After the holidays, winter officially kicks off. It can seem daunting to try to outdo all of those grand holiday festivities, but, with some careful planning, your winter party can shine with the best — and distract your guests from the next few weeks of predictably chilly weather. Here is your guide to planning a private yacht charter for your winter gala.
Plan a Savvy Party Theme
There are three different strategies for choosing a theme for a winter yacht party, and your guest list will guide you to the right selection:
- Embrace the chill! Plan a party with a winter theme (Frozen is an obvious choice, especially if you’ve got a young guest list, but you can also go with chic candlelight, cozy ski cabin, Super Bowl, winter woodlands, snow globe, or another wintery theme.
- Fight the chill! Counteract the cold by convincing your guests you’re actually in a warm, tropical paradise. Hawaiian, barbecue, beach party, and African themes do this extraordinarily well.
- Ignore the chill! You don’t have to let the fact that it’s winter affect your party theme at all. Popular themes year-round include international themes (let your guests come as someone from a country of their choosing, or pick a single nationality to focus the theme), casino parties, Old West, masquerade balls, or a current popular TV show or movie like Game of Thrones, Star Wars, or The Hunger Games.
Create a Warm Menu
Whatever theme you choose, winter is the ideal time to enjoy rich comfort foods that nobody really wants to cook or serve when the weather is hot. Stews and chili are warming, as are hearty beef and pork dishes. It’s generally a good idea to steer clear of ham and turkey during January and February, because most people got their fill of these in November and December.
For vegetarians, try substituting tofu in a traditional winter entree, such as beef stroganoff or lasagna. Alternately, you can serve all-raw fruit and vegetable dishes, which are in vogue in a number of high-end restaurants. Offer a variety of warming drinks, too, like hot chocolate or apple cider with cinnamon sticks, or provide a full coffee bar with mochas, lattes, and cappuccinos.
Think Outside the Box for Entertainment Ideas
Likely, your guests became bored with the standard comedians, magicians, and musical acts at the stream of parties they attended from October through December. This means you’ve got to step it up a notch for January and February parties. Try something innovative for your yacht charter party, such as:
- A dueling piano performance — use four to six local pianists and let them battle it out for Master of the Ebonies and Ivories!
- Hire a speed painter to create portraits or caricatures of guests — Bonus: they go home with mementos of the special event!
- A sushi rolling party — Hire a sushi chef to teach guests how to roll their own sushi rolls; a valuable skill your guests will appreciate learning.
- Hold an Iron Chef competition — Let guests sample the fare created by two up-and-coming area chefs and vote on the winner. It’s dinner, plus entertainment, rolled into one!
- Plan a mystery party — This is ideal for smaller groups. Each guest assumes the role of a character within the murder mystery, and everyone plays sleuth until who-done-it is revealed. Alternately, you can hire a local theater group to perform a dinner mystery theater for your guests to enjoy.
Keep Some Winter Essentials on Hand for Guests
Doubtlessly, at least one or two people will forget or lose their mittens, scarf, or hat. It’s a superb idea to purchase a few of these at a local discount store so that you can save the day for these poor, chilly souls. You’ll surely be the host or hostess with the most-ess when you can restore them to warmth so they can relax and enjoy the cruise!
To plan any special event for winter, spring, summer, or fall, contact Yachts for All Seasons at 212-534-6380 or 917-864-7670.
