Planning The Company Christmas Party

Throughout the year each business will hold various events including meetings, business parties and team building events, to build a greater sense of camaraderie. A Christmas party is often a recurring event each year, with many businesses planning the event months in advance to ensure that it turn out well. This can be made more difficult depending on the number of employees or clients who are going to attend as well as what kind of event you are planning for.  

However, planning a company Christmas party can be a lot of fun. Keeping a checklist of everything that needs to be completed can make it much easier to ensure that you can easily check your progress. With the Christmas decorations and menu being your responsibility, make sure to have some fun with it and to be creative when it comes to finding solutions. 

Venue

When planning a company Christmas party, the first thing you should do is select a venue. If you were not in charge of organising the party last year, then ask those who have organised events previously if they have any recommendations. However, don’t forget to look at new venues as well, to see if any of them better fit your vision. Consider your price range for the company Christmas party – there is no use in visiting venues which are out of your budget.  

Here is a list of things you should be conscious of when selecting your venue: 

• How many guests can the venue you have selected hold and which function room will you be using? Most venues will limit the number of guests they allow, based on their kitchen capacity and health and safety rules. Make sure there is enough space for all the guests you have invited.  
• What are the menu options? You may need a vegan or gluten free menu option for one of your guests, so be sure to inquire with the venue about what they have for you.  
• Does your venue have a pre-decorated function room, or will you need to take care of the décor? Many venues will already have Christmas decorations up, so you won’t have to deal with décor for your party.  

Invite your guests

A company Christmas party is generally an employees-only event without including plus ones; this keeps the costs lower and ensures that all the guests know each other through work. Because all those invited work for the same company, sending out an email or calendar notification for the event can often work a lot better than rather than sending paper invites. Each invitee can be sent a copy of the menu to select their choices, as well as any pertinent details they may need such as the venue’s address. This keeps all the data saved and easily organised, rather than it being on innumerable slips of paper. 

Sending notifications asking for each invitee to let you know if they will be able to come will help you ensure there are fewer no-shows.  

Secret Santa

Arranging a Secret Santa can be a great way to make your party more festive. Giving gifts is a great part of the Christmas experience. However, if you have a lot of people working in the same department or office it can become difficult to get gifts for only a few and leave others out. A Secret Santa is a good compromise, as everyone gets a gift and of roughly the same quality (purchases tend to be capped at about £25 so everyone gets something small).  

There are multiple apps which can produce a random selection of gifts for each person to buy, or you can simply use names written on scraps of paper and drawn from a hat in order to select who each person is to buy a gift for.  

Drinks

What better time to have a toast than a Christmas party? Christmas is an exceptionally boozy season, with many taking the time to enjoy a glass or two on the day itself and while attending a Christmas party or two. Arranging the drinks for your party is a key part of ensuring the event’s success. Deciding on which drinks you will be serving to guests can be tricky; selecting one or two specific Christmas-themed drinks such as mulled wine or a snowball can give your guests a range of options without making it too complicated for the servers.  

If you have a large number of guests, having a few bottles of wine on each table paid for and then leaving other drinks to be paid for at the bar tends to work quite well in order to keep the budget reasonable.  

Entertainment  

To keep your party interesting there are many ways to entertain your guests and keep everyone involved with the fun. Here are some good entertainment options to keep things festive and enjoy the company Christmas party:   

• Live music – Nothing brings a party to life quite like live music. The energy that a live performance brings is difficult to match, and bringing in the right band can have everyone dancing in no time! 
• Dance floor – Not all function rooms will have a specific dance floor, so if you are organising a party where you would like to organise a dance at the end of the evening then confirm with your venue that there is a dance floor and a speaker system in the function rooms you are thinking of booking.  
• Party games – If you are having a large party, there will inevitably be a few people who don’t know as many of the other guests than others. Organising a few party games to break the ice can get everyone introduced and help everyone get in the party mood. Many games can be customised to fit a Christmas theme, helping the company Christmas party get off to a great start.  

If you are considering Salomons Estate as a venue for your company Christmas party, then please contact us here. We have a wide range of Christmas deals and events for our guests to explore.