Tips To Plan The Perfect Office Holiday Party

Posted on June 21, 2008

Planning successful social events takes time and patience. But the effort also gives you a chance to shine. One of the best ways to demonstrate your good judgment and your administrative ability is to help plan a party that people will be talking about all winter long.

Start Planning Now In most cases the planning should be at least two to three months in advance. Most restaurants and caterers have their menus ready months in advance. Ask for copies to be faxed or sent to your office. Consider:

  1. What type of party is appropriate for the occasion? (casual get-together, banquet, buffet, dance, etc.)
  2. Are you hosting this event during the work week?
  3. Where will it take place? (office, hotel or restaurant)
  4. Who is footing the bill? (company or the employees)
  5. Set the date.
Something to Think About: Your company may want to consider its tax deduction when you're planning the party. As a basic rule: If the party is held on your company's premises, the expenses are fully tax deductible. But if the party is held at a restaurant, hotel or banquet hall, the cost is fully deductible only if the party is "primarily" for rank and file. An off-premises party is at least 80% deductible no matter which employees attend.

To Cater or Not to Cater If your boss wants to keep it simple, you could order party trays from the local deli or ask staff members to bring in various food items for a pot-luck. Keep in mind, however, that people who sign up to bring in certain dishes may show up with something else on party day. To avoid getting stuck with ten bags of potato chips and no desserts, you may want to take up a collection ahead of time and buy the refreshments yourself.

If the event will be formal or if a lot of people will be attending, you may want to hire a caterer. This will save you an enormous amount of time because once the essential decisions about the party are made, you can let the caterer handle the details.

Here are some suggestions if you decide to go the catering route:

  1. Shop around. If you have never hired a caterer and have no recommendations to fall back on, check with the home office. They may recommend two or three reputable caterers in the area that are suited to your needs.
  2. Make sure the caterer you choose is licensed has liability insurance and a permit. Feel free to ask for references, a reliable business shouldn't mind. Call the references and verify their service.
  3. When you're considering price quotes from caterers make sure you're getting what you pay for, i.e. one caterer may serve frozen pizza that you could easily buy in a grocery store, while another may prepare it fresh.
  4. See if the caterer can prepare an assortment of interesting foods and Hor D'Oeuvres. People like to be able to pick and choose. You may also want to take dieters and those with known health issues into consideration and have vegetables, fruits and salads or even special dishes, such as low-cholesterol recipes
  5. Go over the details once you decide on a caterer, you need to take the time to discuss your plans in detail so the caterer knows exactly what you want. For a company party, the presentation can be extremely important. The best company parties are often somewhat simple, but elegant.
  6. Make sure you get a signed Catering Agreement outlining job responsibilities, total cost of your event, deposit and additional fees for setup and decorations. If there's room in your party budget, you might consider having the caterer supply a staff to serve and clean up so you can enjoy the party.
  7. When deciding on the menus consider using seasonal dishes. Quality and price are the main cost saving advantages.
Alcohol or Wine Because of the potential legal liabilities, more and more companies are serving wine or champagne instead of having a full bar. Make sure employees are reminded of the State Laws and Company policy on Alcohol and Drugs. Besides cutting down on legal problems, it helps to keep party expenses down. A champagne punch is a good choice for a holiday party.

The Forget-Me-Nots Don't forget the little things. Once the major details are worked out, make arrangements for often overlooked essentials, such as ice. It's the first thing that people run out of so buy extra. You can always through out what's left over, but you'll have a problem if you run out of it at the party.

Try and give the caterer an accurate count of people attending. Caterers usually take into account a few extra people. But if there's gross misjudgment you'll run out of food. And nobody wants to run out of food.

You should be ready to have a great time and shine for all your efforts in making this a successful event to remember.

Business Event Planner and Coordinator

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