15 Virtual party ideas
Whether you’re planning a catch-up with friends in all parts of the country or world or surprising a remote coworker for their birthday, a virtual party is a great way to stay in touch, foster connection, and keep the celebrations going. There are tons of different virtual party invitations for any vibe, too. We’ve laid out our best virtual party ideas to get you inspired. We think most of these ideas could work as well for a virtual cocktail hour or a “just because” event.
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1. Virtual birthday happy hour
As an alternative to casual drinks at the bar, have your crew drop by a Zoom room. Keep your virtual birthday festive with a link to your favorite drink recipe in your online birthday invite and encourage everyone to mix up something special beforehand. Toast the guest of honor and share special memories together. Add a cheeky note for guests to “BYO cake,” but make sure to order one or have one sent to the birthday honoree.
2. Virtual party for a milestone birthday
You only turn 30 once, and you can still host a memorable 30th birthday party virtually. Go with virtual birthday themes like decades (we’re totally into the 90s right now), places, or a favorite movie.
Ask guests to get creative with their attire based on what they already have in their closet. Try a ‘90s party with a Clueless-inspired dress code and a playlist full of Pearl Jam and Spice Girls, or get really nostalgic with an ’80s theme party full of neon and boombox backgrounds. Send each guest a Rubik’s cube as a party favor.
3. Virtual Netflix party
One of our favorite virtual party ideas is a watch party. Whether you’re streaming a documentary for your coworkers or hosting a movie night for friends, share your streaming movie of choice with the group Zoom call. Drop a poll on social media to find out what your friends want to watch, or pick a trending flick from Netflix’s homepage. Invite everyone to your virtual event with a fun Flyer invite, and start popping the popcorn.
4. Virtual family happy hours
So, your sister is in Dallas, your parents are in Denver, and you’re in Brooklyn. While nothing can replace the time we spend together with loved ones in the same room, a virtual happy hour is the next best thing. Get your martinis or spritzes ready and jump on a call to catch up on everyone’s lives. Missing your extended family too? Ask aunts, cousins, or grandparents to join in on the virtual hangout. Invite grandma to share a few stories about her life while you’re a captive audience, or learn what your little nephews or nieces have been up to.
5. Team virtual happy hours with coworkers
In lieu of an IRL office party, celebrate with team members while doing remote work with virtual team drinks. Set a theme to keep things interesting with zen Zoom backgrounds like a tropical jungle or a snowy cabin in the woods. Don’t skip birthdays just because you’re remote—host a virtual birthday party for each of your co-workers’ birthdays that can add a delightful break to your back-to-back Zoom meetings.
Or for an all-hands virtual meeting with drinks, why not make it a fireside chat with a virtual fire burning in the background? Just make sure to specify a start and end time, so employees don’t feel obligated to stay for too long. Keep the non-work conversation flowing with a fun game, or a round of trivia.
6. Virtual brunch ideas
Shake up your weekend schedule (without leaving the house) with a leisurely, boozy virtual brunch. Make it a “hot cakes & hot takes” virtual get-together, and catch up with your squad.
Give everyone three minutes to go off on whatever nerdy, historical, or pop-culture topic they want while you sip your BYO coffee and mimosas.
7. Virtual game night
If you’re inviting your entire guestbook, stay organized with a run of show (aka virtual happy hour activities) to keep things moving. Play virtual happy hour drinking games (we’re seeing a lot of Jackbox Games), enlist a virtual emcee to host an interactive game show, or make up your own trivia—it can be as easy as “who is that girl?” where you share photos of people from B-list celebrities to memes to TikTok influencers to test your friends’ overly specific knowledge. Sporcle is another great resource for a DIY trivia contest.
Since you’re not providing food and beer to your guests, consider awarding trivia prizes that guests can donate to a charity or GoFundMe.
8. Virtual supper club
One of our favorite virtual happy hour ideas is an old-fashioned supper club, with wine, of course! Gather your favorite like-minded foodies for a group dinner over your video call service of choice, like Zoom or FaceTime. Have everyone order from their favorite local restaurant and eat together.
9. Virtual book club
Looking for virtual video chat party ideas that don’t revolve around snacks? Put a new spin on the classic book club with an audiobook or podcast club for a virtual book club. Most libraries have an extensive digital audiobook collection.
10. Virtual wedding shower
Don’t let virtual birthday parties have all the fun—throw a virtual bridal shower! Put a new twist on a traditional bridal shower by sending the bride your favorite cookbook. Pair it with an item from their registry so the couple can cook meals at home. During the Zoom bridal shower, share your go-to recipe and any tips for the future couple.
For a more activity-based shower, adapt tips from our bridal shower guide to work virtually. For a game that is even more fun to play virtually—have one person show photos of the couple at different ages and have guests guess what year each image was taken.
11. Virtual baby shower with mocktails
A happy hour…for a baby shower? Yep, that’s right. Mocktails for mom, cocktails for the guests! Ask guests to send registry gifts directly to the parents-to-be, and have the new mom or dad open them live so everyone can join in on the fun. If everyone is local, have guests set gifts out on their porch. A host can pick up and deliver them. You can even include a celebratory cake or freezer meal for them to stash away. Need more baby shower ideas? We have you covered.
If grandparents aren’t able to travel, move your baby naming ceremony or gender reveal to video conferencing over Skype or Google Hangouts. Plus, if you record the virtual gathering you can rewatch Grandma’s reaction over and over. Read more of our baby shower hosting tips here.
12. Virtual ladies’ night in
Take everyone’s minds off of the stresses of real life with a pre-work-week virtual hang. Curb your Sunday Scaries with a chill group hangout over Skype. With an emphasis on “chill”. Take time to swap yoga class recommendations, self-care tips, or share your favorite meditation app. Hard kombucha is optional but encouraged.
13. Virtual farewell parties
Saying “so long!” is never easy, whether it’s to a beloved coworker who’s retiring or moving on to another job, or a friend or family member who’s leaving town. Send them off in style with a virtual farewell party invitation.
14. Virtual retirement parties
Need virtual retirement party ideas? Find a time that’s close to the end of the work day when everyone can log on and share memories of the person who’s leaving. If they have a signature sign style (and a good sense of humor), you can encourage all attendees to dress like them or send out a Zoom background with their face on it in advance for everyone to use. If you want to play virtual retirement party games, you can gather fun and relevant information about the retiree in advance and have your other coworkers guess facts about them in a quiz format. Our retirement party invitations will help you get the group together for the celebrations.
15. Virtual goodbye parties
If you want ideas for a Zoom goodbye party, look no further. Make sure you’ve rounded up the person of honor’s pals to participate (unless it’s a surprise party, you might want to have them check the guest list). Invite everyone to share memories and photos of them from the location the person is leaving. If you want to propose a toast during your virtual goodbye party, send a bottle of champagne or their spirit of choice ahead of time, and make sure everyone has a drink in hand. And of course, remind everyone that someday—hopefully soon!—you’ll be able to reunite in person, wherever your pal is headed off to.
