Holiday parties succeed or fail based on one factor that most hosts overlook — what the guests actually do between arriving and leaving. The food, the drinks, the decorations — all essential, but they are backdrop. The activities are the story. A well-chosen activity transforms a group of people making small talk around a cheese board into a group of people laughing, creating, competing, and forming the kind of shared memories that define great parties. This guide covers the best activities for holiday gatherings in Los Angeles — from floral workshops to creative projects to group games — with a focus on ideas that work for adults, feel appropriately festive without being corny, and create the kind of engagement that makes guests stay longer and talk about the party afterward.
In This Article
FLORAL ACTIVITIES · CREATIVE PROJECTS · GROUP GAMES · FOOD & DRINK · OUTDOOR LA · MY THOUGHTS · FAQ · CONCLUSION
For holiday flower ideas, see our Christmas flowers guide and Thanksgiving flowers guide.
FLORAL WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES FOR HOLIDAY PARTIES
Flower arranging is one of the most effective holiday party activities because it produces a tangible result that guests take home, requires no prior skill, works for groups of any size, and creates natural conversation as people work side by side. The activity scales from casual (everyone arranges a mason jar bouquet) to ambitious (a guided wreath-making workshop with a professional florist), and the holiday season provides an abundance of seasonal materials to work with.
Holiday wreath-making. Wreath-making is the ideal December party activity because it is seasonal, satisfying, and produces a finished product that guests hang on their doors for the rest of the month. Set up a long table with pre-cut evergreen branches (noble fir, cedar, juniper, eucalyptus), wire wreath frames (12–16 inch diameter), floral wire, ribbon, and accent materials — pinecones, dried citrus slices, cinnamon sticks, small ornaments, and dried flowers. A basic wreath takes 30–45 minutes for beginners, and the results vary enough that everyone's creation feels uniquely theirs. For a more polished experience, hire a local florist to guide the workshop — they provide the materials, the instruction, and the expertise that elevates the activity from craft project to curated experience.
Holiday centerpiece arranging. Set up a station with low, wide containers (shallow bowls, wooden boxes, or vintage vessels), floral foam, and a selection of holiday flowers and greenery — red roses, white carnations, cedar branches, holly, hypericum berries, and pine cones. Each guest creates a centerpiece arrangement that they can use for their own holiday table. This activity works particularly well for dinner parties — guests arrange their centerpieces during cocktail hour, then display them on the dining table during dinner, where they become conversation starters and natural décor.
Mini bouquet bar. Set up a "flower bar" with buckets of pre-cut stems in holiday colors — red roses, white ranunculus, burgundy dahlias, greenery, and seasonal accents. Provide small vases, twine, and wrapping paper. Guests assemble their own mini bouquets to take home. This is the lowest-effort, highest-impact floral activity — it requires minimal setup, no instruction, and produces universally charming results. The flower bar also functions as a living decoration during the party, adding color and fragrance to the space.
Pressed flower ornaments. Provide pre-pressed flowers (available from craft stores or pressed in advance from garden blooms), clear glass ornament balls, tweezers, and small amounts of clear resin or adhesive. Guests arrange pressed flowers inside or on the surface of clear ornaments, creating custom holiday decorations that preserve real flowers. This activity is quieter and more meditative than wreath-making — ideal for smaller, more intimate gatherings where the pace is relaxed.
CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES
Creative activities work at holiday parties because they lower social pressure — instead of standing in a circle trying to make conversation, guests focus on a shared task, and conversation flows naturally from the doing. The best creative activities for adult parties are ones that produce attractive results regardless of artistic skill.
Watercolor holiday cards. Set up a card-making station with watercolor paper pre-cut to card size, small watercolor sets, fine-point markers, and examples of simple holiday designs (trees, ornaments, snowflakes, abstract winter landscapes). Watercolor is forgiving enough that beginners produce charming results, and the slight imperfections of hand-painted cards are part of their appeal. Guests create cards to send to friends and family — an activity that combines creativity with the practical satisfaction of checking something off their holiday to-do list.
