Xmas office party.... Cheapskates!

annaangeluk_2

I have been assigned the lovely task of organising this years office Xmas :xmastree: party. :eek:

Normally we used to organise the usual lunch out, plus drinks etc and it started to get really pricey! Last year I organised a "fuddle" in one of our meeting rooms and it went really well! Main problem was it ended up costing me a fortune!

I had a collection with a minimum suggested "donation" of £5 and it was like getting blood out of a stone! (This may not come as a surprise but they are civil servants so defintely tight!!:rotfl: ) I managed to get enough money for the food etc but I ended up paying for the decorations and "extra" bits out of my own money as well as giving a fiver!!

Last year we had a secret santa, joke awards with certificates and appropriate gift, guess the baby pic competition and some quizzes.

What can I do this year that will be different?? I'm still going to do the secret santa and certificates but I'm stuck for games etc.

Any ideas would be apprecitated!! The budget will be roughly £130 (for approx 22 people, so going to do way less food and have more for fun and games!:snow_laug )

Thanks very much!

Stacey :xmassign:

betina87

its just an idea, and it will depend on how relaxed the people you work with are (but im guessing if a fiver was too much to ask for the party costs that may just say something...) have you thought of having an organised murder mystery game where everyone can be asked to get in character, dress up even - have a prize for best dressed? My experience is that you need something where everyone is able to interact with each other.

Games need to be something everyone can be involved in, some games are great fun but it can be hard work when most people wont volunteer themselves to be one of three or four people who have to get up and make a fool of themselves when everyone else sits back and watches, it definitely needs to get ALL your work-mates off their chairs and smiling.

Secret santa is a classic, make everyone put there gifts wrapped under the work tree days before the party, half the fun is checking to see if your pressie is there yet and trying to guess what you got and who bought it for you. I know that my aunties work does secret santa with a twist, they dont draw names, they all buy a present to a certain value that they agree on, on the day they draw a number, the person who has number 1 picks first, the person who has number 2 can pick anything from the table to keep OR to swap with the present from number 1. The person with number three can do the same - pick from the table or from number 1 or 2 and it goes on like this, it is the highest number that has the advantage as they get to pick anything they want, sounds a bit confusing but apparently its pretty funny to see who ends up with what, could be a laugh.

quizzes are great because its a nice way everyone can get involved and be competitive, be sure to have a good little table of prizes. If the parties going to be later at night, and you have plenty of young ones around that like to keep the party going and are comfortable with everyone at work, maybe see if anyones got a playstation 2 with the singstar games that you can set up for everyone after a few drinks - my and my friends always do this, battle style, sure makes for a laugh (not sure the nieghbours find it as amusing as us though LOL)

hope that helps, let us know what kind of thing your thinking when plans start developing more.

Newgirl_2

My understanding of a fuddle is that people bring the things, not pay for them.

At least that way you wouldn't be out of pocket - people can only eat what is brought

Newgirl

annaangeluk_2

Newgirl wrote: »

My understanding of a fuddle is that people bring the things, not pay for them.

At least that way you wouldn't be out of pocket - people can only eat what is brought

Newgirl

That was always my understanding of a fuddle too but left to their own devices we'd end up with 20+ packets of crisps and not much else!

Believe me, civil servants are probably the worst people organise parties for! I'll get no input from anyone there so thank god for this board!!

seashore321

I always used to organise the xmas parties at work (in a Bank) but people were not tight and were quite happy to give a fiver each as that also included alchohol. We also had a slush fund that one of our kind managers used to take some money out for entertaining staff.

Have you thought about just asking for £1 or doing a list of twenty two of the cheaper things and doing a draw for who has to buy what, like crisps (packet of 12mixed)1 person to buy, 2 large bags of peanuts,1 or two people ,6 scotch eggs (cut into 8 =48 peices), Pack of 12 sausage rolls ( 3 people =36) packs of cocktail sausages pre cooked you can get these in packs of 50 so two would be good as everyone likes them. etc etc., and you could then get all the foord bought and the rest could go towards a small raffle with three prizes, ( I used to get one of my managers to donate one of the many bottles of whisky he he got given as a prize!)

Pictures of everyone as a baby and guess who they are, you can do it as a sort of treasure hunt and put the pictures all over the office, canteen or rest room, toilets, offices etc. or just on a board all together. It can be quite good fun!

If you need prizes maybe try some of the freebie websites!!

Keep asking for ideas and we will keep trying to think of them

One thing thought I did this for 13 years and when I left nobody else would take it on. It is alot of hard work but most people enjoy it so keep up the good work!!!

Sallys_Savings

How about guess whats in the stockings?
Hang a line up with socks pegged up along. On each sock stick or roughly sew a number on. You put something in each sock and give everyone a piece of paper with a stocking on with the numbers on and they all have to guess what is in the sock.

Have a board/large piece of cardboard with cut out celebs stuck on with a number by the side with a question. Hand everyone a sheet of paper and they either put the celebs name...the character they play in a film/tv show..or the band they are in etc etc.

annaangeluk_2

Had a thought earlier (don;t have many so still recovering from the shock!) and was wondering about doing a game based on people's "Most Embarressing Moments!"

Last year we did have the baby pics (made it quite funny by putting in a pic of Elvis presley as a baby and a baby chimp! - Not good when someone thought the chimp was one of our managers!!:rotfl: )

This year I thought I'd get everyone to write down their most embarrassing moment and people have to guess who's it is. Can be done simply by just printing the statements onto pieces of A3 paper and placing them around the room!

PasturesNew

Yes, I'd get everybody to bring something.

Write out a menu/list of food and drink that's required. And write it down on some pieces of paper broken down into "Buying portions".

e.g. If you want "crisps" put down on 1 piece of paper "12 packets of plain crisps" and on another piece of paper "12 packets of cheese and onion crisps".
If you want Coke and Diet Coke put down "1.5 litres diet coke" "1.5 litres diet coke" "1.5 litres diet coke" "1.5 litres normal coke" "1.5 litres normal coke"

Keep each piece of paper to about £2s worth of food and £1s worth of drink. Then get people to pick out 2 pieces of paper from the food pile and 1 from the drinks pile. and that's what they've got to bring. That way you get the right balance of food/drink... yes it would be a bit of effort. Nothing stopping you putting in a lot of "Spend £2 on food .... surprise me" slips! Or "Spend £1 on some alcohol .... surprise me"

People would be allowed to swap slips.

Or, for less control, get them to pick 1 food slip & 1 drink slip - and they have to then bring along something of their choice that's valued at least £2.

I'd give special dispensation to anybody who had something specific/fantastic they wanted to make/buy or had access to..... so if somebody can get 2 boxes of crisps wholesale, then go for it. Same with the person who offers to do a home made Xmas cake. Just use the slips/list as a way to ensure there's a good mix of stuff and quantities are about right so there's plenty, without waste.

These ways would ensure that some basics were covered.