Corporate parties are something you either love or loathe. If you love them, you have probably never planned one. If you loathe them, then you probably need to change your job.
Corporate parties tell a lot about the kind of company you are working for.
They can show just how close of a team you are. How much respect there is among the employees, how much an employer respects the work you do, and just how much effort he is ready to invest to make you feel like you belong in the company.
Now, if you’re the one in charge this time and you are not sure how to go about it, let us share some of our tips with you.
And if you wonder what could possibly a corporate and a kids’ party have in common… To put it simply:
Both employees and kids can get incredibly cranky if they end up with a lame party.
So where do we start?
Well, you need a theme and stuff to do, right?
A theme can be a very good idea. Just like kids, adults too, like to express a different side of their personality. If you feel like you’ve got your hands full with the creatives, just set up a theme and let them do their thing and make this a party to remember.
On the other hand, if you want to keep it casual and not give them anything to worry about (last minute costumes, lack of ideas, lack of enthusiasm, or limited budget) you can simply invite over a couple of face painters.
Not only will that give them a great way to break the ice and start enjoying the party with the people from work, but it will also give them something to talk about even after the holidays are over. Not to mention how overflown their Instagram feed would be with the photos from that evening.
Food and how to make as many people happy with your choice
When it comes to food, you have two choices:
You can either create a poll and have the employees choose themselves what they want to eat. Once you have all the data, you can choose accordingly and with your party budget in mind. That’s one way. The other is something slightly challenging.
That is not something we do with the kids. If we did, we would constantly end up with endless amounts of pizza and all kinds of sweets.
So what do we do instead?
Make the food pretty. We talked once before how you can serve healthy food and still have kids eat them, and it all came down to cute arrangements.
Kids really love when they see something that’s appealing to the eye. And, as much as we hate to admit it, we act in just the same way.
When party food comes into question, you can use to your advantage the fact that social media is bursting with great small businesses producing exactly what you need. Adorable cupcakes, perfectly shaped finger food, and some breath-taking fruit ensembles. During holidays, if you look close enough, you can usually find some deals that won’t leave you feeling like you were seriously overcharged.
Should you leave decoration to the pros?
If you’ve never planned a corporate party before, you might end up feeling intimidated by all the decoration possibilities.
In that case, there are 3 things you have to take. First, take a step back. Second, take a deep breath. Finally, take a look around.
Most of the offices today are furnished in a minimalist manner. If your party place is your office, you can play around with what you got. As every party needs a good background for taking pictures, you can consider ordering a custom backdrop.
If you want to decorate the tables with something more traditional, you can have several poinsettias used as centerpieces.
Apart from that, if you’re not feeling like going over the top, you can hang a mistletoe and call it a night. However, if you want to go all the way without inviting professionals, you can always rely on our Pinterest boards to help you out.
What about family people?
The last, but definitely not the least important aspect to point out. Chances are that not all of your employees are free-as-a-bird millennials. In case the majority of your team is made up of family people, there are definitely things you can do about it.
First of all, you can always discuss the option of planning a family-friendly event. A proper child care and a set of entertainers can really help you out in this case. If you want to, you can hop over HERE and see what Fairyland Theatre offers in the area (you might even be surprised with some of our previous clients).
JUST A HINT: This year, Santa can visit a party either with an Elf or come over alone.
This type of solution can be great for when you want to give create an opportunity for family time but also take some pressure off the parents. Something every parent will appreciate.
And if our experience has taught us anything, it’s that both kids and parents enjoy events like this. They are interactive, they are stimulating, they teach us more about celebrating the small things in life and appreciating the people in our surrounding.
So don’t hesitate when it comes to planning a corporate holiday party. Invest time and be sure that it will help create lasting memories.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our corporate parties, feel free to leave them in the comment section!