Our Top Christmas Function Planning Tips!
When Spring hits, thoughts turn to end-of-year celebrations: Christmas parties, team-building activities, and wrapping up the year on a high.
There can be a lot of things to consider when Christmas function planning, no matter how small or large your group is, and going the extra mile with the details beforehand tends to pay off in spades when you are able to pull off a seamless, well-organised event!
At Off Road NZ, we’ve helped hundreds of corporates plan awesome functions. Here are our top planning tips to support your awesome end-of-year function ideas, and have it be the most memorable one yet (for all the right reasons!).
Booking early
Getting in early (or at least deciding on things like venue and theme early) means that you lock in your date and secure your preferred venue well ahead of time – saving any last-minute scramble. Doing things last minute can be tricky if your preferred dates aren’t available and you need to look at pulling together Plan B (or even C!).
We recommend trying to decide on your venue and dates by October at the very latest.
Consider an all-in-one venue
Gearing up for a delicious dinner and drinks after an exhilarating 4WD Safari here at Off Road NZ!
The logistics of choosing separate suppliers for a venue, food, drink and activities can be a juggling act – and will often work out more expensive than going with an all-in-one option. When you go with an all-inclusive supplier, you’re working with one team to deliver everything; meaning that the details are easily taken care of. Small things like timings between activities or remembering to serve snacks and drinks in between, tend to be all included in the one supplier package.
That takes the stress off of you as the party planner, and allows you more time to properly participate in the event yourself!
Choose a fun theme
Costumes instantly add a layer of silliness to a fun-filled corporate event!
Yes, it’s Christmas, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with the quintessential Christmas theme for food, dress and the style of your function!
What about a Wild West dress-up theme? Or an Amazing Race Party (which would jive really nicely with Raceline Karting as the team-building activity!)? A corporate Murder Mystery? Shake things up a little, and then theme your function accordingly. Consider having awards for best-dressed or activity winners which helps keep the conversation flowing as well. So much better than your standard corporate do’!
Make it inclusive
When you’re event planning, it’s easy to make assumptions about what will work for everybody. Things like ensuring you’re catering for non-drinkers, people with dietary restrictions or religious needs is key to making sure everybody in your team feels included and able to have an awesome time.
What happens at the end of the night?
Is your function running overnight with accommodation included, or do you need to consider how people will get home once things come to an end? If alcohol will be available at your function, ensuring people have a safe and easy option to get home is crucial – especially if your venue isn’t central to public transport or easy taxi/uber links. Consider chartering private transport or ordering a fleet of vans to arrive at a certain time.
By starting early and nailing all of the details, Christmas function planning doesn’t need to be as daunting as it likely feels when you’re first starting out. Above all, keep in mind the ultimate goal of your function: to celebrate the end of the year in a meaningful and memorable way, and kick-off the festive season as a united team!
