Christmas hats at the ready - Holidays are coming!

It’s official – bonfire night has been and gone… NOW we can get out the festive jumpers and Santa hats! If you’re the company’s official Christmas Party Planner, then you’re going to need to check out this handy blog. We’ve compiled this super helpful toolkit to get your party organised and swinging!

Where to start? Let’s talk budget!

Every event requires a budget and it’s ultra-important to stick within it. The best place to start is with a Google Doc spreadsheet and simply four columns:

Item
Description
Estimated cost
Actual cost

Then, list everything you’re going to need for your event. In the ‘item’ column, list out everything you can think that you’ll need to buy or organise.

Add a brief description beside each item in the ‘Description’ column to clarify what you’re looking for. For example, if you require a venue fit for 200 employees, you might add “200-person capacity” into the ‘Description’ column. Afterwards, write in your estimations. Remember if there have been previous similar parties, this should be easy as you can use previous actual costs.

Next up: What are the options?

It’s more than likely you’re organising a party for more than one person! That means lots of feedback is just waiting to come your way! Get ahead of the game and send out a survey, asking what everyone would prefer to do for their ultimate festive party. This can be done by email poll, Survey builder or an online form. Then, go with the favourite (with director and budget approval of course)!

The party logistics

Make sure that all your logistics are written clearly on a planner, you’ll need to make sure you cover the following:

Supplier contacts
Proposed numbers attending
Menus
Entertainment plan
Timings
Hotels and travel (if applicable)

Once you’ve got these firmed up, it’s time to get invites out and request dietary requirements!

Invites & RSVPs

This will either be your favourite part, or the most painful… but there are ways to keep it simple and effective.

First up: Get creative with Outlook. Spruce up the calendar invite and include the party details, dress code, pics of what’s in store, complemented with a fun tone of voice – get everyone into the festive spirit!
Set a deadline on when to confirm their spot and dietary requirements/ menu choice (if you have caterers or have booked venue space, usually they like to have numbers confirmed two weeks prior to the Christmas Party)
Bring the festive cheer and advertise the Party in the staff room! There are some amazing Canva templates, just waiting to be utilised!

Run up to the Party

There will always be a dropout! But, with regular communication, maybe a few little teasers with exciting things that have been planned, you might keep everyone engaged and excited for the big event!