The pandemic Covid-19 has forced everyone to live apart. There were a couple of months when you all had to be locked in your house, disconnecting all ways of contacting your friends and family in person. Though we all have come to the end of 2020, you still do not have the freedom to meet your family and friends due to the contagious virus.
Most of the people are asymptomatic, and therefore it is better to maintain physical distancing from your loved ones. It is not even one month to Christmas, and this year it is not going to be as every year. No invitations, no parties, and no family gatherings. Is this going to be dull this year? Will, you were not able to celebrate Christmas?
Well, you do not need to be despondent. Though you will not be able to look in on your friends and family, it does not mean that you cannot see them and cannot celebrate with them. Here comes the role of a virtual Christmas party. As the name suggests, you will be meeting your friends and family on the internet.
This year you will share your feelings and raise a toast with your friends on the internet. To host a virtual party, all you need to have is a guest list, scheduled time and a platform. If you want to celebrate 2020 Christmas with gusto and bonhomie instead of binging on potato chips and sipping wine, you should grab a laptop or your smartphone to install one of these apps to host a virtual party.
- Houseparty
It is a social networking app that can allow you to connect with your family and friends virtually. However, you can only video chat eight people at a time. This is the best virtual platform for conducting parties if you do not have many people to celebrate with.
Adding friends to Houseparty is not difficult at all. Tap the “Plus” button in the top right corner to add friends. Tap “Add from contacts” if you want to invite people from your current contacts. The app can also allow you to connect with your Facebook and Snapchat friends. Party time means fun time. There is no point in having a party if you guys are not playing games.
Make each others’ day by playing games available on the app, for instance, Trivia, Chips, Quick Draw, and Guac. All you need to do is to tap a game and invite friends to play. The game starts as they accept the invitation.
- Zoom
Although you can download a Zoom app on your smartphone, you should try to use Zoom on your computer or laptop if you want to throw a virtual party. Whether you are hosting an office party or personal party, you need to have an account to invite others. However, it is not needed to join the party.
Unlike Houseparty, you can host up to 100 people at a time. However, it would help if you were not more than necessary to avoid having people left out of the conversation. As you send invitations for a scheduled meeting in advance, you can invite your connections for parties.
However, if it sounds a bit professional and you want to keep the party as casual as possible, just click the “New Meeting” tab and then “Invite”. Copy the URL and then text it to your friends whom you want to invite.
If you do not want to invite all of them at the same time due to any reasons, you can send the URL to a few people at a time. It will allow you to have more conversation with everyone. The best part of hosting a party on Zoom is you can go on for free if the party is past 40 minutes.
Now that you have got to know two popular platforms for running Christmas parties, but now you should know how you can add the festival spirit to your party that is a not-so-like-a-Christmas party.
- Gifts exchange
Gifts exchange is the most popular tradition. You cannot fill spark to the party without exchanging gifts. Well, how will you send gifts if you are hosting a virtual party? Although you all are greeting each other from a distance, you can still feel like being in the party atmosphere. You can send gifts to all invitees at least a week before conducting a virtual party so that day they all can open their gifts and thank each other. You all can prepare a cocktail or mocktail and raise a toast from the comfort of your home.
- Entertainment should not be missing.
A party seems to be blanched without entertainment. After spending a year of not being able to watch live entertainment, your guests will be thrilled if you treat them with a rendition of some of the popular entertainers. Well, this might be an expensive way to celebrate Christmas. If you do not want to spend that much money, do not worry because you can play background music on your computer or laptop. Encourage your all guests to turn on music and dance. Your virtual party will undoubtedly be legendary. Your guests will feel like being a part of a party.
- Do not forget to include games.
Although Houseparty can allow you to play some of the games, you can also introduce your own games to the party. Games add on fun, and a party seems to be incomplete without them. Apart from Trivia games, you can play Christmas Escape Room where you have to crack the codes and Virtual Murder Mystery in which you all have to scrutinize the evidence to unravel the mystery.
This Christmas does not need to be blanched because you can invite all your friends and family on Zoom and Houseparty. Of course, it will require you to spend money on all arrangements. If you are running out of money, take out installment loans in the UK.