Candle decorating. Provide plain pillar candles in white or cream, along with dried flowers, pressed herbs, gold leaf, ribbon, and decoupage adhesive. Guests decorate candles by pressing dried botanicals into the wax surface (using a warm spoon to slightly melt the outer layer) or applying gold leaf and ribbon. The finished candles are beautiful, functional, and make excellent gifts. This activity pairs well with a conversation about floral home décor — the candles guests create can become part of their holiday table setting.
Gift wrapping station. Set up an elaborate gift wrapping station with high-quality papers, ribbons, dried flower sprigs, wax seals, stamps, and gift tags. Invite guests to bring one or two unwrapped gifts and transform them during the party. Beautiful gift wrapping is an underappreciated art, and most people never invest the time or materials to do it well. A party wrapping station, stocked with premium supplies, produces results that guests would never achieve at home. The social element — comparing techniques, admiring each other's work, learning new folding methods — makes gift wrapping surprisingly engaging as a group activity.
Pottery or ceramics painting. Several Los Angeles studios (Color Me Mine, Pottery Studio, and independent ceramics workshops throughout the city) offer holiday-themed group painting sessions where guests paint pre-made ceramic pieces — mugs, plates, ornaments, or small vases. The pieces are fired after the party and picked up later. This works well for corporate holiday parties and friend groups who want a structured activity with a professional facilitator and zero cleanup responsibility.
GROUP GAMES AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Games work at holiday parties when they are inclusive, easy to learn, and create moments of genuine laughter. The best party games require no equipment beyond what is already at the party, accommodate drop-in/drop-out participation, and do not penalize people who arrive late or step away.
White elephant gift exchange. The white elephant (also called Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa) remains the most popular holiday party game in America for good reason — it is simple, dramatic, and produces the perfect combination of strategy, humor, and mild outrage. Set a budget ($20–$30 works well for most groups), have each guest bring a wrapped gift, and follow the standard rules: draw numbers, open or steal in turn, limit steals to 2–3 per gift. The key to a great white elephant is the gift quality — encourage guests to bring genuinely desirable items rather than joke gifts. A white elephant where every gift is a gag gift gets old fast. A white elephant where the prizes include a flower delivery subscription, a bottle of excellent wine, and a luxury candle creates real competition and memorable moments.
Holiday trivia. Prepare 20–30 trivia questions covering holiday traditions, movie quotes, music lyrics, and cultural facts. Divide guests into teams of 3–4. Play 3 rounds of 10 questions each, with increasing difficulty. Trivia works because it rewards different types of knowledge — the person who knows every line from "Home Alone" contributes as much as the person who knows the history of the dreidel. Keep the stakes low (bragging rights or a small prize for the winning team) and the tone playful.
Murder mystery dinner. Pre-packaged murder mystery games (available online for $20–$40) provide character assignments, scripts, and clue cards for 6–20 players. Each guest plays a character, dresses accordingly, and pieces together clues over dinner to identify the "murderer." Holiday-themed murder mysteries are available (think: "Who Killed Santa?"). The activity requires more planning than other options — character assignments should go out a week before the party so guests can prepare costumes — but the engagement level is extraordinary. Murder mystery dinners are the party activity most likely to be talked about for years.
Cookie decorating competition. Bake plain sugar cookies in advance (or buy high-quality blanks from a bakery), then set up a decorating station with royal icing in multiple colors, sprinkles, edible glitter, and piping bags. Have guests decorate cookies, then hold a judged competition in categories — most beautiful, most creative, funniest, most likely to be eaten first. The cookies double as edible party favors. This activity works for all ages and skill levels, and the competitive element raises the energy without creating real pressure.
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FOOD AND DRINK ACTIVITIES
Food-focused activities work at holiday parties because they combine entertainment with the practical function of feeding your guests. The activity produces the refreshment — a satisfying efficiency that appeals to LA hosts who appreciate multitasking.
