’s rules, as many of your guests may not be familiar with this type of event. Track your RSVPs, and let your guests know the final party count so they know how many items they need to buy.

4. Choose Your Food & Beverages

You don’t need to go crazy when choosing what type of food or beverages you plan to supply at your party. Simple appetizers like veggies, fruits, cheese board, or any other kind of finger foods are excellent for these types of parties. If you’re having a morning party, donuts and mimosas are a perfect, easy option!

We are all big foodies, so we had everyone bring an appetizer or dessert. It was great because we had such an array of different bites and goodies. I ended up making a crab rangoon dip (recipe here!) and mom ended up making pepper jelly cream cheese pinwheels (recipe here!) and party shrimp (recipe here!).

For beverages, I knew I wanted to do something festive and a little fancy. We ordered some edible glitter and I made delicious pomegranate champagne spritzers (recipe here!). They were so cute and festive!

5. Purchase Your Supplies 

We left the shopping and ideas up to each lady! We suggested anything that is your favorite. That could be a beauty product, home product, food, kitchen gadget, book, the possibilities are truly endless.

I knew exactly what my favorite thing was going to be: Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick.

This is my go to lipstick! I have it in about 7 different shades. It lasts all day and night, and really is simply amazing. So I picked one up for everyone, tied them with a little bow, and was ready to go!

Here are a few of the other favorite things we had:

• Trader Joe’s wine
• Candle
• Poem book
• Lip Mask
• Mascara
• Appetizer dip bowl
• Raspberry pecan jelly
• Face primer
• Hand sanitizer

We purchased these adorable tote bags as a party favor and a way for all the ladies to bring home all of their new goodies!

Final Favorite Things Party Notes

Hosting a Favorite Things Party can be as extravagant or as simple as you want. There is no official standard you need to maintain, so make sure to have fun with it. You can even make it a themed party like a Great Gatsby costume party or a pajama party. 

A favorite things party can be hosted at any time of the year. It could be a fun Christmas party alternative or make a random weekend in March a little more exciting.

A Favorite Things Party is not only a great way to score some unique gifts, but it allows you the opportunity to learn more about your friends and the things they love so much.

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