Your colleagues and employees have worked hard all year round; now it’s time to thank them for their efforts. What better way to celebrate than with a company Christmas party? Depending on the size of your team, your party could be as small as a few guests or as large as 500 hundred guests (or more). Remember to allow your guests to bring a plus-one so they can share in the festivities. And, consider pre-arranging transportation so they can imbibe and have fun, stress-free. A corporate bus rental in Toronto keeps everyone safe, on time, and having fun. Here are the key steps to planning the best company Christmas party.
1 Pick a Theme
The traditional Christmas theme is always fun for a work Christmas party. There are lots of decorations available to choose from and plenty of staple dishes to serve. If the families of your colleagues are invited, and it’s a daytime party, consider hiring a Santa Claus. If it’s in your budget, you could even hire a few reindeer for the kids to pet.
However, traditional festiveness isn’t the only theme you could choose. One example is throwing a Winter Wonderland party where the decor is more blue and clear than red and green. Alternatively, a Fire and Ice themed party incorporates the icy cold outdoors with the cozy fireplace indoors. You could even forget the winter season altogether and go for a masquerade ball. Here are some other ideas:
– A decade theme, like the 80s
– Hollywood
– Las Vegas and casinos
– We the North (think lumberjacks, Raptors, beavers, and red and white)
Whatever theme you choose, make sure it’s clear and fun. It’s important to go all-in on your theme. Don’t stop at the invitations; make sure the venue, catering, and entertainment are on theme.
2. Find a Venue
This step must take the number of guests you’re inviting and the theme into consideration. If you’re having a small, intimate holiday party, renting a private room at a nice restaurant could be enough. For 50-100 guests, look for special event rooms for rent in the city, like at The Drake Hotel. For hundreds of guests, consider a hotel banquet space or convention center. Remember, the bigger the venue, the more expensive it will be to rent. Luckily, many of these venues offer other party services like catering and seating so you don’t have to pay extra for those.
The location of your venue is important, especially if you have guests coming from out of town. Perhaps your Ontario-wide company is convening in Toronto for the Christmas Party. Take those guests into consideration by choosing a venue near their accommodations. If it’s in your budget, you may want to book athe block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.
3. Hire a Caterer
There are so many amazing catering companies in the GTA. Whatever your dietary specifications are for your party, you’ll be able to find a caterer. Most will have gluten-free options and some will provide vegan or dairy-free menus. Make sure you know about all your guests’ dietary restrictions so you can plan to serve food they’ll enjoy.
You should also consider your theme when choosing a caterer. While many can accommodate the traditional Christmas fixings like turkey, mashed potatoes, and vegetables, not all will come up with a custom Las Vegas menu. You’ll want to find a caterer who will customize a menu for you, and give them as much notice as possible. Keep in mind that not all caterers will provide dessert or booze. If you want an on-theme cake, go to a specialty cake boutique. For the drinks menu, you’ll have to work with your venue’s team. They might have rules regarding open bars or custom themed drinks.
If you want your party to remain a classy and upscale affair, consider doing a drink ticket maximum. Each guest could get two tickets with their admission, and any drinks after that are at full cost to the guest. This could also save you some money on your party budget.
4. Plan the Entertainment
How do you plan on entertaining your guests at the party? While speeches can be nice, hired entertainment is even more fun. Try to hire acts that go with your theme. For example, if you’re doing a casino theme, hire card table dealers and magicians. If you’re doing a We the North party, you could hire an indigenous dance troupe to perform. If your venue has space for dancing, consider hiring a DJ or live band. They could play songs that fit with your theme or classic crowd-pleasers, like Come on Eileen.
You don’t have to provide on-site entertainment necessarily. Perhaps you’ll have dinner at one venue, then move on to another for the entertainment. For example, head over to The National Ballet to see a show, check out a comedy club, or get tickets to a Leafs game for your whole team. If you go this route, you could skip the catering and theme altogether and simply reserve a large party room at a restaurant. Granted, for groups over 50 people, it’s probably best to do everything in one venue.
5. Source Prizes and Awards
Christmas bonuses are something employees look forward to all year. Why not take it a step further and give out superlative awards at your Christmas party? Is there an employee who’s most likely to bring their dog to work? One who is most likely to finish off the coffee pot in the break room? These are fun awards to give your team members. Just make sure all the awards are lighthearted and non-offensive. In fact, you could get your team to submit ideas and nominations for the awards.
Next, source a lineup of amazing prizes. These could be raffle draws in which the raffle ticket money goes to a cause your company supports. Or, it could go back into the company culture and events budget for next year. Prizes could be anything from an extra paid sick day to gift certificates to local restaurants. Some could be geared toward employees with families, like vouchers for Medieval Times or Wonderland.
6. Organize Transportation
One of the kindest things you can do for your team this winter is to arrange their transportation for the Christmas Party. This gesture shows that you truly do want your entire team to attend and that you care about their safety. If you have guests staying in a hotel, arrange pickup and dropoff for them from the airport and to the venues. Or, have a private corporate party bus pick everyone up from the meeting place and get taken to the party.
This is especially important for risk management. Unfortunately, Christmas parties can sometimes get out of hand, and some guests could make the decision to drink and drive. This can be a huge liability for your company. You can mitigate your risk by taking care of everyone’s transportation for the night.
Parkinson Coach Lines offers reliable company bus rentals and corporate bus services all over the GTA.
If you need to secure transportation for your company Christmas party or any other corporate event, send us a message or call us today: (905) 451-4776.