Holiday cocktail workshop. Set up a cocktail station with ingredients for 3–4 seasonal cocktails — a classic eggnog, a cranberry rosemary gin fizz, a spiced old fashioned, and a non-alcoholic option like a pomegranate spritzer. Print recipe cards for each drink and let guests mix their own. For a more structured experience, hire a bartender to demonstrate techniques and guide the tasting. The cocktail workshop works as an early-evening activity that transitions naturally into dinner or the main party. Include edible flower garnishes — crystallized violets, edible rose petals, or lavender sprigs — for a visual connection to floral tradition.
Build-your-own charcuterie board. Provide individual small boards or plates, along with a central spread of cheeses, cured meats, fruits, nuts, crackers, jams, and edible flowers. Each guest composes their own miniature charcuterie board, which they then eat as their appetizer. The activity is social, photogenic (LA guests will photograph their boards), and produces no waste — every creation is consumed. For a holiday twist, include seasonal items — persimmons, pomegranate seeds, candied pecans, and fig jam.
Gingerbread house building. Pre-assemble gingerbread house structures (or purchase kits) and set up a decorating station with royal icing, candy, sprinkles, and small fondant shapes. Gingerbread house building is one of those activities that adults claim to have outgrown but secretly love — the competitive dynamics, the engineering challenges, and the license to be unseriously creative make it reliably entertaining. Display the finished houses as party décor, then let guests take them home at the end of the evening.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR LA HOLIDAY PARTIES
Los Angeles has the enormous advantage of December weather that permits outdoor activities — a luxury that holiday party hosts in most American cities cannot access. Temperatures in the 60s and 70s, clear skies, and the particular quality of Southern California winter light (low, golden, and warm) make outdoor holiday activities not just possible but preferable.
Outdoor movie screening. Rent or borrow a projector and screen, set up a backyard cinema with blankets, pillows, and outdoor heaters, and screen a holiday classic — "It's a Wonderful Life," "Home Alone," "The Holiday," or "Die Hard" (the most debated Christmas movie choice in America). Serve hot chocolate, popcorn, and holiday cookies. The outdoor cinema works best as an after-dinner activity, starting around 7 PM when it is dark enough for the projected image to look good. The mild LA evening temperatures (typically 55–65°F in December) are comfortable with blankets and a few patio heaters.
Garden party with fire pit. Los Angeles backyards are made for evening entertaining. Set up a fire pit (portable fire pits are available at most hardware stores for under $100), surround it with seating, and create a s'mores station with premium ingredients — dark chocolate, artisan marshmallows, ginger snaps instead of graham crackers. The fire pit becomes the social center of the party, drawing guests into conversation the way that a fireplace draws people in colder climates. Add string lights, a holiday playlist, and a flower arrangement on the outdoor table for a festive atmosphere that feels specifically, distinctly Los Angeles.
Holiday lights tour. Several Los Angeles neighborhoods — Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, Thoroughbred Street in Rancho Cucamonga, the Venice Canals, and Upper Hastings Ranch in Pasadena — create elaborate residential holiday light displays. Organize a group tour by car or party bus, starting at your home for cocktails, visiting 2–3 decorated neighborhoods, and returning for dessert. The activity gets guests out of the house, creates shared experiences, and provides the kind of visual spectacle that Los Angeles does better than almost any other city.
Stargazing party. December and January offer some of the best stargazing conditions of the year — the Geminid meteor shower (mid-December) and the Quadrantid meteor shower (early January) are both visible from LA's darker areas. Griffith Observatory, Mulholland Drive overlooks, and the darker neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley provide reasonable viewing conditions. Provide blankets, hot drinks, and a star chart or stargazing app, and let the universe provide the entertainment.
DID YOU KNOW
The tradition of the holiday office party has its documented origins in the Victorian era, when British employers would host an annual Christmas dinner for their employees as a gesture of goodwill and social obligation. The modern American office holiday party as we know it took shape in the 1940s and 1950s, when post-war prosperity and corporate culture combined to create the lavish, sometimes legendary company celebrations that became a staple of mid-century business life. At its peak in the 1980s, American companies spent an estimated $4 billion annually on holiday parties. Today, the trend has shifted toward smaller, more curated experiences — activity-based gatherings (like floral workshops or cooking classes) that create connection rather than simply providing open bars.
