I love a good party, especially one with an awesome theme that you can really get excited for.
It’s the anticipation of it that makes it really exciting. Having an ugly Christmas sweater party for the holidays is one of those special parties.
If you have never hosted this type of party, you are in luck because these tips will be simple and easy to implement.
So what is the ugly sweater party meaning or how did this type of party come about?
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The truth, I haven’t a clue. But I would guess it came about from the hideous sweaters that were popular in the late 80’s early 90’s.
Look at some of your old photos and look at some of the sweaters you wore and I bet you would cringe.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Invitation
Since this themed party is pretty popular getting invitations is not hard to find.
You can choose to send physical invitations, and if you do plan to go this route, make sure to get them out early so that your guests will receive them in a timely manner from the postal service.
Amazon has a list of funny invitations that are also included with Prime, and that is definitely a plus.
Also, Etsy has custom made ugly Christmas sweater party invitations where the seller does 1-3 business day shipping.
Or if you prefer the paperless option, Etsy has the option as a printable version.
A tip for the invitations is to have something that is funny but immediately grabs your guests attention. You want to get them really excited about this party.
Encourage your guests to be creative with their sweaters. Keep in mind there will be guests that will not want to make their own sweaters so recommend Ugly Christmas Sweater as an option to them. They have over 500 sweaters in stock and ready to be shipped.
Check out the 3-D Christmas sweater in action. You can really have fun with them.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Decorations
We all like to have fun am I right? So having a night filled with fun games and cocktails is a great way to let your imagination go wild and even get a little messy.
And I do mean allow your imagination run wild when it comes to the decorations.
The theme of the night is tacky or ugly so throw the rules of creating a beautiful scenery out the window. Or at least that’s my opinion about it.
The great thing about decorations is it doesn’t have to be expensive. There are great options you can find at your local dollar store or online.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Printables
There is also the option to DIY some of the decorations yourself. Here is a list of printables that I have found that will give you great options.
- Jillian Leslie @ Catch My Party has a full set of printables that also includes the awards and invite.
- Kara Woolery @ Clean Living Clean Eating has food cards and toppers.
- Jodie & Jen @ Eighteen25 have some nifty awards printables
- Rachel @ Craving Some Creativity for her award medals printables.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Food
You can’t have much of a party without food and there are many choices to choose from.
Making sure to base the food around the theme will ensure you can never go wrong.
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Make it self-serve so that each guest has the option to keep coming back for seconds without having to ask.
For the ugly Christmas sweater party food, keep it ugly or tacky with appetizers like these from My Recipes or make it a pot-luck with everyone bringing a dish.
Usually, when this happens there is more than enough food for everyone and saves you money.
Who doesn’t love saving money? Don’t leave out the sweats with themed ugly Christmas sweater cookies, cakes, or cupcakes.
Search on Pinterest for ideas and you will find a ton of inspiration.
Ugly Sweater Party Games
Having Christmas games will cause fierce but friendly competition and leave everyone in a happy mood.
Here are 25 different MINUTE TO WIN CHRISTMAS GAMES that Britni shares over at Play Party Plan.
I just love her blog, she comes up with some of the most exciting game ideas for the whole family.
Also with physical games, you can include board games that include multiple players.
If you have ever hosted an adult game night or family game night, you can never go wrong with a good board game!
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And let us not forget that the great motivation for wearing these ugly yet creative sweaters is to win the ugly sweater contest.
Source: Pinterest
Ugly Sweater Contest Ideas
This is the moment everyone has been waiting for is to be judged on their hideous effort of a sweater.
To make it really exciting you can create different categories like “most original”, “most outrageous”, “most festive” and so on.
Give each winner an award, which there are some great options on Amazon.
I hope these ideas for the best ugly Christmas sweater party will get you started in the right direction.
Just remember because of the theme of this party, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
It shouldn’t be pretty, it should be tacky or ugly.
Let me know how your experience with hosting this type of party and how it turned out in the comments below.
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I’m not sure where this tradition came from, but there sure are some ugly sweaters out there, it would be hard to pick a winner! #DreamTeam
I completely agree with you Jo. Thanks for stopping by!
Surely there’s no such thing as an ugly festive sweater?? Or maybe I’m just too much in the Christmas spirit at the moment!
#DreamTeam
Lol, no of course not!
This is such a fun idea! I love that there is a day that we are not trying to look our best, but to wear something totally ugly! So funny!
Thanks for linking up @LiveLifeWell! We are so thankful to have you link up with us!
Blessings,
Amy
I’ve never heard of an ugly Christmas sweater before 🙈 We have Christmas jumper day in the U.K. and it’s used to raise money for charity. All in good fun. Thanks for joining us for the #dreamteam
Your welcome Annette. Yeah I think here in the US it seems to get more popular as the years go especially now with social media, people are able to post so many cool ideas about these parties and it has made them very popular.
What a great idea. Thanks for sharing it. #alittlebitofeverything
Your welcome Patrick
I love the cake and the last picture of the lady with the stockings hanging from her sweater arms. Thanks for linking up! #BlogmasLinky
You are so welcome!
What a fun party idea ! Featuring when my link party opens up tonight. Thanks for sharing and being part of the fun!
Your sweater is awesome!!! I love it so much! We just got into this ugly sweater thing this year, but we’ve really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing with us at #LiveLifeWell.
Thanks so much for visiting. The sweater isn’t mine but I thought it was cute and funny. Yes, this type of party is becoming popular more and more now. Be blessed!
I am loving this post so much! I was just talking to someone about ugly sweaters and then I landed on this!
I’m going to share this on DailyMomBlogs on Facebook! Hopefully it’ll throw a little more traffic your way!
Thank you so much, Patty. These parties are a lot of fun and I love the fact that anything goes and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Thanks for sharing and stopping by!
I love ugly sweater parties!!! We haven’t gone to one in several years, I may throw one together at the last minute. #DreamTeam
Do It! They are so much fun and since it doesn’t have to be perfect, it makes it really easy to throw together. I love the less complicated things.