Christmas Party Ideas for Work: Holiday Party Planning 101
With the holidays right around the corner, now is the time to plan an epic party for your employees. Chances are, you didn’t have the opportunity to throw a company Christmas party last year because of COVID, or you did, but it was a Zoom party. Either way, this year, your valuable staff can finally all get together and celebrate the holidays. At Mountainside Events, we know what it takes to plan a memorable, enjoyable social or corporate event your staff will actually be excited to attend. And we’re going to share our best Christmas party ideas for work to make event planning fun and easy. So, let’s dive right in with holiday party planning 101.
5 Christmas Party Ideas for Work that are Actually Fun
Planning a holiday party can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are ideas and tips to make holiday party planning fun, quick, and easy.
1. Go with a Specific Theme
Choosing a theme for your Christmas party will make all other aspects of planning much more manageable. While you can go with something simple like “Winter Wonderland,” you can also spice it up a bit by choosing a unique theme, like one of these:
Christmas Movie Theme - What’s your favorite holiday movie? Create a themed party around it and pull elements from the movie into the event. For example, if you love the movie Elf, decorate your event space like Buddy decorates Gimbels department store. And while you should definitely offer some common food choices, having a spaghetti and candy toppings bar will be a treat for everyone who has seen the movie.
Time Period Theme - Have your employees vote on their favorite time period and base your Christmas party on that theme. For example, if everyone loves the '60s, then your holiday party just turned hippy! Everything from the decor to the games to the food and drinks should revolve around the '60s.
Tropic Theme - You’ve probably seen a tropical Santa hanging out on the beach in boardshorts. He makes a great holiday party theme! Rather than decorating for the season, decorate like the party is a tropical getaway and serve fruity drinks with umbrellas.
2. Have a Raffel to Win Prizes
Everyone loves free stuff, and the season of giving is the perfect time to have a raffle with exciting prizes for your staff to win! You can either give each employee a certain number of raffle tickets for free or take the season of giving to another level with charitable giving.
Choose an organization or cause your company and employees are passionate about and donate all funds from raffle tickets to that cause. Not only will your employees enjoy the possibility of winning a great prize, but they’ll feel good knowing that the company they work for cares about others. Just make sure your prizes are interesting and exciting to your employees. You don’t have to break the bank to put together a few nice gift baskets filled with gift cards, coffee mugs, snacks, and maybe a few coupons for a “paid day off” of work!
3. Have a Photo Booth
A photo booth is one of the best ways to keep your employees engaged and entertained throughout the party. Whether you put together a DIY photo booth or hire a company to set one up for you, make sure you include fun props, a festive background, and a way for everyone to take photos home with them!
4. Have a Potluck with a Twist
When planning your Christmas party food, a potluck is a great choice. It is casual and gives people the opportunity to bring a dish they like to the party. However, you can also put a twist on the potluck by holding a food contest. Have employees enter into the best chili competition, the best dessert competition, or any other food you don’t mind having a lot of for a fun experience.
Of course, if you’re going for a more formal holiday party, having your event catered is the best option. That way, you and others don’t have to worry about cooking, setting up, and cleaning up. For the best catering and bartending in Northern Colorado, check out Noco Staffing Co.
5. Plan Some Organized Fun
The last thing you want is for your employees to get bored at the holiday party, which is why we’ve included the below Christmas party ideas for work. These games and activities will keep your staff engaged and having a good time.
A Photo Scavenger Hunt - Nowadays, most people have smartphones, so have your employees go on a photo scavenger hunt with a prize for the first person to get all of the pictures on your list. Some fun options to include are a selfie with the CEO, a picture of someone from each department, a group picture with everyone in your department, someone who has worked at the company for over 10 years, and so on.
An Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition - This is becoming a classic holiday tradition and is a great Christmas party idea for work. Have employees come wearing their ugliest holiday sweaters and have everyone vote on the winner!
Gingerbread House Making Competition - Provide teams with everything they need to make a gingerbread house. Award the team with the most unique or creative house!
Bar Crawl in Old Town Fort Collins (or wherever you’re located) - Create a list of local bars to visit throughout the night. At each stop, treat your employees to a specialty drink or appetizer. End the night at a fun restaurant and complete the Christmas party with some good food and conversation! Have every dress in their “Sunday best” or an ugly Christmas sweater for extra fun.
Holiday Party Planning is Made Easy with Mountainside Events
If you love all of these Christmas party ideas for work but don’t know where to start or how to bring it all together, we can help! At Mountainside Events, we plan epic holiday parties for teams large and small. With our connections in Northern Colorado, we provide everything from event planning to servers, bartenders, event staff, and more–pretty much anything and everything you need for the easiest holiday party planning ever. Contact us today to get started!