Hello:
I have to plan a holiday party for about 45 staff. Does anyone have any ideas that you could share with me regarding the menu, decorating, games, centerpiece ideas and the invitation?
I am also pulling a group of 5 staff to help me.
Thank you
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Know your budget as that pretty much dictates what you can and can't do with your party. At a former employer, we held a Let It Snow party at a local civic center which turned out very nice and was decorated in white, blue and silver. There were snow 'people' who were made out of small white trash bags for the sections of their body (recycling came into play here as they filled the bags with our paper shredding). We made outfits for the snow couples and placed them throughout the center where we held the party. White netting was the 'snow' throughout and we ran strings of clear lights through that netting to light the room up (was held in the evening). Game show style games were played and prizes were awarded accordingly. We also drew names of staff from a bucket and awarded door prizes as well. Center pieces were made by the committee members and were also given away as door prizes. Cash is nice! We had a tree we decorated with festive envelopes that held either a name of a prize or an amount of cash. When the employee's name was drawn for a door prize, they got to go pick an envelope. The employer provided a catered buffet. Currently, I coordinate the management Christmas party and we hold it at a local mansion that is a museum. It is already decorated for Christmas and my employer decorates one of the rooms. We cater in a buffet meal with beef/chicken/fish and assorted veggies, sides and desserts. Alcholol is also provided but we have designated drivers and attendees know to watch how much they drink. It's held in the evening and is very elegant. We don't give gifts or play games. I would recommend prepaid Visa or MasterCard gift cards as a possible gift (bonus) or a padfolio with your company's logo. Good Luck and have fun!
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Kelly Dodson on
11/6/2013 5:09:45 PM
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If you are at a location besides just a seated dinner with room you can do this, another fun collaborative idea is to hand out cards with a picture on it (i.e., snowman, christmas tree, rudolph, sleigh, bells, etc.). Each person at the party draws one card out of the hat. Then they have to go around the room to find everyone that has the same card. That is how you divide into teams -- like groups of 4 to 5 depending on the size of your party. This also gives an opportunity for each individual, especially the guests of the employee to interact with different people at the party than their date. You provide each team with a basket that holds various "decorative" items. Each team must choose a team member that they decorate with the items in the basket. For example, bows, ribbon, tinsel, large puffy cotton balls, scotch tape, scissors, felt, antlers, santa hat, small squeezeable toys shaped with a holiday theme, holiday underwear/boxers, ornaments (nonbreakable suggested), etc. Let your imagination run wild when shopping for the basket items either at your local dollar store or retailer. The individual is then "decorated" with the items from the basket by its teammembers. You give them a time limit on how long to complete this task -- no more than 20-30 minutes. Then you have a judge(s) vote on the most creative individual who has been decorated by their team. The winning team either wins a small gift per person or just bragging rights for the win. This is a great ice breaker, involves every guest and works better after a little egg nog has been flowing!!
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Lisa Windahl on
11/5/2013 2:04:06 PM
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I host an "OPEN HOUSE" Christmas party where everyone can come and go - because getting people back after work is not so easy. We host it from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and different years I have done different things. Everyone brings a dish that morning to the designated area and myself along with some helpers arrange everything. We have asked We would send out a schedule of the day.
- "cooking on a grill" demonstration outside by chef
- cookbook of recipes
- carolers
- quartet
- favorite video contest (everyone sent in their favorite funny youtube video and we voted on whose was the funniest) They were allowed to be the first to pick a basket.
- each department put together a Christmas basket to be given out as door prizes
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Belinda Beaubouef on
11/5/2013 1:27:25 PM
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Hello, I have experience setting up holiday parties for large groups.
? I used a hotel ballroom and a back room at a restaurant. Both places can assistant with the menu, but get a group consensus as to what you think people would like (1-3 options ~ chicken/fish/beef). You need to decide if you want a buffet or sit down dinner. Buffets are cheaper and charge by the number of people. Sit down dinners include the cost of wait staff.
? Weighted down balloons work well for decorations by the doors and throughout the room, and small, round vases of Christmas flowers/pines are nice for centerpieces.
? We never placed games, but did have a DJ. If you decide to go with games Google ?Christmas Games for Adults?. There are a ton of suggestions.
? Watch the alcohol ~ if your office decides to provide alcohol pass out 2 tickets per person which limits the drinking. Check your company policy on alcohol at parties. The company will be liability for any DUI?s.
Hope this helps.
Carolyn
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Anonymous on
11/5/2013 1:06:47 PM
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We always give a holiday scratch off ticket to each guest and they really seem to like that.
We also do a Yankee Gift Exchange where anyone that wants to participate can. This really livens things up and we have a LOT of laughs. We give out prizes for the "most useful", "most useless", "most creative" and the "funniest" gift. People know this in advance and really come up with some hysterical ideas trying to out do each other! Below are the "rules" we send out:
Each guest brings a wrapped, unmarked gift and places it in a designated area. Gifts should be an item that the person already had at home (something that is being ?regifted? or simply not wanted anymore).
1. Guests draw a number from a hat.
2. The person who receives the number 1 will pick a gift (not the gift they brought) from the pile and open it for all to see. During the selection of a wrapped gift, the participant may inspect the wrapped gifts, pick them up and shake them.
3. The person who receives number 2 then chooses a gift and opens it, and then must decide whether to keep it or swap it for the first player's gift. Each person in order then gets to select a present, open it and decide whether to keep it or swap it for any other gift someone has already opened.
4. Opening of gifts and swapping takes place until all the presents have been chosen.
5. Finally, the person who picked first gets to choose from all the gifts or keep what he/she has already received.
6. The gift you end up with is the gift you will take home.
NOTE: We will be using the ?3 swap maximum?. The guest who swaps for the third time will be taking that gift home.
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Violet on
11/5/2013 12:39:17 PM
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You didn't indicate if you were going to a restaurant or having it "in house". I will assume in house. First off, determine your budget and how formal/informal the event will be. As far as the menu goes, be sure to offer a vegetarian option--salads and cheese/relish trays are good. Our group of 150 (large % of men) likes the more informal party. They enjoy something different rather than a typical buffet of chicken, potatoes, green beans. We have brought in food trucks from a nice local restaurant and that has gone over really well. We keep decorating/centerpieces to a minimum such as decorative table cloths and a "give away" centerpiece like a poinsettia or little spruce Christmas tree. Past experience has been that games are not well received. We pass out raffle tickets that will be drawn for various gift cards. As far as the invitation, a casual party could be an emailed festive flyer or for something more formal a personalized card. Be sure to have plenty of people that will help with the clean up afterwards. Happy Holidays!
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Debra on
11/5/2013 12:27:47 PM
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