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.