Virtual Celebrations

It is mid-October so I am in full Christmas planning mode. I just wanted to share a few ideas of virtual celebrations that I am working on just in case they might also be helpful to you. The thing about doing things virtually is you have to allow for a little extra execution time. I know most people pop out the weekend before a big party, grab what they need and then show up on the appointed day…..well you have to allow for a little more time to order things, have them delivered, etc. Here’s a couple of virtual parties I am working on

Family Christmas Gathering:

I usually help plan our big Family Gathering. This is the whole extended family not just my immediate. So all the siblings and spouses from my mom’s generation, all the cousins from my generation, all of our kids, and their kids are invited. It turns out to be quite a few people and we range in ages 6 months to 80 plus. With everyone being kind of spread between colleges, work places, etc. we thought it would be safer to do a virtual celebration this year. So we are having a big family wide gift exchange. Here’s how it is coming together

1. I mailed letters to all of the family members explaining how it will work and asking them to let me know if they will participate
2. I will take all the names of the participants and randomly draw names and pair up gift giver with recipient
3. I will inform everyone who to purchase a gift for and provide them the address
4. Each person can order a gift and have it shipped directly to the recipient or they can do a porch drop off

Normally only the young kids exchange gifts so we all getting in on the action this year. The good thing about this plan is that some of our out of town family who always miss the big party are joining in.

I am also working on a Virtual Favorite Things Party

Each year I host about 25 ladies and we each bring 3 of our favorite things to the party. We draw names and exchange gifts. Each person goes home with three different favorite things. We are going to do something very similar and here is how it is playing out

1. I mailed everyone a letter explaining the party and asking if they will participate.
2. All the participants will ship their three items directly to me or drop them on my porch. I will draw the names and put everyone’s three items they will receive together
3. I will either ship their things to them or we will arrange a porch pick up

Lastly, I am ramping up my Christmas Card list this year. If you haven’t sent Christmas cards in a while, this is a great year to jump back in. I think we are all missing connecting with each other and this would be a fun way to let your people know you are thinking of them.

Hope those are helpful ideas for you……let me know what ideas you are working on for this holiday season.

Have a wonderful weekend.