Our Christmas Party Hacks

If your Christmas Party venue is too large for your numbers, you will never create a great atmosphere, however hard you try. And this will only get worse in the last hour as the early-to-bed crew depart. Too small, and the service can be slow and you will not be able to accept any additional guests that you may employ after the booking is made. As a general rule, a venue that has a maximum capacity of 15% more than your group size is perfect!

Go online with your invitation and registration process

Use your internal email and intranet to ensure the best engagement and to build excitement. Include photos of the venue, planned entertainment etc ( we here at The Collection Events can help with this). You can use an online registration system to manage RSVPs, special dietary requirements, which will give you more time to plan the party.

Consider a buffet dessert station, following a seated dinner

Some people like puddings, others prefer coffee or mint tea; but very few want to be stuck next to colleagues at a dinner table for more than 90 minutes. The perfect solution is to have a dessert buffet station with shot-glass served mini-desserts canapes and have coffee which can be served for an hour after the main dinner has finished. This gets the dance floor full earlier and allows guests to mix with more of their mates after a shorter meal at their table.

Avoid unlimited free shots or spirits bars

Remember you have a responsibility to look after your staff and get them home safely without visiting those messy pop-up medical centres. If you are serving spirits, make sure they are served with mixers.  Avoid free shots at all costs!

Plan the after-party venue

If you know that some of your guests will want to party on after the doors close, then make suggestions of nearby clubs and check out their door policies to avoid your guests trawling the streets for late night bars and clubs. Make sure you have a credit card/expense policy for your managers to avoid those January arguments!

The morning after…

If your party is on a mid-week night, then consider offering the guests an extra hour in bed. This will go down a treat with the staff attending, and the party-poopers who don’t attend can look after the phones until 10 am! This is an easy give that will be well-received and avoid the trickle-in of weary staff the next morning.

We hope that these tips help you plan the perfect party. Please feel free get in touch with our expert team who can suggest the best Christmas party options for you.