Holidays in the Valley : Here’s to an Elegant New Year’s : Festivities: Any Dec. 31 celebration deserves a shot of glamour; planning ahead is the surest way to attain it.

Last year, a couple whose house has a grand view of the city finally gave the New Year’s Eve party.

Their invitation promised so much luxury that my husband rented me a formal. The gold sequin-spangled gown clung to curves I didn’t know I had and haven’t seen since. My husband was outfitted like Mr. Debonair. I felt like a movie star, more than equal to the occasion.

I now feel that any New Year’s celebration deserves a shot of glamour.

Planning ahead is the surest way to achieve elegance without going broke. Send out invitations a month to six weeks in advance to beat the competition. Your invitation should allude to things to come. Personalize store-bought invitations with colorful metallic ink, rhinestones, feathers and envelopes laced with confetti.

Consider your budget. If you can afford it, use a caterer and hire servers and a bartender to keep food and libations flowing.

If money is tight, gatherings on a smaller scale can still be elegant. Use your best china and linen for a small dinner party for six or eight.

If you still need help, hire a teen-ager to serve food and assist you in the kitchen.

Or go out for a fancy meal and invite everyone back to your place for sinful desserts (resolutions don’t kick in until after midnight), gourmet coffee, liqueurs and, of course, champagne for the last hurrah of the year.

If you want to stage a true gala, think through the food aspect. Many-coursed meals play well during the numerous hours preceding midnight. Or buffets erupting with seasoned sliced meats, seafoods, fruits, cheeses and caviar lend themselves to a larger party.

Light candles and festoon the table with silver and gold streamers to set a festively upscale mood. Darkness studded with tiny white Christmas tree lights will also turn your home into a wonderland. Most dramatic are balloons all of one color--white, silver, gold or navy--tied with huge coordinating ribbons.

Keep floral arrangements on the monochromatic side too--white with silver or gold accents. Even rent a bubble maker.

For the music, think romance. Old band tunes, ‘50s prom hits or even disco from the ‘70s will get your guests going. Pick up a CD or tape of Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole to create a sophisticated celebration. If you can afford to rent a band or disc jockey, great.

Prefer something less traditional? Outrageous ideas for renegade party-givers can tax the logistics, but they’re well worth the trouble.

Have a horse-drawn sleigh or hayrack pick up your friends and carry them to a country house. Awaiting them there, a fire in every hearth, cowboy tunes and wassail. For dinner serve steamy stew, corn pones and berry cobbler.

Set up tables full of hot buttered rum and hearty sandwiches at the nearest rink for a skating party.

Those in warmer climes could meet in the desert to camp under the stars, tell ghost stories and look for UFOs. Use a news clip of a UFO sighting as your invitation. A menu appropriate to this kind of cosmic encounter would, perforce, be vegetarian--black beans and cilantro, potato fritters, steamed broccoli salad and a hallucinogenically rich chocolate dessert.

If you are new in town and haven’t any other New Year’s Eve plans, call up the most sumptuous hotel you can afford, book a room for the night and indulge yourself in a great meal, dancing and room service.