The importance of a Christmas party
Eagerly anticipated by colleagues, associates and clients alike. All eyes are on your festive soirée – and what each minor detail says about your business this year. The ultimate benchmark for your company’s success, the Christmas party is so much more than a 3-course meal, paper hats and a DJ. With this in mind, here’s how you can make yours a success, while harnessing the occasion to benefit your business, too.
Planning is everything
Planning is crucial when it comes to organising a successful Christmas party. The right preparation can make sure your event is unique, creative, sticks to the budget and boosts employee morale for the year ahead.
You can delegate the task to someone in-house, but hiring an event planner can cut the stress and prove more cost-effective too. Our planning professionals, Laurie and Stas of JustSeventy, London, know this only too well.
“Offloading the task to a pro will allow every member of staff to relax and enjoy the party as a guest. There’s no need to worry about timings, budget, health and safety issues, or making sure guests are having a good time. That’s our job. “
“Professionals like us are here to make sure that your event runs smoothly, sticks to the budget, reflects your business in the right light and is wowing your guests.”
Getting creative
Choosing a theme is integral to the success of your Christmas party. And our planners are no strangers to creativity.
“It’s about taking your guests on a journey” say Laurie and Stas. And when it comes to journeys, they are always exploring new and innovative paths that optimise both the budget and brief.
“We think of the event as an adventure that wows and surprises the guests and leads to a crescendo.”
What kinds of crescendos have these creatives’ conjured up? A hidden tunnel leading to a silent disco, secret doors that reveal 360-degree dessert stations, ice bars serving nitrogen cocktails, a hidden ski chalet, a secret Christmas Grotto and a backstage fortune teller, no less.
And when it comes to your Christmas party, your unique theme (and indeed the guest experience) becomes all the more important. It’s an opportunity to anchor your company’s values – something that’s particularly important to the millennial workforce – while encouraging employees to feel valued and motivated for the year ahead.
The food and drink
The theme isn’t the only focus along the ride. Food and drink trend is evolving from traditional 3-course meal to a more interactive-style dining.
Events are now shunning sit-down meals in favour of food stations and street food. This not only keeps the event fun and exciting, but also allows your guests to mingle and network too.
Giving your drinks reception a more interactive edge also has benefits. Serving nitrogen cocktails or including an ice bar can be worked into most budgets. It can also up both your company’s image and employee morale.
The message
The Christmas party is also a time to get your company’s message across. Whether it’s thanking the staff for their hard work, recognising outstanding performance or highlighting key messages – the Christmas party is your company’s chance to shine.
And this is one area where a professional can make a difference. Awards and key speeches can be seamlessly incorporated into the party agenda in innovative ways that grab your guests’ attention and earn their support for the year ahead.
The addition of fun icebreakers or team-building activities can also unite people and strengthen your team’s dynamic. Who knew how productive your team could be while trying to uncover an underground disco room, backstage area or secret dessert station?
Better still, bring in the professionals who can take control, come up with the creative, execute in style and let you sit back and enjoy the festivities.