June 05, 2020
25+ Virtual Parties Your Guests Will Love
The world sure has changed since the beginning of the decade. While we are currently not able to celebrate a second version of the roaring 20s, we can still feel more connected than ever. Despite the term self-isolation, there really is no need to feel isolated at all. Before you spend another Saturday evening at home missing your social life, switch things up and throw a virtual party for your friends or family! With our virtual party ideas you’ll make the quarantine fun and get the chance to connect with your party people on a whole new level. There’s no missing out on life’s momentous occasions with a virtual celebration.
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How To Plan A Virtual Party
First things first: Before you can host an epic virtual party your guests will never forget, you should consider a few things that are essential in throwing a successful party online.
Step 1: Decide on the theme and your guest list. Maybe you find inspiration in one of our suggestions below, maybe you have your own creative idea for a cool virtual party. Whatever the case may be,once you know what kind of party you want to host, create your guest list. Keep in mind that the more people you invite, the more likely you could run into connection issues and the less you’ll see of everyone. You can make sure that everyone is having a great time by not having more than six to nine people dial into the conference call at once (including the host). If you’re planning to invite couples, it may be best to make the cut at eight people total (also including the host).
Step 2: When you have your theme and guest list figured out, you need to decide which video chatting platform you want to use. You can ask your guests what they feel most comfortable with or simply pick what’s convenient for you. Send your guests an invite that includes a link to the conference call and any additional information they may need at least a week in advance, depending on the kind of party you’re throwing. Though they don’t have to leave the house, they may have to prepare a few things and clear their calendar.
Step 3: Prepare! Plan out the details of the night (or day), gather decorations, snacks and decide on an outfit you want to wear. If you want to surprise your guests with gifts or deliveries of their favorite food, make sure to put in your orders on time.
Step 4: The day of the party, you can send reminders to your guests letting them know how excited you are that they’ll join you and confirm that they all got the code or link to join you online. Make sure to charge your devices and check the internet connection. Once you’re all set, enjoy the virtual get-together!
Throw A Virtual Birthday Party
Your birthday is the one day a year that revolves around nobody but you. If you can’t throw a grand birthday party this year, you can still make sure that this day is all about you! We have a few fun ideas for parents of kids who can’t have a birthday party with all of their friends as well as anyone who wants to throw a virtual birthday bash for their long distance friend!
Virtual Birthday Party For Kids
Not getting to see all of your friends and family on your birthday is just no fun. If meeting in person is not available to you, invite everyone to a virtual birthday party! You can divide the guests in groups of five to six people and have a virtual birthday party marathon. Schedule about ten to fifteen minutes with each group and make sure the whole party doesn’t last longer than an hour so your child doesn’t get overwhelmed. You can start with a group of close family members, then another one with aunts and uncles, then cousins and lastly their friends. This way the people on the individual calls know each other and will also feel more comfortable during the video chat. When you send out the invitations, you can even ask some friends and family members to prepare a little something like a song, a dance or a joke that they would like to share with the birthday kid.
Make sure to serve the birthday cake and give your child their presents before the virtual party so they have something to talk about with their guests.
Virtual Birthday Party For Adults
A quarantine can surely throw a wrench in your birthday party plans. Whether you live near or far, a virtual birthday party is the perfect way to show your self-isolated friend that they are not alone. Why don’t you throw a surprise party online for them? Make sure to invite all your mutual friends and have the call completely set up before you lure the guest of honor into the call. You can ask everyone to dress up, maybe in your friend’s favorite color, decorate their place and have party poppers or confetti ready to go. If your friend group has a comical or musical talent, maybe rehearse a sketch or song that you write for the guest of honor and present to them on their birthday.
Picture your friend’s face when they answer an innocent birthday call and suddenly see all of their friends singing “Happy Birthday,” popping the champagne and throwing confetti! If it’s available to you, you can send flowers, dinner or maybe even a cake to your friend’s house that they can enjoy while you celebrate together virtually.
Celebrate A Virtual Bridal Shower Or Bachelorette Party
Being the maid of honor comes with all kinds of responsibilities, throwing a bridal shower or bachelorette party is probably the most elaborate one before the actual wedding day. Whether you had already planned out a fun party that you have to alter to fit the current circumstances or your friends live all over the world and wouldn’t be able to attend an in-person party, you can celebrate one of the bride’s last nights of freedom just as well virtually!
If all of you live in the same area, you can get food from the bride’s favorite restaurant delivered to your doorstep and share a meal while taking a walk down memory lane on a conference call. Ask all guests to send you pictures of their most treasured moments with the bride (and groom) and put together a slideshow that you can share while you enjoy the meal you had delivered. Make sure to send gifts ahead of time so the bride can open them when everyone’s watching. If the bride has shared a registry, you can play it safe and get her a gift from the list. A bride that didn’t ask for specific gifts will surely still appreciate an awesome cookbook, an exquisite bottle of wine or a bouquet of her favorite flowers appearing on her doorstep.
