New Year's Eve Events Planner

When NYEphilly.com's original bash threatened to overflow past its 1,800-person capacity, the powers that be opened up a new venue, which tends to attract a slightly older-than-26 crowd that clamors into the Constitution Center. VIP tickets separate the boys from the men and ostensibly gives them access to a paradise full of better food and liquor, though in past years, no difference has been discerned between the rooms provided for the exclusive guests and the lower-paying masses. Tickets to the 12Midnight New Year's Eve Celebration cost between $99 and $175.

It's become customary in Philadelphia to expect twin top-shelf galas on NYE thrown by the promotional entity that's oh-so-subtlely named NYEphilly.com. The original one attracts a pretty 20-something crowd, bedecked in their finest, shimmying their drunken hips to DJs and holding out glasses to be filled with fruity vodka drinks and champagne at midnight. This year's Glitter City Gala costs between $120 and $175.

This party might provide the best bang for the buck. For just $8, kids and adults can get a prime view of either the 6pm or midnight Delaware River fireworks from the deck of a decommissioned battleship. Food and drinks are available for purchase and no one will be forced to stuff their feet into high heels.

The Avram Hornik bar passport, Rittenhouse edition, grants partiers access to both of his Rittenhouse bars. For $90, Hornik fans can travel between the two establishments to drink all they want, dance and sip a champagne toast at midnight.

For those who take their NYE cleaned-up Irish pub style, Uncorked on the Waterfront slaps a black-tie optional dress code on young professionals crowding in for an hour of open bar and a ?professional? coat check. Tickets are $30, or $110 buys guests some hors d?oeuvres. DJs and dancing create a more festive than usual atmosphere and a reserved block of rooms at the Doubletree Hotel give hungover patrons a roadside view of the Mummer's parade the following am.

New Years Hotel 2010 is aptly named, as it takes place in Suite 33 and SoleFood restaurant, both located within the Market Street hotel. Black-tie-clad party-goers of all ages will take advantage of a five-hour open bar, live bands, DJs and butlered hors d?oevres. Cost: $85 to $150. Crashing upstairs in a hotel room: Priceless.

1000 guests dressed in semi-formal attire will groove to DJ's spinning reggae, hip-hop and soul at the Celebrity Style All-Inclusive New Year's Eve Caribbean Gala, perched atop the Delaware River, where the fireworks will blow up the party. A buffet and extensive desserts will sweeten up the $145 evening for this party.

The belle of this season's balls is sure to be Daniel Stern's $150 soiree at his much-anticipated restaurant at the top of Two Liberty Place, which won't even open until several weeks later. Surely this sneak preview will be well stocked with the type of foodie who can't stand not to be first and maybe some friends of the ever-lovely Stern and his gracious wife, Jennifer. Smart partiers will claim an early seat on a window-front settee ? that's where floor-to-ceiling visual access to the fireworks will celebrate the launch of this top-of-the-world pantheon to contemporary fine dining.