Planning a Christmas party

With the year we’ve had, we’re all in need of a chill, laidback time with loved ones. My friends and I have a yearly tradition of hosting a Christmas party just for this. But being the procrastinator that I am, I’ve put off getting all I need till the last minute.

If I had the luxury of time, I would hit the shops and do multiple runs to malls and grocery stores to pick up food, drinks, decorations and gifts. But with these places bustling with other last-minute shoppers, I wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible.

Being stuck at home wouldn’t be a problem though. Just like circuit breaker times, all I needed to do was get a little creative in procuring these items from home. I could easily just place orders since most businesses had online stores.

But to get everything sorted and delivered within the day, a single platform would save even more time and effort. This is why I turned to Grab, where I could get everything delivered right to my doorstep. Here’s how I planned a Christmas party without leaving the house:

Picked up Xmas decorations and party essentials from party stores and IKEA 

When it comes to festive parties, decorations are a must to turn casual gatherings at home into merry ragers. For last-minute parties, GrabMart has stores that can deliver balloons and Christmas trimmings, plus selected merchants offer instant delivery at just $0.99.

For a Christmas shindig, I would need some decorations, including a fully decorated tree. Since we would be eating, partyware like plates and cups would be essential as well. Here’s what I managed to find on Grab:

GrabMart

• One Party Store: Set of 20 latex balloons (from $42) and Santa hats ($2.20 each)
• HT.T Flower Shop: Decked out holiday trees (from $98)
• IKEA: Six KALAS plates ($3.90), six KALAS cups ($3.90), reusable straw with brush ($5.90)

Settled food and drinks like sushi sets, alcohol and ice cream 

No party would be complete without food and drinks, and since this was a year-end bash, I wanted to go all out to keep my friends well-fed. But as someone who only counts hitting buttons on a microwave as cooking, I needed all the help I could get.

Image credit: @rockzcleiree

To do away with as little prep and cooking as possible, I managed to get all my food on Grab! Here’s where you can go to get a similar menu:

GrabFood

• IKEA: Meatballs ($16 for 1KG) and mashed potatoes ($3.50)
• Don Don Donki: Sushi platters (from $10.80 for eight pieces) and Monteur Log Cake ($21.90)
• Singapore Deli and Grocer: 1KG Honey Baked Ham with Honey Glaze and Pineapple Sauce ($31.90) and 1.5KG Roast Turkey Breast with Cranberry Sauce ($75.90)
• Swensen’s: Pre-packaged sundaes (from $9.42)

Ribeye from Fassler Gourmet
Image credit: @fassler_gourmet

GrabMart

• Fassler Gourmet: Brazilian Angus Ribeye Steaks ($14.50 each)
• Ice Cream Store: Perfect Pleasure Bundle with two pints of Ben & Jerry’s and one box mini Magnums ($32.90)

Panettone from Providore
Image adapted from Providore

GrabSuperMarket

• Providore: Fruit Cake ($30.80) and Panettone ($50.49)

#SupportLocal when you get your fix of Tiger Beer on Drinkies

Alcohol is a must-have as a social lubricant at parties that you can never have enough of. And on GrabMart, you can get a variety of craft beers, mixers and wines from places like Drinkies, The 1887 Bar and Grab A Drink. Best of all, these places have a flat delivery fee of $0.99 per trip to keep prices low.

Got wrapped gifts and mailed them to loved ones within hours 

It wouldn’t be called the season of giving if there aren’t any presents involved. But with crowds heading out to get their Christmas shopping done, I opted to get mine from the comfort of home on Grab instead.

Countdown the last few days of Christmas together with The Body Shop advent calendar (from $99) on GrabMart
Image credit: @thebodyshopsg

Since this year hasn’t been the easiest on all of us, I pulled together self-care packages of bath bombs from LUSH, British snacks from Marks & Spencer, and lotions from The Body Shop available on GrabMart. I didn’t even have to lift a finger to wrap these as GrabMart provides gift wrapping for selected merchants.

Parents and paw-rents alike in my friend group went home with a gift too. With merchants like Mothercare and Pet Lovers Centre available on GrabMart, I could get toys for kids and fur-kids as gifts for my guests.

And with GrabExpress, my guests didn’t have to worry about lugging heavy boxes home after a long evening of partying. Gifts would be picked up from home and sent to my friends’ homes within the night.

Although the pandemic has kept us apart, my friends overseas didn’t have to be left out from the party. With the new GrabGifts, I could send cash vouchers to friends and family living in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines that they can use on the Grab app any time.

Spend more time with loved ones this Christmas with Grab

For many of us, Grab is just an app we turn to when we need a ride or to dapao food when we’re busy. But with the convenience of the Grab app, planning a Christmas party didn’t take more than a few minutes to place my orders.

And I managed to do all this without once having to look up from my phone or leave my home. Simply tapping on functions like GrabFood, GrabMart and GrabSupermarket got me the food, drinks and even the gifts I needed for a party.

Plus I got to save a few dollars using these promo codes:

• <GIFTING> for 30% off GrabMart (capped at $10, with a minimum spend of $25)
• <FEASTING> for $10 off festive treats (with a minimum spend of $30).

Using GrabPay to pay for all my Christmas shopping during the festive season helped me save even more. Receive up to 12% back in GrabRewards points when you pay with PayLater and GrabPay from now till 24 December 2021.

This Christmas, use Grab for your festive needs, so you’ll have more time to focus more on the important stuff, like spending time with loved ones.

Pick up last minute party essentials with Grab here

This post was brought to you by Grab.