So you want to throw the best ugly sweater party ever? This might seem like an easy task, but there’s a lot that goes into making your bash known as the party with the most holiday spirit.

Lucky for you, MOVE has created a guide to throwing the perfect ugly sweater party. From food to decorations to music, we’ve got you covered:

**The sweater requirements:** This part might be tough, but to have the absolute best ugly sweater party possible, you have to require that people dress up according to theme. One way to help push people to participate is to offer a prize for the guest with the best — and therefore ugliest — outfit. Encourage guests to not just wear ugly sweaters, but to also get even more creative with their clothing choices from head to toe.

**The invites:** Whether you invite people via Facebook or you send out invitations the old-fashioned way, there are a couple things you cannot forget.

The invitations have to be festive. Using red and green in your invites is always good, but don’t be afraid to branch out. As long as it’s holiday themed, it’s sure to be a hit.

Your invites also should have enough information to let people know they are expected to not only dress up in some kind of ridiculous holiday themed get-up, but also that they best come with lots of holiday spirit.

**The decorations:** If you’re expecting your guests to go all out with their outfits, you have to go all out with how you decorate your place. You’ll need anything and everything holiday-related: lights, garland, ornaments, snow globes, figurines, stockings and anything else you can find needs to cover your place from floor to ceiling. The goal should be to make your guests feel like they just stepped foot into the North Pole, not into your two-bedroom apartment.

**The food:** In true holiday fashion, the most important food you can bring to the party is cookies: sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles and every other type of cookie possible. Candy canes are a must, as well.

Sweets aside, your party should supply plenty of holiday favorites and comfort foods. Your guests should feel inspired by your food to become Santa Claus-sized just so they can eat as much as possible. The holidays are a time for eating, and therefore the expectations for good food are going to be high.

**The music:** This should be obvious, but there is only one type of music that should be played at an ugly sweater party: Christmas music. Your playlist should include the classics such as “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” as well as some of those hip, modern remixes to keep the dancing going. For the less traditional stuff, try a little YouTube searching (“Christmas song remixes” should do the trick) and you are sure to find something to spice up your party.