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Top 10 Tips of Organising an Office Christmas Party
Organising the Christmas party can be a rewarding but stressful and time consuming task. With so many people to please, you have to consider everyone’s needs whilst making it even more fun and enjoyable than the last. Sound familiar? Following these helpful tips should make your task simple!
1) Location:
Many organisers insist on booking venues near to staff offices. Great, if everybody lives very locally to the office – but the most important thing about location (especially in London) should be the ease of getting home. People can get a tube or share cabs to get to a venue but getting home, particularly during Christmas party season can prove difficult. Venues in areas with excellent transport links ensures your guests will get home safely so make sure the venue is close to a tube station and there are a number of Black Cabs that pass through after 11pm. If you have colleagues that travel across the UK it is vital to be near a mainline station. There are some fantastic venues in London so why not consider all locations to provide the best possible venue.
For example, our venue The Grand Hall is directly opposite Kings Cross Station, offering excellent Tube, Rail, Bus and Taxi links.
2) Package:
All inclusive packages provide excellent value for money, and provide guests with their unlimited drinks for the night. The Christmas party should be a thank you to employees for their hard work throughout the year so they should not be expected to pay for anything. Nobody wants to get to the party and realise that unlimited drinks actually means until the bar runs out, or that the fantastic extras such as dodgems are at an extra price! Make sure that you are really getting your money’s worth and the package promised has no hidden extras.
3) Food:
Food is often overlooked at Christmas parties but it is the talking point at the party. If the food is bad it is remembered, and it completely effects the guest’s impression of the event. Both quality and quantity is essential for both seated meals and a bowl food event, as hungry guests drinking lots of alcohol is a recipe for disaster! It is difficult to determine whether the catering is going to be of excellent quality unless you have been recommended it by someone, so always insist on a private one on one tasting session where you can resolve any issues with the event manager present. Try the wine that will be served on the night as you don’t want an all inclusive package with the worst wine you have ever tasted!
4) Event Managers:
The client puts a lot of trust in the event manager when booking a Christmas party. The event manager should be trustworthy, honest and reliable. You need to look at other client’s feedback and some examples of previous events organised by the company when it comes to choosing as if they have lied about anything it will be reflected upon you on the evening. All proposals sent out by Impulse Events will contain photographs of the venues during Christmas in previous years, and quotes from previous clients which should give you some indication of the quality of events offered.
5) Attendees:
Think about who you are inviting. If the majority of the company is male or you know the attendees are not big dancers, you may want some entertainment for the non dancers. If they are all young and trendy perhaps a cool bar could be better than a private dining event in a historic venue. Ensure you know what your guests like, and you meet this criteria.
6) Venue:
Make sure you visit the venue- photographs are not always enough to determine whether the venue is going to be suitable. When visiting the venue go with an open mind, many Christmas party venues are blank canvases and have huge budgets to completely transform them. With photographs, videos and imagination you should be able to picture what the venue will look like. A tour of the venue will show you how the whole event will run from start to finish and you should be able to determine whether the size, location and package is going to work from the one visit.
7) Theme:
Before booking, you should know 100% what will be included within the packages and how the theme is going to be transferred to the décor of the venue. Try not to go for a theme that is too over the top- as although you may like it, it isn’t to everybody’s taste. Tasteful and subtle theming is a fantastic way of creating a fun and unique event that will appeal to the majority.
Book early
Don’t leave it too late to book the Christmas party, events companies tend not to offer any late bookings discount and chances are the best dates will go early. The later you book, the less notice you give to the invitees and with busy schedules you need to give people enough time to get the best turn out.
9) Invite!!
Sell the party! Think about the design of the invitation, does it make people want to go? You need to really sell the theme and venue to guarantee a brilliant turn out. When booking for a minimum number of guests it is such a waste of money when so many do not turn up. Send out invitations early to give people plenty of time to plan ahead, book babysitters and ensure it is not clashing with other events in the diary. Make sure all details are included on the invitations to avoid being inundated with the same questions from people- invites should include times, what is included, location, dress code and the theme.
10) Date
The most popular days for the Christmas party are Thursdays and Fridays. Thursday has recently become the new Friday, and some guests feel put off by having a party on a Friday as it is using up a night of their weekend, whilst others like it as it means no work with a hangover! As well as being popular these dates are also the most expensive! If you have a limited budget it could be a good idea to look at nights earlier in the week, and even Saturdays. You can get the same packages for much cheaper so it is much better value for money.
Written by Faye Hayward. 24th January 2011.
