Ugly Sweater Party Ideas (2026): 12 Ideas, Contest Categories and Judging

The contest

1. Ten categories, so more than one person wins

Pick three to five from this list and put them in the invite, so people dress for one:

• Ugliest overall — the classic.
• Best homemade — rewards the people who spent an evening with a glue gun.
• Best pun — "Feliz Navi-dog", "Sleigh all day".
• Most lights — battery packs count.
• Best couple or team match — two sweaters that make one joke.
• Most 3D — anything with a hanging ornament or a stuffed reindeer.
• Best non-Christmas holiday sweater — Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, New Year.
• Most likely to be worn again — the one that's secretly nice.
• Best last-minute effort — for the DIY-station converts.
• People's choice — the room decides.

2. A roll call before the vote

Line everyone up at a set time, or walk the room with one photographer, so every sweater is seen once. Fifteen seconds each is plenty; with 30 guests, that's under eight minutes.

3. A sweater roll call on the TV, with a reaction vote

Put a live photo wall on the TV and ask everyone to post a photo of their sweater when they arrive. Guests scan the QR code on the screen and their photo lands on it about a second later, so by the time of the vote the whole lineup is on the wall, including remote colleagues posting from home. Reactions guests tap from their phones fly up the screen, which makes a rough applause meter for the people's choice. (Ours: Christmas party walls, with snow falling across the screen in the Christmas theme.)

4. Small prizes, one per category

A tinsel trophy, a jar of candy canes, a $10 coffee card. Small prizes keep it light; a big one makes people take it seriously, which ruins the joke.

The sweaters

5. A DIY sweater station

A table with tinsel, felt shapes, pom-poms, jingle bells, safety pins, ribbon and a low-temperature glue gun. As a rule of thumb, $20–30 of craft supplies covers 10 to 15 guests. It turns the person who "forgot" into a contender for best last-minute effort.

6. A thrift-store run beforehand

For friends, make the shopping part of the fun: a group trip to a thrift store the weekend before, with a $10 limit. The sweaters cost a few dollars each and go back to the store afterwards.

7. Spare sweaters at the door

Keep three or four extra sweaters or festive hats by the entrance for guests who didn't dress up. Nobody should spend the evening as the only person in a plain shirt.

Food and drink

8. A decorate-your-own sweater cookie table

Sweater-shaped sugar cookies (a cutter costs a few dollars), tubes of icing, sprinkles. The ugliest cookie can be its own category.

9. A hot chocolate bar

A big pot of hot chocolate with marshmallows, crushed candy canes, whipped cream and, for the adults, a couple of liqueurs on the side. It works at an office party and at home, and it keeps people near one table.

Games and running order

10. Ugly sweater bingo

Bingo cards with sweater features — a reindeer, a pun, a light that blinks, a pom-pom, a cat. Guests mingle to find each one. It does the icebreaking for you in the first half hour.

11. A white elephant with a sweater rule

Run a white elephant gift swap with a $20–25 cap, but only people wearing a sweater can steal. Three steals per gift keeps it moving.

12. A two-hour running order

• 0:00–0:30 — Arrivals, DIY station open, bingo cards out, sweater photos to the screen.
• 0:30–1:00 — Food, hot chocolate, cookie decorating.
• 1:00–1:20 — The roll call and the vote.
• 1:20–1:50 — White elephant.
• 1:50–2:00 — Prizes and a group photo of every sweater together.

At the office

An ugly sweater day suits a workplace because it costs nothing and nobody has to perform. Keep entering optional, hold the vote in working hours, and include the remote team — they can post their sweater photo to the same wall from home, or join a roll call on the call (see virtual holiday party ideas). For the wider party, see office holiday party ideas. A live wall is free to try on any screen; Premium ($10.99/month) keeps every photo on the screen and lets you download them afterwards, and Professional ($19.99/month) adds an approval queue for a company screen.

Frequently asked questions