One of the staples for any company is the annual corporate holiday party. This often takes place in November or December, and it’s a way of both celebrating the holiday season with your staff and thanking them for their hard work throughout the year.
If you’ve been tasked with planning the holiday party for your company this year, you might be asking:
How do you organize an event?
There are quite a few steps, including selecting a date, creating the guest list, picking a venue, booking a caterer, choosing a menu, and more. Selecting a venue usually comes early on in the process, since it dictates many other aspects of your event.
How do you choose the right venue for your corporate holiday party? You can follow this five-step process to find the right one each and every time.
1. Decide When Your Corporate Holiday Party Will Be
The first thing you need to do is pick a date or a range of dates that will work for your holiday party. Once you have a date in mind, you can begin looking at venues.
Why do you need the dates first? If you don’t have a date in mind, you might pick out a venue only to find it’s booked on the date you’ve chosen. By starting with the date for your event, you can narrow the list of venues to only those available.
If you’re flexible about the dates, you can consider a wider range of venues.
2. Think about How Many Guests Will Be Invited
Are you inviting everyone in the company, or just one division or department? Will they get a plus one? This will give you a rough idea of how many people will attend the event. Keep in mind that not everyone who is invited will come to the corporate holiday party, but you’ll want to have at least a rough estimate in hand as you begin looking for venues.
Why do you need to know how many guests will attend the party before you book a venue? You need to know how big the venue should be. If you have 500 employees and you expect most of them to attend, you’ll need to book a much bigger venue than if you expect 100 employees.
3. Research Venues
The next step in the process for finding the right venue for your corporate holiday party is to research venues in your area.
You’ll want to think about how easily employees will be able to get to and from the venue. In addition, you’ll want to think about any themes for the party. Is this a very formal office party, or is it something more casual? If you have a theme, you’ll want to be sure the venue provides the right atmosphere.
You might also want to check out what services and amenities the venue provides. What kind of decorations will they arrange? If you plan to have a meal service, ask if they’ll provide rentals for tables and chairs, as well as dinnerware and flatware.
4. Ask about Catering Options
The next step in the process is to ask what kind of catering options are available. Does the venue allow outside caterers? If not, who are their preferred caterers? Do they offer in-house catering?
These are important questions to ask before you book a venue, especially if you want to serve a particular menu or style of meal service.
5. Set a Budget
This step of the process is often done early on. In fact, you might even make it step one. Setting a budget will help determine what venues you can afford to choose.
By following these steps, you’ll be able to ensure you pick the right venue for your corporate holiday party.
