Christmas Dinner Party Ideas: Games, Menu and Themes

The best Christmas dinner party ideas let you sit down and enjoy your own party. That means a menu you make the day before, one clear theme, a drink everyone can have, and something to do between courses so the evening doesn’t stall after the main. Below you’ll find six themes, a make-ahead Christmas dinner menu, festive drinks, dinner party games that work at the table, and a simple timeline for the night.

How Do You Plan a Christmas Dinner Party?

Plan a Christmas dinner party in five steps:

1. Pick a theme. It decides the dress code, the table and the music, so you make fewer choices later.
2. Set the guest list. Six to 12 guests is the sweet spot: everyone fits around one table and nobody gets left out of the conversation.
3. Send invitations two to three weeks ahead. December fills up fast.
4. Plan a make-ahead menu. If most of the food is done the day before, you get to be a guest at your own party.
5. Plan one activity. A game between courses gives the evening a shape and a second wind.

Six Christmas Dinner Party Themes

A theme doesn’t have to be elaborate. One line on the invitation (“Dress: velvet and tweed”) is enough to change the whole night.

1. A Christmas Murder Mystery Dinner

The dinner becomes the entertainment. Every guest arrives as a character, clues come out between courses, and dessert is served while everyone argues about who did it. Murder at Hollyberry Hall is set on Christmas Eve at a snowbound Vermont country house, where Reginald Holloway is found dead beneath the mistletoe just after the gift exchange. It’s for 6 to 12 players, runs about 2.5 hours and suits adults and mixed groups with teens. For more on this theme, see our Christmas murder mystery party ideas.

2. A Country House Christmas

Candles, evergreen branches down the table, tartan napkins and a dress code of velvet, tweed and pearls. Serve a glazed ham and mulled wine, and play carols on low.

3. A Roaring Twenties Christmas

Black, gold and white, cocktails in coupes (or teacups, speakeasy style) and a jazz playlist. It doubles as a New Year’s warm-up. Our 1920s murder mystery party, Murder at the Gilded Lily, fits this theme for 6 to 10 players.

4. A Wine Country Christmas Dinner

A long table, candles in wine bottles, a cheese course and a pairing for each dish. Murder at Vintner’s Rest is a harvest-dinner mystery for 6 to 8 players that works just as well in December.

5. A Friendsmas Potluck

Everyone brings one dish and one bottle, you supply the main and the dessert. Assign courses on the invitation so you don’t end up with six cheese boards.

6. An Ugly Sweater Dinner

Casual, loud and easy. Give a prize for the worst sweater and keep the food simple: a big roast, sides and a dessert bar.

For more ideas, browse our list of Christmas party themes for adults.

What Food Should You Serve at a Christmas Dinner Party?

Serve food that’s ready before guests arrive. The rule that saves every host: one thing cooks in the oven by itself, everything else is made the day before or served cold. Here’s the Christmas Eve menu from Murder at Hollyberry Hall, designed for a host who also wants to play:

• To drink: Hollyberry mulled wine, and the Sugarplum Sparkler (cranberry, ginger ale and lime) for anyone not drinking.
• While you mingle: Brie and cranberry bites, and rosemary candied pecans.
• Dinner: Honey and orange glazed ham with maple roasted vegetables. The vegetarian swap is maple roasted squash with pecans and cranberries.
• Dessert: Chocolate peppermint pots, made the day before.
• After the reveal: Homemade Hollyberry peppermint creams.

A make-ahead plan

• Up to a week before: the candied pecans (they keep in a jar).
• The day before: the chocolate pots, the peppermint creams and the ham glaze.
• That afternoon: assemble the Brie bites, chop the vegetables and chill the mocktail ingredients.
• About 1½ hours before guests arrive: the ham goes into the oven at 325°F.
• 30 minutes before: start the mulled wine on low.
• As the first round starts: glaze the ham and turn the oven up to 400°F for 15 minutes while you play.

Check your guests’ allergies when you invite them. Nuts, dairy and gluten turn up in a lot of Christmas food.

Christmas Dinner Party Drinks

Pick one warm drink, one cold drink and one alcohol-free option, and make the first two in batches:

• Mulled wine in a slow cooker on “warm” looks after itself all evening. Don’t let it boil.
• A cranberry sparkler (cranberry juice, ginger ale, lime and frozen cranberries) works for teens, drivers and anyone skipping alcohol.
• A hot chocolate bar with peppermint sticks is an easy dessert drink.

What Games Can You Play at a Christmas Dinner Party?

