Blog Archives

Tips on how to throw a memorable, holiday office party

12/7/2016

Tis the season of crazy holiday festivities… among them is the much anticipated office party that you are tasked with planning for your eggnog filled employees, co-workers and/or clients. Planning a successful party ON TOP of shopping for holiday gifts, keeping up with peek season holiday madness and trying to figure out who your secret Santa is, can be a stressful and daunting task! But I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be. Here are some party throwing tips to appease your ugly-holiday-sweater-wearing guests so they are not destined to attend a hum-bug style work event that only the Grinch could appriciate.

1) A Fun Party Theme

Ugly Christmas sweater can be a lot of fun, but so can these following popular themes for the holiday season.

Onsie Party (Christmas Style): Have everyone attend in a festive, holiday onsie! Onsies are getting increasingly popular & can be easily found (For decent prices) at many local stores. Everyone is for sure going to get a good laugh!
Red & Green Madness: This is simple enough. Everyone must be decked out in either color. Go big or go home! Even hold a contest where people can place bets before hand on how many green vs red guests will be prancing about.
Elf On The Shelf: Have guests attend dressed as Santa’s little helpers. You can even hide a couple of those creepy little dolls around the office & offer prizes to those brave enough to catch one… I mean, find one.
Who’s a Who?: If you have ever seen the Grinch, then you have noticed the… unique… stylings of the Whosville citizens. Offer prizes to those who have put the most into their crazy Who’s inspired hairstyle and outfit!
Christmas Glam: I’m sure that many people will appreciate the opportunity to dress in class for a work event seeing as how, after high school prom & formal days we have very little excuses to dress up all nice & fancy.

2) Tis the Season for Giving

Add a little of charitable goodness to your holiday work fest & implement some kind activity your cause will benefit from. It’s always nice to give back… especially this time of year! Here are a couple ideas to inspire some holiday, helping magic…

Going Once… Going Twice: Set up an action where you can have employees donate various items. Have people either bid on the items OR hold a raffle ($2-5 per ticket) and then send the proceeds to your favorite charity!
Canned Goods Drive: Have your guests bring in non-perishable food items that can be sent to your local shelter.
The Christmas Shoe Box: Have employees bring in shoe boxes filled with items for children who probably wont be receiving much (or anything at all) this year. Here is some information regarding one of the popular causes who get the boxes in the right hands: http://samaritanspurse.ca/rss/operation-christmas-child/get-involved/find-an-operation-christmas-child-collection-center.aspx#.WEibLSMrKCk
Baked Goods: This is something simple & easy. Have a large assortment of Christmasy goods donated by guests & sell them throughout the night especially for your charitable cause.
Santa Paws: Throw a charity themed office party to support your local animal shelter! Either raise money or adopt-a-pet awareness. Lots of families are looking for a new furry family member this time of year. Perhaps they will find them at the local shelter. Create a brouchure that lists available animals and encourage guests to consider adopting a fur baby into their family.

3) Solid Party Games and/or Entertainment

As fun as small talk is… people want some entertainment and activities to keep the party alive. I recommend planning a list of activities to preform throughout the night and possibly hiring some entertainment (Such as a magician, psychic, caricaturist or Michael Buble – Depending on his schedule, of course) that will help WOW your guests.

Christmas Carol Karaoke: Find/rent a karaoke machine and watch the hilarity unfold as rum filled employees attempt to sing classic Christmas songs.
Penguin Waggle Game: This is a relay race. Have participants place a balloon between their legs and race each other to a designated finish line.
Guess The Gift: Wrap up a couple interesting items (ranging from obvious to not-so obvious) and have guests attempt to guess the gift. Don’t forget prizes for the winners!
Human Christmas Tree Race: Split everyone into teams (preferably 3-5 per team). Have a bin full of tree decorations that can easily be placed on a human. Give the teams a time limit to decorate their unlucky team member they decide to dress up. Award the winning team who has the most creative Human Christmas Tree. {Another version of this game is wrapping up a team member like a gift}
Holiday Photo Booth Station: Set up a fun station for people to take pictures at. Include fun holiday props and a backdrop so your guests can really go to town! Create a clever hashtag you can encourage instagram-loving guests to use in their photo’s tag line.

4) Food, Drinks, Decor & Fun

Now these four elements make up the magical combination that will determine the success or failure of your party. We have touched on ways to make the party fun, so now lets focus on the food & drink aspects of the event. Turn to a trusted social media platform (Pinterest, of course) that is guaranteed to fill your head with inspirations & your guests’ bellies with holiday yummies. Using Pinterest you can put together a wish list of holiday-inspired drinks, deserts and appetizers. Cody Party actually has a couple pinterest boards created that you can take a quick peek at. Don’t forget to have a variety. Especially for those gluten free or vegan guest!

Set up a Hot Coco Bar for guest! Don't forget to include some baily's and/or rum as an ingrediant choice! People go crazy for the cold weather treat.
Go on ahead & set up a Holiday Candy bar (Or Fondou bar) as well!
Select your holiday "specialty" drink. Guests will get a kick out of a well thoughout out specialty beverage (preferably of the alcohol variety). HERE is a board full of inspiration.

5) Deck The Halls

Set the mood for your party by adorning your event space with décor to inspire Christmas cheer! Make sure you also have plenty of seating (Especially for those who are maybe not so used to wearing high heels, but decide to anyways because they rarely get the opportunity to dress up). I also recommend cruiser tables since they are great for standing around and grazing on those awesome holiday treats we talked about. Don’t forget to choose linens, balloons & centerpieces that really hit home with the theme you decided on. Your local Event Rentals Company *wink, wink* will be more then happy to provide you with absolutely everything you need to bring some sparkle, shine & perhaps a chocolate fountain, to your event! If you are wanting some ideas of what to possibly do with your decor, simply click HERE! To sum it all up, here is a list of things you will probably need...

Extra Seating
Cruiser/Bistro Tables
Food Tables
Festive Balloons
Christmas Lights & Tinsle, of course!
Plates, Cutlery & Various Glassware
Table Linnen & Napkins
Eye Catching Centrepieces
Food Trays
Champaign or Chocloate Fountain
And many more things!

I truly hope that we here at Cody Party & Events have given you some great ideas on how to pull off the perfect Holiday Office Party!! If you are ever stumped on what to do, we have event planning cunsultants who are here to help you!

Happy Holidays from our Cody Party Family!

0 Comments

Bringing People Together.

Tips on how to throw a memorable, holiday office party

How To Create A Rose With Your Napkin

Hi!

Follow us on Instagram
@cody_party

Archives

Categories

Bringing People Together.

Tips on how to throw a memorable, holiday office party

How To Create A Rose With Your Napkin

Hi!

Follow us on Instagram@cody_party​

Archives

Categories

Follow us on Instagram
@cody_party