Two weeks is tight for a Christmas party, but not too tight. What goes wrong in that time is rarely the missing lead time. It is decisions staying open too long. If you are still discussing the venue on day ten, you have no food on day fourteen.
This checklist splits the two weeks into four stages. Each stage ends with decisions that are not reopened afterwards. It is written for organising teams in companies, from twenty to a few hundred employees. If you do not yet know what kind of party it should be, start with our 12 ideas for a last-minute Christmas party.
Days 1 and 2: pin down the frame
You do not start with the idea, you start with the frame. Without it, not a single phone call makes sense.
- Name a decision-maker. One person who can sign off budget and date without going back to three committees.
- Set a budget per person. Including food, drinks and programme. One figure, not a range.
- Fix one date and keep a fallback in reserve. Tuesday to Thursday or a lunchtime slot improve your chances enormously. Mention the fallback only to venues, not to the team.
- Estimate the headcount. In our experience fewer people accept a short-notice invitation than one planned long in advance. Estimate cautiously and, when you book, agree until when you can still adjust the number.
- Roughly choose a format. On your own premises, a restaurant, an activity or a lunch. That is all you need at this point.
- Send a save-the-date. Today, with the date you fixed, even without a venue. One line is enough: date, time, "details to follow".
Days 3 to 5: book the venue and food
Now you phone, you do not email. For short-notice requests a call is many times faster.
- Ask three venues in parallel, with a deadline of tomorrow. Anyone who does not answer is out.
- Alternatively: check your own space. Canteen, lobby or meeting room. Clarify building services, opening hours and whether you can stay after 10 pm.
- Book catering if you celebrate on your own premises. Ask for a buffet instead of a set menu, it copes better with a changing headcount.
- Ask about intolerances and diets. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free. One line on the sign-up form will do.
- Sort out drinks. Flat rate or by consumption, and an alcohol-free option that is more than water and orange juice.
- Think about getting there and home. If the venue is far from work or poorly connected, organise a shared taxi or shuttle.
- Send the invitation as soon as the venue is fixed. Venue, time, directions, dress code (if any), contact person. With a sign-up deadline on day eleven, so you can give the venue a number in time.
By the end of day five, venue, date and food are fixed and the invitation is out. From here on, none of it changes.
Days 6 to 9: programme and running order
The programme is the part people like to drop under time pressure. It is exactly what makes the difference between dinner with colleagues and a party people remember. You do not need much for it, but you do need a plan.
- Write the running order on one page. Arrival, welcome, food, one or two programme items, open end. With times.
- Keep the welcome short. Three to five minutes. Anyone who wants to speak gets a clear time limit.
- Pick one interactive programme item. A quiz, a game or photo challenges. Ideas are in our Christmas party games for work.
- Sort out music. A playlist and a speaker are enough for most parties. Test the sound system at the venue, not on the night.
- Set a seating plan or table mix if you are more than sixty people. Two or three people per department at a table, never one on their own.
- Plan the photos. Who takes pictures, and where do they end up? With a photo wall like Evokato every guest uploads their phone photos via a QR code, the pictures appear live on a screen, and afterwards you have everything in one place. Setting it up takes a few minutes and can easily be done the day before.
Days 10 to 12: sign-ups and details
- Send a reminder. On day ten, a short message to everyone who has not replied yet.
- Close sign-ups and report the number. Close on day eleven, and on day twelve give venue and caterer the headcount with a five per cent buffer.
- Get decorations. Fairy lights, candles (or LED candles if the venue bans open flames), tablecloths. Less is more.
- Prepare the programme material. Quiz questions, draws, prizes. For a photo wall: create the wall, add the challenges and print the QR codes for the tables.
- Sort out photos and privacy. Mention in the reminder at the latest that photos will be taken and what they will be used for. More on that in our article on company party photos, GDPR and image rights.
- Hand out roles. Who greets the guests, who looks after the equipment, who has the key, who stays until the end?
Days 13 and 14: dress rehearsal and the night
- Pass on last-minute cancellations. Report any late changes to the headcount to venue and caterer once more.
- Test the equipment. Projector or screen, laptop, speakers, guest Wi-Fi. Open the photo wall once in full screen on the screen it will run on.
- Make an emergency list. Phone numbers for the venue, caterer, taxi and the person with the key.
- On the night: arrive early. An hour before the start. That gives you time for everything that still goes wrong.
- The day after: say thank you. A short email with a link to the photos. That is the moment a party keeps working.
What you can safely leave out
Under time pressure it helps to cut things on purpose. Hardly anyone misses these at a Christmas party planned at short notice:
- Elaborate place cards and printed menus
- A stage show or live band, unless one is available anyway
- More than two programme items
- A theme that requires fancy dress
- Giveaways that end up in the bin the next day
Frequently asked questions
Are two weeks really enough for a Christmas party?
Yes, if you fix date, venue and food in the first five days. After that there is enough time for programme and invitation. If you can use your own space, a week is doable too.
What is the biggest mistake when planning at short notice?
Leaving decisions open. Every question still being discussed on day ten costs you an option, because venues and caterers get booked up in the meantime.
How many people come when you invite at short notice?
That depends a lot on the company. A save-the-date in the first two days helps because it gets the date into calendars early. A reminder shortly before the deadline brings in the undecided.
Do we need a photographer?
Not for most company Christmas parties. Guests take photos anyway; the problem is that the pictures stay scattered. A photo wall collects them in one place and makes them visible during the party.
Planning your Christmas party right now? evokato.com/en/corporate has everything about Evokato for company events, or you can create an account straight away and try a wall for free.