The clock is ticking to plan the perfect Corporate Holiday Party in San Francisco. Here are some tips to plan the perfect party:
Who is attending?
Just employees, significant others, or the entire family? This is a decision that will influence budget, location, day of the week, and theme.
How many people is too many?
Has your company outgrown San Francisco venues? If you can’t expand the venue footprint with tenting and if you don’t want to go with a traditional hotel ballroom...think about breaking your party up into smaller departmental events.
Never too Early for the Holiday Spirit
Start the build up to the holiday season with team building activities...Volunteer at local shelters, deliver meals with Meals on Wheels...capture photos from these community giving activities and share on a video wall during holiday party.
"Fieldtrip does this with “Thankaversary.” This annual celebration honors the company’s anniversary by giving each employee $50 and sending them out into the city to do as much good as possible with it. Some employees pair up, and some donate their time as well as their money. Bischoff says, “It’s just really interesting to see how many people we can touch in the community in just one day.” From Slack.
Holiday Party Themes
Consider Timeless Themes and suggest your attendees dress up to match the chosen theme...think of themes that don’t break the bank to dress for and considering providing props for attendees.
Holiday Party Catering
Choose a catering company that uses seasonal and locally sourced ingredients….incorporate your theme with your food stations...cute names go along way!
Santa’s Sleigh Sliders
Snow Bunny Ramen - Ramen to warm you up!...“Baby it’s cold outside”.
The Village Venue in San Francisco donates event leftovers to homeless shelters:
The Village venue offers full-service inhouse catering and bar services. Another way your company can give back to the community this holiday season...
Bar Offerings for your Holiday Party
Have your Caterer prepare yummy "Mocktails"...not everyone drinks or they may be a designated driver. It’s fun for them to have a dressed up cocktail glass to feel like their a part of the festivities.
“We always request for cocktails and mocktails to be served in the same glassware. We don’t want to single out employees in terms of drinkers versus non-drinkers.” – Jesse Hawkins, founder of The Mocktail Project
Rethink Dessert and consider Boozy Milkshakes
White Christmas Shake
Peppermint Bark Shake
Transportation
Arrange a shuttle bus for guests from your corporate headquarters or local hotel or setup an Uber Events Code for your attendees that the company pays for.
Furniture
On a budget? consider standard furnishings; black tablecloths, high boys and a few cocktail tables but know your group!....some people don't like to stand and dance all night so have seating for at least 20% of your guests. You may want to invest more money into lounges and seating throughout the venue and make it a part of your theme.
Centerpieces For The Holidays
Consider plant centerpieces with battery powered LED lights that guests can take home and replant. You can gamify the centerpiece by putting calendar dates underneath it and attendees at the table with the closest birthday to the date can take it home...
Interactivity
It’s important to provide a variety of activities to keep your guests entertained. Items like a photo booth, giant games and casinos make for a really fun holiday party...there is nothing wrong with some healthy competition. One of our very own Village Venue traditions courtesy of Madrone Studios is showing video clips from holiday movies...attendees that correctly guess the most movies gets a prize!
Audio Visual Can Bring your Holiday Party Theme to Life
Choose uplights to match your theme and floor washes with holiday patterns to set the holiday party mood. Purchase Gobos with your company logo. Adding TV monitors with videos of your team events and employees is a great way to recognize people. The Village Venue is happy to work with Madrone Studios as our in-house Audio Visual Partner.
Entertainment
DJ's and Live Bands are a perfect way to keep the party going all night and people on the dance floor. Not in the budget? Take the time to curate the perfect music play list for the background.
How about Aerialists? The Village has it's very own Aerialist team that can provide a whole new level of entertainment for your event.
Choose the Perfect Event Date and choose it soon, dates are filling up at venues all over San Francisco
Most Expensive Days
Friday’s tend to be the most expensive days for venue and restaurant rentals.
Best Days to Save
Consider hosting the party in the off season, venues will offer you better rates and there is less stress trying to squeeze in all the family, social, and work obligations in the month of December.
Have a Lunch Holiday Gathering
Historical holiday party data from Winston Battalia shows a growing trend for lunch events, reflecting that more than two-fifths of corporate events take place during the lunch hour and venues usually have competitive rates in the afternoon.
Consider The Village Venue in San Francisco with a few prime dates left (Dec 5., Dec 6., Dec 19.) and weekday packages are available to save you time and money (Mon-Wed).
The Village Event Production teams is happy to arrange all of your decor and entertainment with our partners for a nominal fee and we have special holiday packages available. Email us for more info.
Tips from our partners:
Think bold and do big.
Holiday Planning Starts Now! Are you keeping up with the Jones's? Red and Green & Blue and Silver are in the past… think themes, experiences and unexpected surprises.
Outside of the box creative thinking costs nothing at Evntwrks.
Be a planner that plans and get ahead of it all! https://snapfiesta.com
Holidays are always a busy time of year. With a later Thanksgiving, companies have limited prime dates to book venues and vendors. Event themes always liven up an event. SnapFiesta offers a variety of curated props and costumes... from Circus to Speakeasy's, they have sets, backdrops, props, and costumes to create an engaging and fun activation. Try adding a snow machine or incorporating your brand colors in an interactive photo Ball Pit.
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