9 Great Corporate Holiday Party Ideas
Throwing a company holiday party is a fun way to build camaraderie, deepen relationships, and show appreciation for your employees. It gives everyone a chance to mingle and bond outside the office setting. If you are looking to make your next corporate holiday party the most fun and memorable yet, consider some of these ideas.
Create a theme for the evening
Choosing a great theme can set the mood for the whole night. Pick something unique and different from previous years. A few ideas to consider: Winter Wonderland, A Whoville Holiday, or a favorite film like Nightmare Before Christmas. Or skip the "Holiday" theme altogether and host "A Night in Paris" or a "Hollywood Walk of Fame". Check out this cool article from Peerspace.com for a few really fresh theme ideas: https://blog.peerspace.com/company-holiday-party-ideas/
Set up casino games
Having a few professionally staffed tables of blackjack, craps, and poker can be an excellent way to ramp up excitement after dinner. Give a little stack of chips to each guest when they arrive and let them “buy” items at the end of the night with their winnings. What a fun new angle on company gift giving!
Let guests reveal their inner super powers
Almost nothing breaks the ice as quickly as masks and costumes. Booking a photo booth and providing an array of costumes, wigs, and props is a great way to get guests interacting early on. Hiring painters to create art on guests' faces is another great way to let that inner light shine and skip the awkward phase at the beginning of the party. Body Masterpiece has an elite squad of brush AND airbrush artists who specialize in the discerning tastes of adults in their fancy holiday attire.
Hire a photo booth with a twist
“Flip Book” photo booths are the hot thing this holiday season. Guests perform for a camera for a few seconds, and a couple minutes later a flip book of the action has been printed and bound with the date and company name on the cover.
Lenkaland Photography creates a live photo booth experience like no other. With eclectic props like picture frames, masks, goggles, and antlers- coupled with more "mainstream" items like wigs, hats, and fairy wings- guests create unique tableaus that capture their inner essence.
A “connected” photo booth will post photos automatically to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever the guest chooses.
Create rock stars
Why hire the same old DJ, when you can have a DJ who also sets up an “air band” tribute concert starring your guests? Karaoke is intimidating for many. But when the DJ brings an entire band set up, guests who aren't “front man” material can cozy up behind a keyboard or drum set and be part of the performance without the stage fright. Nothing builds camaraderie like being rock stars together!
Hire exciting entertainment
Most events have a band or DJ, but the way to make this year's event truly memorable is by booking great corporate entertainment. Choose something like elegant Body Painting artistry by Body Masterpiece, and have models transformed into living works of art that match your event theme.
The painted models can then perform ambient circus feats like contortion or juggling, or just pose for photos with guests- for a party that will be talked about for years to come.
Build a house
Purchase several gingerbread house kits, and let guests form “build teams”. This can be a mellow, "do it however you like and take all night" kind of activity, or a competitive high energy event with a time limit and specific criteria. Prizes can be awarded for most creative, ugliest, best engineering, and prettiest. No matter how you decide to run it, teams will love having their picture taken with their finished masterpiece.
Hire an event planner
Planning a company holiday party has a lot of moving parts. There's décor, catering, seating, venue, entertainment, gifts, invites, name badges, and a thousand little details. If this is your first time in charge of putting a company event together, it's hard to even know where to start (and tempting to just do whatever was done last year). Event producers have their fingers on the pulse as far as knowing what venues are available, in your budget, and the perfect fit for your group.
An event planner like Access or Entire Productions works with the best caterers and entertainers, and can often provide their own décor, lighting, and even gift options. If your goal is to actually enjoy your own holiday party this year, an even planner may be the way to go.
Be sure to give everyone a gift from the company
Think outside the box and avoid giving a cheesy gift with the company logo on it- unless it's a customized bottle of wine! Gift cards, show tickets, and tech accessories are nice alternatives.
Bottom line is make it fun! Hopefully these corporate holiday party ideas will help get your party planning juices flowing- and maybe spark some ideas of your own. You company holiday party should be a time for everyone to kick back and relax. Make sure you show your employees how much you appreciate the hard work they put in throughout the year. Feeling appreciated is often the best gift of all.
