So, like most of us, this year the Corrie stars are organising their own festive fun. And as our event experts set out to prove here, you don't need to flash the cash to make your party sparkle.
Julie Arnold of Entertainment Today, organisers of Denise Welch and Tim Healy's Christmas Ball.
1 Atmosphere: Candles cost next to nothing but create a great mood in the house and make it look inviting and friendly when people walk in. Burning festive fragranced candles or incense sticks also helps to get your guests in the Christmas spirit.
2 Entertainment: The right entertainment is vital but doesn't have to bust your budget. You can pick up a roulette table for about £20 and you can play with monopoly money, so it doesn't have to cost your guests a penny.
Download your favourite tunes onto a CD or iPod and have them playing continuously so you don't have to worry about changing the music.
To give the feel of a live band buy a live DVD of your favourite singer or band in concert and play it on the TV or a big screen.
3 Decor: Forget expensive floral decorations. Buy some glass goldfish bowls and fill with water, adding a touch of cake colouring of your choice.
Add floating candles and flower heads such as gerberas, which come in a range of colours and you don't have to be artistic - you just take the heads off and they float.
4 Keep it simple: Don't go to all the expense of fancy foods like salmon and prawns. Cook three large joints, say pork, beef and ham and serve with barm cakes and all the trimmings like apple sauce and mustard. Also have cheese, pate and crusty bread.
For drink, fill a big bowl with fruit punch. Make the most of two for one offers on wine because no-one will see the bottles or labels.
Tom Finkill is a DJ and events organiser for Superb Functions in Hale, whose events include Manchester United 4 Unicef Ball.
1 Imagination: Capture your guests' attention by designing unique, cost effective table arrangements - filling a glass bowl with coloured baubles is cheap, but is Christmassy and looks great too. You, as the host, have complete reign over how you want your event to look. Think of ideas yourself, rather than spending a fortune on someone else's.
2 Shop around: Use online sites such as eBay and Amazon or visit your local charity shops where you can get great, quality products at a fraction of the price.
3 Balloons: They are a great addition to any room and are cheap to buy. You can walk into every supermarket and pick up different colours or occasion-types to suit your theme.
4 Have realistic goals: Think of the smaller aspects you can change to add that extra sparkle. Look at hiring table/chair linen, table runners etc. Even the way you can fold a napkin can make a difference.
Liz Taylor director of events company TLC, organisers of events like Manchester United's Championship League celebrations.
1 The right light: The best way to create fabulous lighting on a budget is to fill the house with candles. You can buy glass and ornate candle-sticks and candelabras very reasonably now but they give an expensive look. I'd even have candles burning from the gate right up to the house for a romantic ambience.
2 Fun cocktails: Cocktails are fun but also make your alcohol go further.
Rather than splashing out on champagne, get a good sparkling wine and make it into a cocktail by adding crème de cassis to make a kir or orange juice for bucks fizz.
3 Less is more: Always invest in entertainment - put a really good sound system in and play your iPod through it.
You'll want a good mix - chill- out music for when people arrive and party music for later.
4 Cut the catering: If you can't afford to hire caterers but you don't fancy slaving over a hot stove, you can order take out.
Serving everyone fish and chips in the newspaper is fun and will soak up the alcohol.
Or serve take out pizza in slices on funky canapé trays and later on finish off with Krispy Kreme doughnuts with a steaming mug of hot chocolate laced with a dash of alcohol.
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The Realist SW14 (03/12/2008 at 16:36)
1. Atmosphere - candles are cheap and you'll have hours of fun chatting to the firemen when some drunken muppet pushes your kids over and they spill one onto the curtains and the whole place goes up.
2. Entertainment - buy a roulette wheel or crack open a deck of cards, why don;t you. Let's make that party ROCK ! Download tunes to your iPod and save money by not having to change records (er, how does that work...) Play a DVD of your favourite band (unless it's Val Doonigan) and watch it on the new 42 inch plasma you've bought specially so people can actually see the screen (er, hang on...)
3. Decor - forget expensive floral decorations, in fact even cheaper is forget ANY floral decorations. Get some more candles !! (think we're running thin on ideas already here)
4. forget fancy (!!!) foods like salmon and prawns or that caviar stuff you normally order from Fortnums, just get some oven chips and a thick sliced in or better still spend 200 quid on a selection of joints that will last for three weeks until you throw the lot out.
5. save even more by not having a party altogether. You can guarantee it'll still be better than Denise Welch and Tim Healy's Christmas Ball.