Christmas can be a wonderful time to throw a party, especially if you want to treat your team/work colleagues to a good time after a good year of working with or for you. You’ve never done this before. Where do you start? How do you do it?
1. MAKE A BRIEF PLAN AND SET THE BUDGET FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY!
There are many options for the type of Christmas party you can organise. It could be anything from a simple restaurant meal for you and your colleagues, a couple of tables in your local club’s shared Christmas parties, a social club or venue hired that you kit out with a buffet, right up to a full on multi thousand seater venue with an entire circus to entertain you after a silver service 4 course dinner! Budget and the lifestyle of you and your guests could well be the deciding factor to the above choice, with the first suggestion being the cheapest, to the latter being a highly expensive experience.
2. WHAT TYPE OF PARTY SHOULD I CHOOSE?
So you’ve set your budget but you’re not entirely sure what you should do next. Now is the time you need to have a think of the type of people you and your guests are. If you’re all potentially going to be hitting the ‘Jagerbomb’s’ during dinner and are up for a dance floor fuelled night the first few options may not be ideal, leaving you with the last few options (joint party or putting your own party on). However, if you’re more up for a quiet night with a few drinks and a good chat I’d suggest the restaurant is your best call.
3. DID YOU WANT TO INCLUDE A DAYTIME ACTIVITY?
It can be an idea (if budget allows) to add an activity in the daytime for your guests to attend and have fun or even team build. This can obviously be a huge range of activities but a few that we’ve always had fun doing are Paintballing, Dirt Buggy Racing, Christmas Markets, a spa day, Ice Skating, Day Trip Tours and Ski or Snowboard Trips. By the evening everyone will be settled in, ready to relax, have a nice meal then dance the night away!
4. SET THE DATE AND BOOK THE VENUE!
The next step can really work hand in hand. With christmas being a busy period for party venues, choosing a date can very much be dependant upon that venue’s availability. We’d very much suggest finding a number of potential dates that work for you and your colleagues, and then taking these to your venue of choice (we’ll come on to that bit next) to ensure you can get the venue you want!
5. HOW DO I CHOOSE THE VENUE?
It’s quite a safe bet that at some point during your celebration, everyone will need feeding. Therefore, booking a venue with food included is an attractive choice (for most other people too so get in there quick!). Lots of good restaurants provide festive packages with handy set menus – be aware though that if you’re party is quite a large one, the restaurant will often ask for a small deposit for each diner and perhaps pre-orders. A nice touch (if budget allows) is to order some bottles of wine for the table as a treat or add some cash onto a bar tab for your colleagues to enjoy!
6. WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO ORGANISE?
Entertainment!! We are always inundated with corporate party bookings around the Christmas period, as you really can’t beat a celebration complete with live music! We send out Jazz duos to play during dinners, party bands for private venues, string quartets to add an elegant atmosphere, singing waiters and stunning big bands! The atmosphere of a party is very much enhanced by booking live musicians to play, and the positive effects of successful christmas soirees can be felt the whole year through. If you’d like to look at something extra to complement your perfect music choice, we provide amazing caricaturists and close up magicians! Lots of christmas parties now come complete with a professional photographer to capture the special event – if this is a little too formal for you, you could always have some fun with a photo booth!
7. HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT INTRODUCING A THEME?
Most companies host a Christmas party for their colleagues every year – so it’s no surprise that people like to think about how they can make this year’s bash better than last year! Creating a theme is a great way to make the night unique. There are several popular choices including a James Bond theme complete with character lookalikes and a live Big Band playing Bond style music, a Hollywood Oscar’s theme with Black Tie, Marilyn Monroe greeting guests and showgirls in feathers; or an 80’s night with a tribute band being the main feature and all guests in fancy dress!
8. CONFIRM DETAILS AND SEND INVITATIONS WITH RSVP’S.
It’s always worth pinning down your exact number of expected guests by giving them the details and an invitation with an RSVP well in advance! We are all guilty of faffing around and being a little noncommittal at times, but that doesn’t help the poor person trying to organise the event – so firm up your numbers as soon as you’re able!
9. TABLE PLAN?
This is a sector where it’s easy to spend hours. Will Nigel bore Susan if I put them next to each other? Should Terry be on the same table as Stuart because I’m not sure he’s forgiven him for accidentally eating his pepperami last month? These are big decisions that could have a big impact on your night so choose tables wisely – perhaps avoiding the cliques and seating someone who’s a little shy next to someone who’s an open chatterbox to help bring them out of their shell (don’t go too mad though, they still need to like each other!).
10. ENJOY YOURSELF!
Lastly and very importantly – don’t forget to enjoy your night when it finally arrives! By all means keep an eye on the bits you had a big hand in organising – but you very much deserve to let your hair down as much as the others – so grab some fizz and get your self on that dance floor- it’s over for another year!
