Easy Holiday Party Planning Tips

By Ellen Zucker
Faces & Fortunes

A holiday party is a time for your business to share good tidings with its clients and staff.

But what if it's you who gets stuck with planning the festivities? Planning a holiday party does not have to be difficult. Read below for helpful ideas and tips.

Holiday or Christmas parties are a way of saying thanks for a year’s work that was well done. At many firms, Christmas parties are a venerable annual tradition.You may choose to make your holiday party more lavish if your company had a particularly good year - and wants to make a statement about that.

Nonetheless, like all events, your holiday party can be as simple or as lavish as you wish.

Planning a successful event is a balance of time, organization and attention to detail, and your creativity.

Once you have established a general budget and a date for your holiday party, you'll want to secure the following items in this general order.

• Choose your venue. (where will your party take place?)

• Secure your caterer or make other provisions for food and beverages.

• What about music? Do you prefer a band? Or a DJ?...

• What about other entertainment? Caricature artists, Tarot readers add color to your event and leave your guests with something to remember.

• How will you decorate and make the party look festive? Check out this recommended source for decorations and low-priced party supplies.

Give yourself as much time as possible.

Because holiday parties are so popular, December is, consistently, one of the busiest months of the year for the special events industry.

That means hotels, restaurants, caterers, D.J.s, entertainers, are running at peak capacity. They book up quickly.

So if you are planning your holiday party during this time of year, extend your time-line.

One year is not too early to book your venue, for example. This is especially true if you are planning your event on a Saturday evening.

Hint: Consider moving your party in January or February. Facilities are in less demand and providers are able to be more flexible. Plus, during the middle of winter, people will welcome a chance to celebrate.

If your business is one whose peak activity period occurs in December- insurance and retail are two examples - moving your holiday party out of December lifts the burden of yet another commitment during that busy time.

What are your objectives?

Is your event intended to be a thank you to your staff for a job well done (employee appreciation)?

Are you looking to entertain your clients (client hospitality)?

Or another purpose? Retailers often have events to promote themselves and their wares at this time of year, for example.

Choosing a time.

You’ll want to take your guests’ schedules into consideration when planning the time and day of the your holiday party.

Events welcoming spouses and significant others are best held on evenings and weekends. Events on a Saturday night tend to be more formal and lavish.

If children will be present, you’ll probably want to schedule the event on a weekend during the day. Late morning and early afternoons on Saturdays are popular times to begin these events. Be sure to schedule activities tthat will be of interest to guests of the wide range of ages you can expect to see. Sunday events will generally start a bit later than Saturday events to allow people to sleep in, go to church, etc., on Sunday morning.

Employee only events are often held during the week at during the work day or in the evening just following the close of the work day. These can be simple or lavish. Employee luncheons are always popular as are after-work cocktail parties.

Themes and Activities

Who will attend? Employees? Clients? Spouses? Children? Some mixture of the above?Plan activities suitable for people in these groups.Parties can range from black tie to the very informal. While Christmas is a natural theme for this time of year, be aware that we do live in an increasingly pluralistic society.

Unless your organization is religious in nature, it’s best to keep the Christmas theme light.

Nonetheless, choosing and developing themes present lots of opportunities for you to turn on your creative juices.

One way to get the creative juices flowing is to look at the offerings of party supply vendors. Here is one that I highly recommend.

The easy thing about the holiday season is that Christmas and holiday decorations are available almost everywhere you look. And if your event is being held at a restaurant, the facility may already be decorated for the holidays.

Still, if you want to plan something very special, professionals can design and do the legwork for you.

Your Venue

Do you want your holiday party to be simple or elaborate?

In my capacity as an entertainer, I have attended holiday parties given in restaurants, hotels, catering halls, conference centers, homes of department heads and CEOs, and offices.

Some of the more unusual locations in the greater Philadelphia area include dinner cruise ships like the Spirit of Philadelphia which takes individuals and groups for two and three hour cruises in Philadelphia’s Delaware river. Institutions such as museums, zoos, aquariums, etc., actively seek to host parties and special events.

Some in the greater Philadelphia area include the Philadelphia Zoo, NJ State Aquarium, the Battleship New Jersey, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Visitors Center, the National Constitution Center, etc.

Choosing Food for your Holiday party

Food and beverages can range from the very simple to lavish. I’ve seen everything from potluck to elegantly catered full course sit down meals.

Buffets keep guests moving. They allow for more flexibility for events where people may arrive and depart at different times such as an after work cocktail party. Sit down meals formalizes and unifies the event since everyone will be eating at the same time.

Alcohol

The employee who overindulges the liquor at the company Christmas party is a stereotype. But it does happen in the real world!

Here are some steps to minimize problems if you choose to have alcohol served at your holiday party.

• Make food available when the the alcohol is served.

• Hire a professional bartender to serve drinks.

• Consider putting the alcohol away an hour or two before the conclusion of your party.

• Have a back up plan for people unable to drive home safely.

I invite you to check out other pages on this site for tips that can be applied to planning your Holiday or Christmas party.

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