How to Plan Your Work Christmas Party

An Easy 8-Step Guide

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Are you organising this year’s Christmas party / end-of-year celebration?

Use this step-by-step guide to planning corporate Christmas parties and cap off the year with a fabulous celebration that everyone will remember.

1. Define Event Objectives

It’s important to be clear on goals right from the start, because these will guide your decisions along the way.

What’s the purpose of your event? Whether it’s a Christmas Party, Gala Dinner, End-of-year (EOY) Celebration or Awards Night, it’s usually less about Christmas and more about celebrating!

2. Create a Budget

Know your budget before you begin! The total event budget may already have been set, but you’ll need to keep track of all spend: venue, entertainment, catering and theming.

3. Set the Date

Try to set the date as soon as possible, if it hasn’t already been decided.

Check for family celebrations and school holidays, because colleagues might take leave at this time. You want as many people as possible to enjoy your fabulous Christmas party!

4. Create a Guest List

The next step is working out how many people will attend. Is it just staff, or are partners invited too? If one of the event objectives is building relationships with key customers and suppliers, find out who these are and list their contact details.

With an estimate of how many people will attend, it’s time to source the venue.

5. Book the Venue

‘Tis the season for most businesses and organisations to have a party, so it’s best to book the venue asap to avoid missing out.

Unless you know the venue well, consider a quick visit to sense it for yourself. Website photos don’t always tell you everything about space and ambience.

You want the food to appeal to as many people as possible, including those with special dietary requirements; ask colleagues for feedback, or if they’ve had prior experience at the venue. Although unlikely, it’s best to know up front about any service or food quality issues!

6. Design a Theme

Many Christmas party planners inject that extra ‘wow!’ factor with a theme.

It doesn’t need to be Christmas-related at all, and it’s your chance to get creative!

Decorations, lighting and music all help build the right mood. Of course, any creative theming will have to fit with your budget and venue facilities.

7. Book Entertainers

Hiring professional entertainment is a fantastic way to take your corporate Christmas party to the next level. There are many different types of entertainment to choose from, whether your event is day or night, seated or standing, or casual or formal.

Live bands and stage shows – think comedians, dancers and circus performers – are great for seated celebrations. For a standing, cocktail type party, roving entertainers move around the space to keep your guests thrilled and engaged throughout the party.

8. Send Invites

With the party details to hand, it’s time to send out your invitations. Try to send these out as soon as you have sufficient information about the event.

Include clear information about time, date, venue and transport, as well as the fabulous entertainment and festivities you have in store.

The lead-up to the event is also a great opportunity to build extra buzz about the party, with posters, emails and intranet banner ads. It’s amazing how much the anticipation contributes to the mood on the day!

Next steps

• Download the event run sheet template to manage your event with ease!
• Hot tips on using a run sheet like an events professional.
• Discover 9 new Christmas entertainment ideas for your event.