10th Annual Girls Dirty Santa Party

I am finally here to recap my 10th ANNUAL girls dirty Santa party that I love throwing every year!

This one was extra special since it was the 10th year and I tried to do a few little things that set it apart from the rest.

The hardest part of the party every year is just getting my house decorated and ready, because the party always sneaks up on my quickly. And since we never decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, it means I have to go zero to one hundred pretty quickly! But it is fun to have the motivation and its always a great way to kick off the holiday season.

I hired a catering crew this year to do a lot. It was quite the team and set up. They did an amazing job with everything and really took control handling all the food and the bar service. One thing that we did this year that I have never done in the past is having pass around hors d’oeuvres. All of us girls are always busy gabbing at the beginning of the party and we never stop to take a minute to go nibble on the appetizers. So this time they came right up to us and it was perfect. We had mini crab cake bites, fried oysters with brie on a baguette, and my favorite grilled cheese with a sip of tomato soup! They were all amazing.

For dinner, we had short ribs and BBQ shrimp over grits, a nice salad and little green bean bundles. All of that was amazing too and the presentation was beautiful.

I have always made a designated time at the party where I make all the girls stop chatting for a minute and force everyone to make a plate and sit down to eat. But this year, I took it up a notch and set the tables for 22 of us! That was fun. It was a little cold out, but not too bad; so I set the dining table inside and the one outside and it worked out just fine. I didn’t do name cards, so everyone just got in line to make their plate and picked a spot. It worked out great.

Placemats {Lucy Grymes} | Green and Blue Napkins {Fenwick Fields} | Napkin Rings {Klatso Home} | Green Bow Napkin Ties {Lucy Grymes} | Blue and Green Candle Sticks {Addison Ross Home}

It is a yearly tradition that I make the same Ms. Holiday Punch that is quite tasty and makes for a pretty presentation and then pretty much everyone drinks champagne or wine after that.

This is the caterers setting up at my house . They bring a big truck and utilized my garage and the truck to make and prep all the food so they are not in your kitchen cooking. Its pretty incredible how they do it! That part was quite nice. The company is Classic City Catering for any locals.

I printed a menu off from Fernandino Paper Company. She always has the cutest designs.

I have never done a bartender in the past because the wine and champagne is all pretty easy to serve yourself, but it was pretty nice to have him for the party. He made sure everyones wine glasses were always full and I also had him make my favorite recipe for Espresso Martinis as a little dessert cocktail after dinner that were so delicious! I keep forgetting to share the recipe with y’all on instagram. I will do that in the next week or so.

Our side porch is just my very favorite all decorated this time of year with the fireplace on. It just feels so charming and cozy. I try to always get the group to come hang out here for a little bit if its not too windy and freezing. This year, we had a really cool photo booth set up out here that I have never used before. Unfortunately, we didn’t use it as much as I had hoped; but it was still cute.

I made a quick little toast and said it was time to eat!

My outfit for the night!

Matt got to say a quick hello to the ladies before he was heading out to a work dinner.

The whole gang!!

Now its time to unwrap those gifts!! So once everyone is done eating, we head straight into the dirty Santa game. Our limit is $150 or less, so they are really nice gifts! We have slowly upped the budget each year, but I think $150 is a sweet spot.

I love that lots of girls shop during the Black Friday sales too so sometimes they are able to snag items that might go for $200 at a price of $150. We had hats and lunya pajamas and beautiful fur scarves and jewelry and make up and so much more. It’s always fun to see what everyone brings and then what items get “frozen” at the end.

The mini espresso martinis!

And thats a wrap on our 10th annual dirty Santa party!! It’s a tradition we have all loved and have had so much fun with. I don’t think I can ever quit!