Work Christmas party ideas?!?

MORPH3US

Right, its coming to that time of year when people all around the country are asking "what can we do for our Christmas party this year?"

Its the same every year, everyone wants to do something different from previous years, no-one wants responsability for organising it and everyone is getting ready to be skint..

So....

If anyone has any ideas for work Christmas parties, I would love to hear them, would earn me major brownie points at work if I (we) could come up with a great idea!!!

Fire away people...

M

Edinburghlass_2

Too late in my area to be thinking about this in October if you want to get a decent meal/venue in fact.

Last year we did a Party Bus tour, it was okay but we won't be doing it again.

nooksky

Our work book a hotel most years and have a meal, then comedian or magician and a band. Trouble is, as the company has grown larger, they have had to go further afield to get a venue big enough to cater for us all, which means further for us to travel there and home. We can stay over at the hotel but even though we get a discounted rate, it is £32 a night each which adds quite a bit to the total cost of the 'do'.

They have a theme some years, 60's, 70's etc. which is fun.

Another popular thing they do is a raffle and they get prizes given from the larger companies we deal with, like tvs, cd players etc. This always goes down well. :T

Sorry, none of this is very original I know!!

SeldomSensible

We tend to book a meal then go on a pub crawl - but it's a small office so not worthwhile to organise something more interesting.
But it's usually a good laugh, and some gossip-worthy things have been known to take place.....

cats_whiskers

Hi

I agree that organising the works christmas party can be a nightmare and the price of some of the Hotel Style Party Nights can work out rather costly if not subsidised and you also have to pay for babysitters, drinks, taxis or accommodation and often the food is poor quality.

When I worked in a company with a large age mix of people we found it hard to come up with something to suit everyone. Fortunately their was a decent pub nearby that served food, they agreed to set aside an area of the pub and set it up for a Christmas Meal if we went after the busy lunch period and before the evening dinner. We also agreed to pre order and agreed a set price for 3 courses. ( this pub was regularly used by the office staff during the week and knew they received regular custom from us).

Thankfully our managers agreed that if we worked through lunch we could leave at 3.30pm. So our meal was arranged for 4.00pm, table was set with Christmas crackers, party hats etc, meal was typical pub food but good value for money. A couple of the senior managers agreed to pay for the wine with the meal. When dinner finished around 6ish some people went home, some stayed for a few more drinks and the younger ones made a night of it and finished up in a nightclub.

Whilst you will never please everyone this did give people the option of joining in for part or all of the evening.

Good Luck
Cats.

Chocmonster7

I work in the family business so our Christmas party is dinner on Christmas Day!

stressedoutmum

I have arranged our work do with The Christmas Company but it is £50 per head. This includes your 4 course meal, disco etc and its an Egyptian Theme Night called 'Plunder The Pyramids' -they do them in other areas but not sure where. Basically its a huge marquee that is all set up, belly dancers, market stall, fairground and casinio (small charge). I have been on one before and they really are good and well planned plus its different so we decided to book it even though its expensive.:j

lil_me

Themed night and awards, we used to do awards silly ones like most clumsy, work place tart, work place flirt, stud etc, all just a bit of fun with suitable awards

Agree with the date, would be the same for decent venues round here, we booked in September one year and had to have the party in November, which wasn't like a Xmas party really, noone was in the same spirit.

dawn060861

Hi, we went to the dog track, we had a private box (10 of us @ £17.50 per head) we had a 3 course meal a waitress on hand and a lady taking our bets, I had never done anything like it before and it was a cracking night.
we have also gone to a greek night and done the usual dinner and dances at the local hotels. The dogs was the best though but there were only 10 of us.


Dawn :snow_grin

Phatmouse

Don't sleep with the boss, wear trousers.

sophieoakesrogers

So... its that time of year and i have been nominated to plan and organise the xmas party... ouch!

We have had a lot of suggestions ect and it seems that a magician is on the cards this year, in fact chosen by popular demand!!

Wondered if anyone had used this guy Christopher Whitelock before?... find him at cwmagic.com-if so how did it all go? I have been recommended him by a few seperate clients so he must be quite good but would love some first hand experience/advice!!

Cheers xx