One of the reasons I embarked on a career in event planning is my love of the memories I remember experiencing as a child around events. Events children attend often revolve around the holidays (what five year old goes to a movie premiere or sales kickoff?) so my earliest memories of events were the ones my Mom hosted regularly at our home around every holiday: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, the Fourth of July and birthdays. Now that my own son is a toddler and starting to engage in the holidays, I’m really enjoying starting traditions and creating experiences with him that I hope he carries into adulthood that way I have. Here are a few of my tips for creating lasting memories around the holidays, using Christmas as an example given the season.

Start Traditions

Holidays are a great time to start cherished traditions that you’ll look forward to all year. Consider a festive pre-Christmas event. For example, as a child, my family would always drive an hour away up to San Francisco to see a performance of The Nutcracker Ballet, then stay overnight and enjoy the lights and Christmas shopping of the City the next day. My husband and I now have a tradition of doing “caviar and gift-opening” then date night dinner the Saturday night before Christmas to give us a breather from holiday parties and the perfect opportunity to celebrate our love which is one of the greatest gifts.
Every Christmas Eve, my Mom had the tradition of letting my sister and I open one present, and it was always new pajamas! There was actually strategy to her gift because it guaranteed we would look cute for the Christmas photos and videos the next morning.
One of my own traditions is giving my husband and son a new glass-blown ornament each year that is related to something meaningful to them that year. This has helped grow our collection of tree decorations and is also so sentimental to unwrap each ornament and remember the years through the themes represented. For instance, the year I got pregnant with my son, I told my husband I had a bun in the oven, so he received a cinnamon bun ornament that year. I still smile with joy when I see that shiny glazed ornament remembering that happy time!

Make it Interactive

Come December, we find ourselves inundated with so many holiday party invitations. If you’re planning on hosting one, I recommend giving it a unique twist to help it stand out as more memorable than the rest. Consider how to you will entice people to attend your event, and once they’re there, hot you will engage your guests with more than just food and drinks.
One idea is to host a “tree decorating party”, inviting each guest to bring an ornament to add to your tree. Not only will it save you the time and money to decorate it, but it will give guests a meaningful way to contribute and engage with others, and share the reason why they brought a specific ornament to share.
Another friend of mine always hosts a Champagne party and encourages everyone to bring two bottles of (real) champagne to the party: One for everyone to open and drink there, and one to give as a gift to someone at the party.
My Mom would also always host a gingerbread house-making party for the neighborhood kids. Introducing nostalgia into adult-events is a great way to break down barriers, and encourage people to embrace their inner creative child. I’ll often leave crayons and paper, playdoh, silly putty, or other toys as place settings because it encourages people to figure out what to do with it and think outside the box while making conversation.

Anticipation and Sensory Cues:

Just like with corporate events, I like to encourage planners to focus not just on an event (or holiday) itself, but on the experience leading up to and following an event. Studies have shown that people tend to enjoy the build up leading up to a vacation more than the vacation itself because of anticipation. Similarly, you can use fun, memorable tactics to generate anticipation and excitement around your holiday event well in advance of the actual event.
As a child I loved the entire month of December, not just Christmas Day when we got to rip open our presents because my Mom built so many fun traditions into the preparation of the holiday. We would start by getting out all of the Christmas music CD’s (remember those?) and my father would always let us buy a new Christmas CD or two each year to add to the collection. This set the scene for us to then start decorating the inside of the home, baking cookies, setting up the tree, all with the cheery atmosphere created.
My Mom would always get us an advent calendar so we could count down the days until Christmas. There are so many creative advent calendars out there now - featuring gifts, chocolate, charms...you can go above and beyond for a loved one by making a custom advent calendar. Each window represents something meaningful to that person (can be photos, words, or even small trinkets). Etsy is filled with ideas for how to execute!
Even simple sensory cues can really ignite people’s memories. I like to brew a pot of mulled cider while people are in my home for a party or while decorating the tree to put everyone in a festive spirit.

Since reminiscing is such a fun part of making and reliving memories, ask your parents, grandparents ,and friends about their holiday customs growing up. Sharing stories, traditions, and values is the best gift to each other that doesn't cost a thing and might also inspire you.

I’d love to hear about your traditions - please drop me a line here!