Holiday Party

[krisinphilly]

Just stumbled across this site and it is my first time posting!



Can anyone share some tips on planning the holiday office party? This will be my first time doing this and any help would be appreciated. It will be out of the office and the powers that be want an open bar and buffett, all of this with a time frame of 5-7PM.



Thank you in advance!



Kristina



 

[Katie G]

Welcome, Kris!  Greetings from a fellow Philadelphian!



I took a look back to see if there was a thread that addressed this in the past (I thought there was) but I couldn't find it.  Anybody else?



I've never done the holiday party thing myself, but I'm sure you'll get lots of good ideas from lots of great people on this site!  How many people are you talking about and what's your budget look like?



Just my opinion, but two hours seems kind of tight for cocktails AND dinner...and if they want a catered buffet, they'll probably have a minimum time requirement around four hours.  Are you close to Center City?  How about "The Spirit of Philadelphia?"



Didface in Philly

[elleny]

Kris,



2 hours is really tight to include dinner.  It might be better to make it a cocktails and h'ordervs party instead.  I haven't actually planned a party for my office, but a good place to get ideas and stuff is at evite.com (evite.citysearch.com/offs...y411.com), www.theplunge.com/, or www.partypop.com/.





Ellen (oh gosh, why won't it stop raining) in TX  

[goldenearring]

Look for a great hotel close to work.  That makes it convenient (familiar) for everyone to get there.  Some people freak out over having to drive "downtown" if they don't work there everyday.  Check out the corporate alcohol liability laws for your area and decide whether to give each person one or two drink tickets or to make it a cash bar.  5-7 p.m. should just be cold/hot hors d'oeuvres, other person is right - - no time for nice dinner.  Sounds like a come-as-you-are affair.  Decide if you want a d.j.  Get a budget for a few nice prizes.  Find a good emcee (one who has control of his/her mouth), draft an invitation, send them out, collect a $10 deposit per person for everyone who says they're coming (when they show up, they get their money back), make up an icebreaker game that's fairly interactive, and have fun!

[execsec]

I've planned lots of holiday parties in my time.  I would say, along with the other posters, that 5-7 would be better for a cocktail hour with hot/cold hors d'oevres.  Also, check out local musuems.  Many of our local ones have facilities to hold receptions, etc.  You can always check under event planners in the yellow pages, they will know all the right places.  You could also try dinner theaters.  We even have an old movie theater in town that was gutted and made into a "club." We rented it, decorated it, had a hotel cater the food, ordered a band and had our Christmas Party there one year.