When you're holiday party planning, take into account the number of employees you have and the type of business you run. For small businesses with only a handful of employees, your holiday party should be intimate and planned on a smaller scale than that of a large corporation with hundreds of employees.

Determine whether or not alcohol should be a part of your holiday party. If your business promotes the sales of alcohol, you should consider including a bar; if your business is promoting healthy living or abstinence, the presence of a bar may be offensive to members of your staff.

1. Choose music as a part of your holiday party planning.

2. Make sure your corporate holiday planning includes caterers.

3. Hire professional corporate holiday party planning help.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Remember music in your office holiday party planning

Consider the average age of your staff members and select music that is best suited to that age group. While variety should be offered, stick with songs that are not offensive and that are in genres your employees are likely to know.

I recommend: GigMasters allows you to search for a DJ in your specific state so you can cross music off of your office holiday party planning list. DJs for Hire is a professional DJ service that's prepared to meet all of your musical needs for your corporate holiday party.

Make caterers a priority in your business Christmas party planning

Be aware of dietary concerns when discussing menu options with caterers. Include healthy foods and vegetarian dishes and avoid foods that may cause allergic reactions such as shell fish and peanuts. Consider appetizers rather than full meals as a way to offer quality food while keeping the budget under control.

I recommend: National Catering Business and National Catering Company offers full-service catering for indoor or outdoor events. Eventective provides you with the means to locate local caterers so you can find exactly what you're looking for.

Turn the holiday party planning over to the professionals

Save yourself the time and stress of attempting to plan your holiday party on your own and trust a reputable professional party planner to guide you through the process. The professionals will make sure nothing slips through the cracks by providing you with a list of options for you to choose from rather than leaving you to try to remember every detail like table coverings, forks, serving spoons and glasses.

I recommend: The Creative Impact Group has over three decades in corporate holiday party planning and will provide you with everything you need to achieve the perfect holiday party. Loco Lobo Events is a professional planning company that will help you make your holiday party the best it can be.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep a notebook to collect information about your corporate holiday planning progress. Add price lists, food selections and fliers in the book so all of the information about your business Christmas party planning is in one location.

An office holiday party is a traditional way to reward your employees for their contributions, build camaraderie, and bolster goodwill. The scale and budget for your party depends on the resources available to you – you’ll undo all the good done by throwing a party if it looks as if you skimped on the arrangements or begrudged the expense of the entertainment; but on the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want your employees wondering if the ice sculpture was what you bought instead of awarding end-of-the-year bonuses, either. When planning your company’s office party, remember:
1. Make your employees feel welcomed and appreciated. That’s the purpose of the party.
2. Tasteful and non-denominational should be your watchwords.
3. Be prepared to spend your evening acting as a host – someone needs to make sure that quiet employees are included, overly-ebullient employees are discreetly reminded to behave appropriately, and anyone who has too much to drink hands over their car keys.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pick a party planner

A good party requires careful planning and preparatory work. If your budget permits, a professional event planner can take away the headaches of making arrangements, and a good one will have creative ideas and many local contacts to make the process smooth. If that’s more party than you’re planning to have, create an office organizing committee. Ideally, there should be a handful of people on it – enough to spread the work out, but not so many that they can’t reach consensus. A suggestion box or a poll of employees’ preferences may be helpful, also. You can’t please everyone, but you may garner some useful ideas (and possibly volunteers).

I recommend: Locate event planning services through The Great Event or Gathering Guide.

Choose and reserve the place

Getting everyone out of the office can make the party seem more special, but renting a room in which to hold it is expensive. Hotel and country club event rooms are traditional off-site venues; art galleries, a local museum, or a nearby restaurant can also be options. This is a good area in which to ask for employees’ suggestions, and leverage their contacts. However, there’s nothing wrong (especially for a smaller company) in having the office party at the office. Hospitality counts for much more than location. (Also, no one will get lost on the way there.)

I recommend: If you’re going to host the holiday party in the workplace, transform a meeting room with decorations from Holiday Party Decorations or Shindigz.

Arrange for refreshments

If you’ve arranged to have your party at a hotel or club, catering and bartenders are probably included in the arrangements, and all you need to do is approve a menu. If you are using a more innovative site or hosting the party at the office, you’ll need to think more about food and drink. Food should be plentiful; drink should be offered in moderation. Non-alcoholic options are a must; some employers choose to serve only sodas and punch (possibly with the addition of a champagne toast). If you are going to have a bar, a professional bartender is an excellent idea; the catering company should be able to supply one. Otherwise, designate someone responsible to pour, and make sure that they’ll be able to identify and turn down party-goers who have had enough. Don’t rely on drink tickets: people only trade them amongst themselves and the person who shouldn’t have another drink winds up with all the extra tickets.

I recommend: Direct Caterers can recommend caterers, as can LocalCatering.com. No catering budget? Platters from a good supermarket deli can provide an inexpensive and attractive option – try A&P, Publix, or a local alternative. If you go the grocery-deli route, wine and champagne can often be obtained from the same store.

Orchestrate entertainment

Music makes the evening. Even a CD player or iPod and speakers can set the mood and may be all that is necessary. A good DJ can add excitement (ask for referrals and a sample play list when selecting a DJ, to avoid that high-school-dance feeling that comes with a poorly chosen one). Of course, live musicians are the gold standard, and other, less-expected entertainment can add sparkle. When picking musical genres, think mainstream unless you know your employees’ musical tastes, and keep the music in the background unless you’ve planned for dancing.

I recommend: You can select and download a holiday mix of music from iTunes or MSN Music. Find a DJ through the American Disc Jockey Association or Disc Jockey Online. A variety of other entertainment (musicians, comedians, acrobats, etc.) can be found through referral services such as the one at the Corporate Event Channel.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Provide non-alcoholic drinks; arrange to have a cab service or designated driver in case someone doesn’t know his/their limit. Ask managers or senior personnel to ensure that no one is behaving inappropriately. Even though it’s a party, it’s a company function and you can be legally liable for drunk driving or incidents of harassment.
• •  Make everyone feel welcome – don’t leave employees who celebrate holidays other than Christmas, or no holiday at all, out in the cold. (The best way to achieve this is probably to remain neutral, rather than embarrassing your lone Zoroastrian employee by singling him out.) Similarly, don’t cause divisions within the company – invite everyone, including entry-level, part-time, off-site, and temporary employees. Invite spouses/significant others if the party is after work hours.
• •  Make sure to mingle yourself – shake everyone’s hand, give them a smile and a friendly comment. Recognition from the boss is a sure way to give employees the warm fuzzy feeling your party is intended to inspire. If the company is giving holiday gifts, hand them out yourself. If you’re making a speech, keep it short and focused on recognizing the work of your employees.