To make the party a fun memory everyone will love to reminisce about, plan a few games throughout. You can purchase a game online that you share with the guests via the app that you’re using for the video call or choose one of the following games for a more old school approach:
Hush, Hush: The premise of this game is simple and you can play it throughout the entire party. Everytime someone mentions the words “wedding,” “bride” or “groom,” the person has to take a sip from their drink. You can also come up with a different kind of “punishment” and add more words if you’re feeling adventurous.
He Said, She Said: Make a list of things with statements about the bride and groom. This list can include things like “said ‘I love you’ first,” “initiated first kiss” or “better cook.” Send these lists out with your invitation and ask your guests to pick whoever they think said it first. You can reveal the correct answers during the party.
How Well Do You Know The Groom: Write down a list of questions that the bride has to answer about her spouse. These can be questions about his favorite band, favorite pizza topping, what his first job was or what his biggest pet peeve is. Make sure to get the correct answers from the groom before the game and then grill the bride to find out how well she knows her future husband!
Have A Virtual Baby Shower
In times like these, it is perfectly acceptable to host your own virtual baby shower. Whether you are a close friend taking over the planning or the expecting mother yourself, your guests will be happy to get to shower the future parents with gifts and love from afar. Make sure to send invitations and the registry out at least three weeks before the shower so the guests have a chance to send gifts and block the time in their calendar. If you already know the gender of the baby, everyone can decorate their backdrop with balloons and flowers in pink or blue to feel more connected to the couple. Some video conferencing platforms offer virtual backgrounds which can be a cheaper and fun alternative to actually decorating your house.
To spice up the party, you can play a few baby-themed games with all of the guests. Here are three games that you can play at your virtual baby shower:
Guess The Baby: With your invitation, ask all the guests to send you a baby picture of themselves. Assemble all of the pictures in a powerpoint presentation and number the pictures. During the party, you can share your screen with the guests and have everyone guess who each baby is! Have your guests write down the numbers and names and find out who got the most correct answers once the slide show is over.
Baby Price Is Right: You probably guessed it already, this game is all about the price of different baby items. The host can create a slideshow with items like baby bottles, diapers and cribs and the guests need to put in their price guesses for each item. Whoever guesses closest wins! Though guests who have kids already may be at advantage here this is a fun game for everyone.
Pictionary: Play a round of pictionary with your guests that’s all about babies. Put together a list of baby-related things that your guests can draw on a piece of paper while they film themselves. There are also pictionary games available online that you can play with your guests if you want to take this party to the next level.
Host A Virtual Brunch
Brunch is the ultimate Sunday morning outing with your friends but who’s to say that you can’t have an amazing time brunching from home in your favorite pajamas with your friends joining you via video call? You can go all out and cook a yummy brunch dish or just get food delivered from your go-to restaurant. Don’t forget to prepare some delicious mimosas or have freshly pressed orange juice as a non-alcoholic alternative!
To make this stay-at-home brunch even more special, decorate your dining table with a bouquet of pretty flowers and send some to your friends as well! They will appreciate that you didn’t just invite them to this special occasion but also picked out a thoughtful gift to put a smile on their face.
Throw A Virtual Cocktail Party
There are many reasons to throw a virtual cocktail party. You can celebrate getting through another successful week of working from home, maybe you just don’t want to spend a fortune on drinks at a bar or your drinking buddies don’t live nearby anymore since you moved away… Whatever the reason for your not-so-social function, this is the perfect way of ringing in the weekend!
For your remote cocktail hour, invite friends that enjoy a good round of drinks and that you love chatting with. You can vote on a recipe you all want to try before you get together on your conference call or maybe even come up with your own ‘quarantini’ recipe! Whether you just want to drink and gossip or end up playing a round of virtual poker with your tipsy friends, any of these delicious cocktails should do the trick:
Treat Yourselves To A Virtual Beauty Night
Let’s be honest: A day trip to the spa is one of the best ways to unwind. But it’s also very expensive and requires you to leave your house. Why don’t you gather your besties for an online beauty night? Schedule two or three hours with your friends to hang out virtually, sip champagne, exchange embarrassing anecdotes and go through an extensive beauty routine. Use face masks, exfoliate your feet, do your nails and maybe even a yoga routine together. Whatever you and your friends consider the perfect relaxing evening is game.
If you want to be a little extra, send your guests a care package before the event. You can either order it online or put it together yourself and send it via mail. The package can include all kinds of goodies, from nail polish to face masks, chocolates and flowers or maybe a couple of bath bombs and an exquisite bottle of wine. You don’t have to go all out on this if you’re on a budget. The thought counts and your friends will absolutely love your gift!
Invite To A Virtual Sip + Paint
If you’ve ever been to a sip and paint, you know that regardless of your creative talent, it’s an absolute blast. Luckily for you, there are plenty of amazing painting tutorials available online! Invite your friends to stock up on some yummy drinks and art supplies of their choice and then connect virtually to create something great together. After the party, you can send each other pictures of your masterpieces and maybe even have your Instagram followers vote which one came out the best. The loser has to host the next party!
