Step-by-Step Guide: Company Holiday Party Planning for a Festive Event

Company holiday parties are a great idea. They provide an excellent opportunity for employers and the staff at their

company (and sometimes relevant organization members outside the company) to have quality time together out of the

workplace. There are some key considerations when it comes to putting together a corporate holiday party and you might

seek the services of a corporate event planner to assist you.

Get a Holiday Party Checklist

First, you should make up a checklist to help you plan and keep track of what still needs to be done. This should include

budget setting, venue selection, planning and booking entertainment, sending out invitations, and last-minute tasks that

need to be done the day before and day of the event. You can provide copies of this checklist for everyone with a highlight of

the tasks on each person’s copy for which they’re responsible.

Budgeting

It’s ideal to come up with a set budget before you even start to plan the party. Since you want to keep in mind everything

that will be involved, write down the itemized amounts you expect to need for each specific category. Estimate costs by

looking into average costs for certain things and then discuss this with your boss, if necessary. It can help cut down on costs

if you are able to rent an all-inclusive venue or hold your party at your workplace break room. You can adjust as you go along

if you have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to your budget, but it’s a good idea to have a general guideline of how much

you can spend.

Selecting a Venue

If you do need or want to hold the corporate party somewhere that isn’t on work premises, you will need to look into the best

local venues to suit your needs. Look into venues that seem like they are an appropriate size for how many people you

expect to attend the party. If you allow for people to bring a plus-one (or several other people), it’s good to find a venue

that’s somewhat on the larger side. Speak to the manager at each of the venues you’re considering and ask a lot of

questions. Talk about what they include, what you will need to bring, if they allow you to bring in outside food or drinks, and if

they can accommodate the activities you’d like to have at the event.

Choosing a Theme

One of the first steps for party planning is to select a theme. Choose this theme a few months before you’ll have the party so

you have something to keep in mind for your party details. It doesn’t need to be something too serious or that everyone will

love. If you want something more on the silly side, you can call it an “ugly sweater party” and ask everyone to wear their

most odd holiday sweaters and other outlandish accessories. If it’s a party where you expect there will be many children

attending, you can have a Santa there and take photos, give out little gifts, and have some relevant props such as a fake

sleigh, plastic reindeer, and North Pole cut-outs to make it even more fun.

Entertainment and Activities

You want to gear your entertainment and activities around the party theme. This could be a DJ or live music, a photo booth,karaoke of holiday songs, and simple games to get to know your co-workers better. You also might plan a cookie exchange orSecret Santa program where you give each other gifts at the event. Whatever you end up doing, it’s certain to be a blast andhelp bring everyone a bit of extra holiday cheer. There are many things that aren't expensive to offer at a party like instant spotlight from Esstart which has an event photo sharing features which allows you to show photos and parts of your event as they are happening to make your party even more fun.

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Drinking Rules

Would you like to make it so that people can drink at your holiday party? If you have it at your workplace, this likely isn’t

going to be a legal problem. However, if you have it at a venue, you’ll want to make sure they serve alcohol or that you’re

legally permitted to bring it there.

An additional concern when it comes to office holiday party drinking is that it can lead to some trouble. Some people get

more tense or have issues controlling anger or other emotions and this can lead them to make questionable decisions. If you

go ahead with bringing alcohol into the equation, try to keep it to limited amounts.

Invitation

Come up with your guest list early on. Will you only invite people who are regular employees for your company? Or, do you

want to open it to partner organizations and shareholders? Typically, companies will allow their employees to bring their

families or a plus-one to their holiday parties. Gather up any contact information if you plan to send the invite through the

mail or email. Otherwise, you can deliver the invitations to their company mailboxes or directly to their desks. You can use

online templates to create simple invitations yourself, or hire a business to come up with beautiful professional ones.

Day-of Coordination

For that day’s tasks, make sure that you have everything you’ll need ready to go. This way, you can just put it together.

Check in with the catering company the day of or day before about what time to expect the delivery of food. Make sure that

you know the parking situation and get any parking permits, if necessary. Talk to the venue manager about check-in

procedures so that this runs smoothly.

Prepare for Seamless Corporate Christmas Event Coordination

Holiday party planning for a company can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be so difficult. Get a team together, take on

individual tasks, and check in regularly to get progress reports. A corporate holiday party should be all about having a good

time and rewarding yourselves for working hard all day. As long as you make your theme, create a budget, come up with

great entertainment and food, send up invites early enough, and put together a checklist to keep track of it all, this is sure to

go well.

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FAQs

Q: How do I plan a corporate holiday party?

A: Planning a company holiday party doesn’t have to be stressful. You can divide up tasks with a holiday party planning committee. Talk about the budget, theme, entertainment, food/drinks, invitations, and venue months in advance.

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Q: What should I consider when planning a company party?

A: One of the top things to consider when you’re putting together a holiday party for your company is how many people you can expect to attend. Other important things to keep in mind are how much you can/should spend, what the theme should be, and what kind of food to serve. An all-inclusive venue might be your best bet in order to save some money and time since you won’t have to plan every single detail. You might seek the services of a corporate event plan

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Q: How do you socialize at a company Christmas party?

A: There are some great ways to encourage people to get more social at your corporate Christmas party. For instance, you can set up photo booths and a karaoke station. You can get longer tables so more people are able to sit together while they’re eating and relaxing. Also, you can play party games where you have to guess other people’s answers that they gave before the party.

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Q: How much should a company spend on a holiday party?

A: Each company will have different needs/wants for their holiday party and this means that they can have very different budgets. Of course, if you’re holding the party on work premises, you won’t have to spend as much money. You should expect to spend several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on how many people will be at the party.