How to host a favorite things party

13 March 2017

Ever since Brooke wrote about throwing a “Favorite Things” party many moons ago, I’ve wanted to host one myself! The rapidly-approaching end of my 60 Before 30 project was enough to get my butt in gear, and I’m so happy to say that this eagerly-anticipated event was just as fun as I thought it would be. Here’s how I organized mine, in case you’re interested in hosting your own!

Instead of inviting my usual roster of friends, I decided to use this party as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors a bit better. To make things simple, I issued a Facebook invitation. Here’s the text I used in case you’d like to copy it :)

Hi friends and neighbors!

I’ve wanted to host a “favorite things” party for a long time, and figured Valentine’s Day and meeting more neighbors were perfect excuses! :)

If you reply YES (which I hope you do!), plan to bring your favorite thing with you on the 16th (anything you like… your favorite lip balm, favorite kitchen tool, favorite gift wrapping supply, a gift card for your favorite frozen yogurt, favorite plant, etc.). Don’t spend more than $10, and bring THREE of the same thing (for a total of $30 or less). You’ll go home with the favorite things of three other ladies!

If you’d like to bring a dessert or bottle of wine or another drink to share, as well, that would be great! You can comment below with what you’ll bring so we can all get excited :)

Finally, please feel free to extend the invitation to any other ladies you love in [our neighborhood]!!

Looking forward to it!

Emily

Going the Facebook route made it very easy for friends to invite other friends, something I was really trying to encourage! We ended up having three gals attend who I’d never even met before – success!

The party was on a Thursday, starting at 8pm (after kiddos were in bed – another bonus of it being neighborhood-centric was that everyone just walked over, some in slippers, after lights out!). The first half hour or so was spent chatting and eating dessert, the second was spent passing out the “things,” and the third was spent chatting :) For decor, I cherry-picked the Target Dollar Spot on February 15.

Upon arrival, I had everyone write their names on three slips of paper and fill out one of the interview cards I made:

Then, I read the cards one by one, and everyone tried to guess who had written each. The person who guessed correctly introduced her favorite thing, then drew three slips of paper from the bowl and gave her things to those three guests. We continued until everyone had three new things to go home with!

I had a duo for my favorite thing: EO French Lavender hand soap, which I first smelled at Serenbe and always makes me feel like I’m in a fancy hotel, and a few brownie bites from Whole Foods. If you haven’t tried the latter yet, you probably shouldn’t – they are my ultimate WF weakness. Other gals brought cute socks, a milk frother, a body scrub, a silpat mat and three favorite recipes, and face masks, to name a few.

This was such a fun evening – in fact, we’ve already talked about making it a twice-yearly tradition! I was definitely nervous to put myself out there, especially without my usual crew around me, but I think the “favorite things” aspect actually lowered the pressure, because there was something to “do” instead of just stand around and chat. Highly recommended all around :)

Have you ever been to a Favorite Things party? What would you bring if you were invited to one? It was really hard to decide!

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March 13, 2017 9:22 am

You read my mind, because I was wondering what a Favorite Things party was when you wrote about it in another post! This sounds like so much fun and such a great ice breaker for making new friends!

kayla
March 13, 2017 12:38 pm

love this! my college girlfriends and i have been doing something like this for a number of years. we used to do pretty elaborate secret santa exchanges in college (our senior year we did 12 days of christmas with themed gifts every day– it was… intense). there are 6 of us and we’re kind of all across the spectrum in terms of organization and levels of thoughtfulness, haha. so, we decided to start doing a favorite things party where we all bring 5 of the same item ($10 limit) so everyone gets all the same stuff. it’s one of my very favorite traditions. the wheels are starting to fall off though, now that we’re entering a new era of having kids and having less time to put together a thoughful gift. sometimes the gift doesn’t always end up being representative of someone’s favorite thing and just ends up being a $10 target gift card because “everyone loves target!” a couple girls did suggest that we go back to secret santa next year though, so…. we shall see. :)

March 13, 2017 1:30 pm

I am glad you wrote about this because I had no idea what it was when you posted about it. It sounds fun and a great way to get to know people. I love that soap and use it all over my house!

Samantha
March 13, 2017 2:51 pm

Em, I LOVE this idea! Especially for getting to know different groups of friends. I think I will tuck this one in my back pocket for a future date. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and I love that hand soap!!

Cassie
March 13, 2017 3:47 pm

I throw a fav things party every holiday season for my girlfriends – going on seven years now! It’s a smallish group of 6-8 people, so we bring one of each favorite thing for everyone ($5-10 price limit).

March 13, 2017 8:32 pm

What a great idea! We’ve been toying with the idea of organizing a spring potluck for our neighbors but I think this route would make for deeper connections with others. Love it

Kelly Strawberry
March 14, 2017 8:58 am

I’ve been looking forward to this post and was so excited when I saw it this morning. You are an inspiration! Thank you for sharing your version of this wonderful idea :)

Heidi
March 18, 2017 11:33 pm

I’ve always wanted to try one of these parties, and I think I will this year! Thanks for giving me an idea of how to organize it.

March 29, 2017 1:57 pm

This is awesome – I have always wanted to host a Favorite Things Party but didn’t know how… Thanks for sharing!
Definitely going to try this one out soon x