Check out the YouTube channels below for some free painting tutorials so you can paint a beautiful landscape or flower field while sipping your favorite wine and having a great time with your friends. Most video chatting platforms allow you to share your screen and the audio from your computer so you can watch the video together at the same time.
Calming Acrylic Painting Tutorials: Wow Art
Simple Watercolor Videos: Makoccino
Colorful Paint Tutorials: Createful Art
Creative Inspiration: Let’s Make Art
Fine Art Tutorials: Angela Anderson
The One And Only: Bob Ross
More Virtual Party Ideas
If you’re still searching for the perfect virtual party idea, we have a few more suggestions for you below:
Virtual Book Club: You and your friends are bookworms? Pick a book and schedule a reasonable date in the future that allows all of you to finish reading so you can discuss your favorite parts of the book. For thicker books you can video chat a few times throughout and discuss a few chapters per meeting. Just make sure that the fast readers don’t spoil anything! You can also discuss a podcast, series or movie you’ve recently seen or listened to.
Virtual Dance Party: You can learn a viral Tik Tok dance together or just put on your favorite playlist and dance your heart out. It’s good for your soul and cardio is known to be good for your heart!
Virtual Work Out Party: Invite your friends to join you for a workout video that you can all do together. Maybe you can meet up on a regular basis and hold each other accountable to stay fit.
Virtual Craft Party: Pick a cool craft and try it with your friends while you connect virtually. You can just craft for fun or make it a competition where the fastest or the prettiest result wins.
Virtual Trivia Night: Whether you host a virtual trivia night for your friends, find a trivia game online that you can play together or your local bar is offering an online trivia night, it’s always a fun way to get together with your friends and broaden your horizon.
Virtual Karaoke Night: Karaoke is always a good time. Pick a few songs with lyrics on YouTube that you can sing together or find a karaoke game that you can play together online. Either way — singing is fun and can help us forget about the trouble of the day so sing your heart out with your friends!
Virtual Dungeons and Dragons: Maybe you first heard about this game when watching Stranger Things or perhaps you’ve been playing it with your friends ever since you can remember. As long as you have dice at home and someone who’s interested in putting together a game, you can play this from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection to video chat with your friends!
Virtual Poetry Slam: This is the perfect party for all of your creative friends. Come up with a theme before the party and ask everyone to prepare a couple of poetry slams that they want to share with the group. Everyone can vote on the performances and you can even have a final round between the two competitors with the highest ratings to find the winner!
Virtual Costume Party: If you love dressing up, you probably agree that there are too many days between last and this year’s Halloween. Ignore the date on your calendar and invite your friends to a fun costume party online! You can send out a theme with your invitations or just give everyone complete creative freedom when choosing their costumes.
Virtual Video Game Night: Getting together with your friends in a virtual world like a video game while you chat through the in-game feature or have a conference call set up is a fun way of spending some time together while apart.
Virtual Workshop Night: Is there a topic that you’re an expert on that you could share in a workshop style with your friends? Ask them to join you for a night of educational fun! You can even ask everyone in the group to prepare their own workshop and have multiple topics covered, just make sure you include a time limit for every presentation.
Virtual Board or Card Game: You can play a game online or get creative and figure out how to play Monopoly or Rummy with your friends while video chatting. Make sure to only invite people who don’t cheat to this party!
Virtual Throwback Party: Whatever decade is closest to your heart, host a throwback party online and invite your friends to dance to 80s music with you, make fun of 90s fashion or drink 50s-themed milkshakes while Grease is playing in the background.
Virtual Afternoon Tea: Put out your fanciest table setting, dress up, make a few sandwiches, call your friends and spill the tea! Not the one you’re drinking though!
Virtual Fortune Telling: Do you have a stack of Tarot cards at home? Do a reading with your friends! You can also find free readings on the internet. It doesn’t matter if you believe in this kind of thing, it’s definitely a good time with your friends.
Virtual Movie Night: Pick a movie and watch it simultaneously. If it’s available, use an app or website that allows you to stream a movie in sync so you’re seeing the same scenes at the same time.
Virtual Bake Off: Pick a dessert recipe and let everyone have a go at it while you video chat. If all participants have someone they live with you can ask them to be the judges and rate the dessert or you can just compare pictures of the end result on social media and see who gets the most likes!
Virtual Sleepover: Who says sleepovers are for kids? Invite your closest friends and talk way into the night until no one cannot keep their eyes open anymore.
Virtual Luau: Did you have a tropical vacation planned that you couldn’t go on? Bring the palm trees inside and host a virtual luau party from the comfort and safety of your home.
Virtual Dinner Party: If this idea is exactly what you were looking for, follow the link and check out our virtual dinner party ideas for more inspiration!
In times when staying at home and self-isolating are considered a heroic act, don’t forget that you’re not alone. Your friends are just as bored as you and will warmly welcome an invitation to a virtual party to change up their weekend schedule. Celebrating life, friends and family is the best way to get out of your stay-at-home funk.