MY THOUGHTS — A FLORIST'S PERSPECTIVE ON HOLIDAY PARTY FLOWERS
We host wreath-making workshops at our shop every December, and I am always struck by how the activity changes the energy of a group. People who arrived as strangers leave as friends. People who claimed they "could not arrange flowers to save their life" discover that they absolutely can — and that the slightly imperfect, slightly asymmetrical wreath they made with their own hands is more meaningful to them than any professionally made wreath could be. The act of creating something beautiful with your hands, in the company of other people who are doing the same thing, produces a specific quality of joy that passive entertainment cannot match.
For hosts planning holiday party activities, my recommendation is to include at least one activity that produces something the guest takes home. A wreath, a bouquet, a decorated candle, a handmade card — the object becomes a physical memory of the evening, and every time the guest sees it during the holiday season, they remember the party, the people, and the moment they made it. That is the gift within the gift. For holiday gift ideas, see our Christmas guide, and for year-round party inspiration, visit our occasion guide.
FAQ
WHAT ARE THE BEST ACTIVITIES FOR AN ADULT HOLIDAY PARTY?
The most popular adult holiday party activities are wreath-making workshops, white elephant gift exchanges, holiday cocktail mixing, cookie decorating competitions, and murder mystery dinners. The best choice depends on your group — creative groups enjoy making activities, social groups prefer games, and food-focused groups gravitate toward cooking or cocktail workshops.
HOW DO I HOST A WREATH-MAKING PARTY?
Purchase wire wreath frames, pre-cut evergreen branches (noble fir, cedar, eucalyptus), floral wire, ribbon, and accent materials (pinecones, dried citrus, berries). Set up a long table with materials and examples. Budget 45–60 minutes for the activity. For a guided experience, hire a local florist to lead the workshop and provide professional-quality materials.
WHAT HOLIDAY PARTY ACTIVITIES WORK FOR LARGE GROUPS?
Activities that accommodate 20+ guests include flower bar stations (self-service bouquet making), cookie decorating competitions, holiday trivia with teams, build-your-own charcuterie boards, and outdoor movie screenings. These activities allow drop-in/drop-out participation and do not require everyone to start and finish at the same time.
WHAT ARE GOOD OUTDOOR HOLIDAY PARTY IDEAS FOR LOS ANGELES?
LA's mild December weather allows outdoor movie screenings, fire pit gatherings with s'mores stations, holiday lights neighborhood tours, garden parties with string lights, and even stargazing parties during the Geminid meteor shower. The key is adding warmth elements (fire pits, patio heaters, blankets) for comfort after sunset.
HOW MUCH DOES A WREATH-MAKING WORKSHOP COST?
DIY wreath-making supplies cost approximately $15–$25 per guest for basic materials. Hiring a professional florist to lead a workshop typically costs $40–$75 per person, including all materials, instruction, and cleanup. Some Los Angeles florists offer group rates for parties of 10 or more. The professional option saves the host significant preparation time and produces higher-quality results.
WHAT FLOWERS WORK BEST FOR HOLIDAY PARTY DECORATIONS?
Traditional holiday flowers include red roses, white carnations, amaryllis, poinsettias, and holiday greenery (pine, cedar, eucalyptus, holly). For a modern LA aesthetic, consider a palette of blush, burgundy, and gold with garden roses, ranunculus, and metallic-toned ornaments. See our Christmas flowers guide for detailed recommendations.
CONCLUSION
The difference between a holiday party people attend and a holiday party people remember is almost always the activities. Food and drinks sustain the evening, but shared experiences define it. Whether your guests are making wreaths from fresh greenery, competing in a cookie decorating contest, watching "Home Alone" under the December stars, or assembling their own bouquets from a flower bar, the active engagement is what transforms a gathering into a celebration. In Los Angeles — where the weather cooperates, the creative resources are abundant, and the appetite for curated experiences runs deep — holiday party planning is limited only by imagination.
For holiday flowers and party supplies in Los Angeles, Pink Clover Flowers offers seasonal arrangements, wreath-making workshop materials, flower bar supplies, and custom holiday centerpieces — everything you need to make your holiday gathering both beautiful and memorable.
