New Year’s Eve Ideas for Couples: Bringing in the New Year at Home

New Year’s Eve Ideas for Couples: Bringing in the New Year at Home
It’s amazing how quickly a year seems to fly by these days. How can it be that we are thinking about the end of the year? Now we have to figure out how we are going to celebrate it? Over the years it seems as if how we bring in the new year has changed. Rarely do we opt for going anywhere. Instead, we prefer to stay and home and bring in the new year just the two of us. I thought I would come up with a few ideas New Year’s Eve ideas. Now you can create an evening that you and your special someone can enjoy at the last minute.
Whether you are looking to have a low-key evening with takeout or a full-blown gourmet meal there are many ways you can make this evening fun. You can choose to stay up until the “ball drops” in your time zone. Watch the ball drop early and start the new year with a good night’s rest. Or choose to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Whatever your preference let’s add something to make the evening one that is fun for you and your special someone.

Our Typical NYE at Home
Just going to be honest here. Our typical New Year’s Eve at home usually starts with appetizers of some sort and a cocktail. I usually fix a nice, but easy dinner. You can read my favorite menu for an easy at home celebratory dinner here. Desserts are usually purchased at one of our favorite bakeries. What you see in the photos above is a typical assortment that I do for the two of us. A little decadence, but not too much.
We may or may not get dressed up for the evening. It totally depends upon our mood that day. Also the weather plays a big part. If it’s really cold out, then most likely we are dressed in something warm and cozy for the night in. We typcially watch the ball drop from around the world. Reason for this…..I am not a night owl. I can’t tell you how many years Mark has to wake me up to wish me a Happy New Year.
If your typical New Year’s Eve evening is anything like our, then add in something fun this year. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices going. They don’t require much advanced planning. I promise.
New Year’s Eve Activities
Idea #1 – Make a Signature Cocktail (or Mocktail) that Reflects Your Year
Ok, who doesn’t love a great cocktail or mocktail. You can plan this in advance. Each of you gets to make a cocktail that reflects the year that you have had. You get to exchange cocktails to kick off the evening.
Not only will it be fun to have the cocktail, but it will also be agreat way to reminisce about the past year.
My favorite place to turn to for amazing cocktails with fun names is the food blogger, Half Baked Harvest. Every recipe I have tried from her site is delicious. Plus, enjoy the food photography.
Idea #2 – Set resolutions or goals together for the New Year
Some people like to make resolutions. Other like to set goals. Whichever work for you is the way to go. It is something that you can talk about and even write down while you are enjoying your signature cocktail. They can be individual or couple oriented. Either way, enjoy talking about the year you are finishing out. It’s also a great way to plan for the new year.
Idea #3 – Make a Wish Jar
Ok, this can have many themes. We all have things that we wish for. Pick a theme for the year ahead and each of you can contribute “wishes”. Just hand write them on same sized pieces of paper that you can pull them out from time to time. Have fun with a theme. It could be new restaurants to try, places to go for a hike, books to read and discuss.
This year we have several travel wishes. So I am planning for each of us to write our “wish list” of travel destinations for the year. This way it is the luck of the draw to see where we go.
Idea #4 – Binge watch movies
This ideas can take on a few different directions. You could binge watch your favorite holiday movies (maybe you didn’t get to them in December) since you won’t be in the mood to watch them for another eleven months. Watch your favorite movies in a specific genre like comedy, romance, or comfort.
AFI 100 Goals for the New Year
What I think would be fun is to start a new years goal to watch “X” movies from the AFI 100 list in the new year. The AFI 100 is the 100 greatest American movies of all times. Print out the list ahead of time, see how many you have actually watched. Then you can start ticking off the rest of the list by binge watching a few.

Thanks
I hope that this inspired you with some New Year’s Eve ideas to do as a couple at home. Let me know in the comments below what you have planned for the evening. Wishing you and yours a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Hugs,

Thanks to Mud Pie Gifts for gifting me the beautiful gold rimmed serving dishes.
We used to do this with another couple…have dinner and watch a movie. So much better than being out in the crowds.
XOXO
Jodie
I know. We have only done NYE out a couple of times in the last 20 years and that was because we were traveling. I love the idea of the AFI 100. Did you see how many of those movies you two have watched. Fun thing to do for 2023.
Beth