How to Host a Fabulous New Year's Day Brunch
Brunch like it's 2019.
While New Year’s Eve typically gets most of the attention, New Year’s Day is an equally joyous occasion and deserves an equally joyous celebration. It’s the perfect time to recognize the start of a fresh year in a casual, low-key way with family and friends. It’s also the perfect time to host a brunch — and who turns down an invitation to brunch? The place where breakfast and lunch collide is a glorious place, my friends.
Hosting a New Year’s Day brunch is easier than you might think. I’m sharing five steps to show you exactly how to do it (recipes included!). Take a look, and start planning.
1: Send Out Last-Minute Invites (or Texts)
If you can act fast, send out our free printable party invitations. If it’s a little too last-minute for invites, a group text will do the trick.
2: Set a Pretty Table
Whether you send out our free printable invitations or not, you can definitely use them to fancy up your place settings. To recreate the rest of this look, use geometric napkins, vintage glassware and dessert plates with metallic detailing.
3: Create a Resolution Game
Set a large jar in the middle of your table with colorful slips of paper and a few pens. Ask each guest to anonymously write down his or her New Year’s resolution and drop it into the jar. Once all the resolutions are collected, read them aloud, asking everyone to guess who wrote each one. Tip: Place the jar in a tray with a vase of tulips (or other readily available flowers) to create a super-simple centerpiece.
4: Set Up a Mimosa Bar
Let guests create their own concoctions at a make-your-own mimosa bar with a variety of juices and ingredients.
5: Build a Lucky Brunch Menu
Embrace good health and prosperity in the new year by building your brunch menu with foods believed to bring good luck.
Greens
Because greens resemble money, they symbolize wealth in the coming year. Consider serving a collard greens breakfast skillet or green smoothies.
Kristin Guy
Pork
Pigs represent prosperity. Serve up some braised pork belly on from-scratch biscuits, or serve your pork in the form of bacon in a bacon-potato frittata.
Photo courtesy of Blackberry Farm
Fish
Fish are lucky for many reasons. First, their scales resemble coins. Second, they swim in schools, which represents abundance and prosperity. Last, they swim forward, which shows progress. Salmon is a great option for brunch. Try our smoked salmon cups, salmon eggs Benedict or mini bagels with lox.
Savour Imagery LLC
Add a twist to classic eggs Benedict with baked salmon, sauteed spinach and roasted tomatoes.
Salmon Eggs Benedict
Add a twist to classic eggs Benedict with baked salmon, sauteed spinach and roasted tomatoes.
Black-Eyed Peas
Because of their coin-like appearance, black-eyed peas are believed to bring wealth and good luck. In the South, people often eat them in the form of Hoppin’ John, a Lowcountry dish of rice and black-eyed peas. For brunch, consider pairing Hoppin’ John with braised greens and fried eggs.
Image by Brian Woodcock
Ring-Shaped Dessert
Ring-shaped cakes and desserts symbolize the year coming full circle. Cap off your brunch with an applesauce bundt cake or some tasty donuts.
Mick Telkamp