The best Christmas dinner party games work around the table, so nobody has to get up or clear space:

• A murder mystery dinner. The only game that lasts the whole evening. Each guest plays a character, clue cards come out between courses and everyone accuses a suspect over dessert.
• Christmas trivia. Play in teams between the main and dessert. Twenty questions take about 20 minutes.
• Who am I? Stick a festive character’s name on each guest’s back (or forehead) and let them ask yes-or-no questions.
• Two truths and a lie, Christmas edition. Each guest shares three Christmas memories, and the table guesses the fake one.
• White elephant gift swap. Set a price limit on the invitation and play it after dessert.
• Pass the parcel with forfeits. Wrap a small prize in layers with a silly dare between each one.

For more, see our Christmas party games for adults, or our office Christmas party games if you’re hosting colleagues.

How Does a Christmas Murder Mystery Dinner Work?

A Christmas murder mystery dinner is a party game played over a meal. Here’s how Murder at Hollyberry Hall runs:

1. Before the party: you assign characters and send invitations, so guests can plan costumes.
2. Arrivals: guests meet in character over mulled wine and the Brie bites.
3. Round one, Season’s grievances: everyone discovers just how many people Reginald managed to upset this year.
4. Round two, Alibis and secrets: where was everyone during the carols? Secrets come out and alibis crack.
5. Round three, The evidence: clue cards reveal the physical evidence, usually over dessert.
6. The reveal: everyone names a suspect before the host reads the solution.

The host can play a character too, and the game flexes from 6 to 12 guests: six core characters cover the solution, and optional characters let you add more without changing it.

A Christmas Dinner Party Timeline

A simple running order for a 7 p.m. start:

• 7:00 p.m.: Arrivals, welcome drinks and bites.
• 7:30 p.m.: Sit down. Starter, or the first round of your game.
• 8:00 p.m.: Main course.
• 9:00 p.m.: Dessert and the main game.
• 9:45 p.m.: Coffee, peppermint creams and a gift swap for anyone still going.

Our how to host a murder mystery party guide has a three-week countdown if you’d like more detail.

Christmas Dinner Party Table and Decor

Keep the table low enough to see across: evergreen branches and candles down the middle (battery LED candles near greenery and paper), place cards at each setting and a printed menu. If you’re hosting a mystery, add a “crime scene” under the mistletoe and a small evidence table for clue cards. Our murder mystery party decorations guide has 25 more ideas.

Get the Whole Christmas Dinner Party Planned

If you’d like the theme, menu, game and decor done for you, Murder at Hollyberry Hall is a $24 instant printable download for 6 to 12 players. It includes character booklets, clue cards, invitations, the festive menu with recipes and a shopping list, a minute-by-minute timeline, printable place cards and signs, and a playlist. Hosting a smaller group first? Try The Last Slice, our free 45-minute mystery for 4 to 6 players.

Frequently asked questions

What should I serve at a Christmas dinner party?

Serve food you can make ahead: one or two bites while guests arrive, a main that cooks in the oven without attention (a glazed ham or a roast), a tray of roasted vegetables that doubles as the vegetarian main, and a chilled dessert made the day before. Add a warm drink like mulled wine and an alcohol-free sparkler.

What games can you play at a Christmas dinner party?

Good Christmas dinner party games work around the table: a murder mystery played over the courses, Christmas trivia between mains and dessert, a white elephant gift swap, 'who am I?' with festive characters, or a holiday version of two truths and a lie. A murder mystery lasts all evening; the others take 15 to 30 minutes.

How do you host a Christmas dinner party for adults?

Pick a theme and a date, send invitations two to three weeks ahead, plan a menu you can mostly make the day before, set the table that afternoon and plan one activity between courses. Aim for 6 to 12 guests so everyone fits around one table and still gets to talk.

What is a Christmas murder mystery dinner?

A Christmas murder mystery dinner is a party game played over a meal. Each guest plays a character, clues are revealed between courses, and everyone accuses a suspect before the solution is read. Murder at Hollyberry Hall is one for 6 to 12 players, with a Christmas menu and recipes timed around the rounds.

How long should a Christmas dinner party last?

Plan on three to four hours: about 30 minutes of drinks and arrivals, an hour and a half to two hours of dinner, and an hour for dessert and games. A murder mystery dinner fills about 2.5 hours from the first round to the reveal.

Can the host play in a Christmas murder mystery dinner game?

Yes. In Murder at Hollyberry Hall the host guide explains how to run the game while playing a character, and the menu is designed so almost everything is made the day before and the main course cooks while you play.