Ugly sweater party invitations, judging rules included

An ugly sweater party has one rule, and the invitation is where you decide how hard that rule bites. Say it clearly and most guests will show up in something with a reindeer on it. Say it softly and you get four sweaters, eleven normal shirts, and a competition with no entrants.

Put the details in a Bringalong event and share the link in the group chat. Guests RSVP from their phones, add a +1, and can leave a note like "entering the homemade category," which tells you how many prizes to buy before you go shopping.

Decide how strict the sweater rule is

There are two honest versions of this party. In the first, a sweater is the price of entry and you say so: "No sweater, no eggnog." In the second, it is a strong suggestion and you keep a box of spares by the door. Pick one and write it into the invite, because the half-committed version is what kills the photos.

If you go strict, give guests a route to a sweater instead of only a threat. One line does it: "Thrift shops have racks of them from late November, or raid a parent's closet." If you go soft, buy three cheap sweaters in a large size and put them in a laundry basket in the hall with a sign on it.

Where guests find a sweater at the last minute

Someone will message you at 4pm on the day. Have this answer ready to paste, because it saves you from a guest who skips the party out of embarrassment.

A homemade one beats a bought one in the judging anyway. A plain sweatshirt, a two-dollar bag of jingle bells, a length of tinsel garland and a hot glue gun gets you a contender in fifteen minutes, and the glue gun version wins the craftsmanship prize more often than the thirty-dollar licensed sweater does.

• Thrift and charity shops: Goodwill, Salvation Army and local hospice shops stock a holiday rack from mid-November, usually 5 to 12 dollars.
• The seasonal aisle at Target, Walmart, Primark or Kmart, which clears out fast after December 10.
• A parent's or grandparent's closet, where the unironic 1994 cardigan still lives.
• The craft route: plain sweatshirt, tinsel garland, pom poms, felt shapes and a glue gun.
• A battery light string taped inside the neckline, which turns any red sweater into an entry.
• Your spare basket by the door, which is why you bought three in size large.

Running the judging in ten minutes

Judge once the room is full and before the drinks have gone too far, which is usually 60 to 90 minutes after the start time. Announce the time in the invite so guests do not arrive at 9:15 to find the trophies already handed out.

The fastest format is a parade and a paper ballot. Clear a line across the living room, play one loud song, and send guests across it in pairs while the rest hold up their phone cameras. Then hand out slips of paper with the categories printed on them and collect them in a bowl. Counting twenty ballots takes four minutes at the kitchen counter, and announcing the winners while people still have a full drink in hand keeps the energy up.

1. Pick the judging time and put it in the invite: "Judging at 8:30, be in your sweater."
2. Print a ballot slip per guest with your four to six categories on it.
3. Line everyone up and run the parade to one song, ten seconds a person.
4. Collect ballots in a bowl, count at the counter with one other person.
5. Hand out prizes in reverse order and save the overall winner for last.
6. Take the group photo straight after, while the sweaters are still on.

Prize categories that fit a real crowd

Four categories is the sweet spot for 15 guests, six for 30. One overall winner plus specialist awards means more people take something home, and specialist awards let you reward the guest who clearly tried without crowning the one who spent the most money.

Keep prizes cheap and funny. A 10 to 15 dollar budget each covers a plastic trophy, a tin of the worst flavored popcorn you can find, a scratch card or a bottle of something warming. Write the categories on a sheet of paper taped to the fridge so guests can see what they are competing for.

• Overall ugliest, judged on total damage to the eye.
• Best homemade, for glue gun work and visible hand stitching.
• Most lights and noise, for anything with a battery pack or bells.
• Most three-dimensional, for sweaters with objects glued to the front.
• Best duo or family, for coordinated sets of two or more.
• Accidentally sincere, for the sweater someone owns and actually likes.
• Kids' division, judged separately so a seven-year-old can win something.

The practical lines to put in the invite

Twenty people in wool raises a living room by several degrees. Set the thermostat to about 66F before guests arrive, open a window in the kitchen, and plan food that works with one hand, since a sweater with bells on the cuffs makes cutlery awkward. Sliders, dips, a tray of pigs in blankets.

Say in the invite where the photo spot is, because this party exists partly for the group shot. A plain wall, a cheap foil curtain for 8 dollars and a lamp pointed at it will beat any tree-corner photo. If you are also running a gift exchange, name the spend limit in the same breath as the sweater rule so guests arrive with both things handled.

Sending the invite and tracking who is in

Send the link three weeks out, with a reminder four days before that mentions the sweater rule and the judging time. The reminder is the one that gets people to raid a thrift shop at the weekend. For anyone who still has not replied by then, send a direct message instead of another group message.

Your Bringalong manage link shows Going, Maybe and Can't go counts, plus-ones and the notes guests leave, so you can see the kids' entries and the homemade entries before you buy prizes. Export the list to CSV if you want to print name cards for the ballot.