A Simple & Complete Holiday Party Checklist
Use This Holiday Party Checklist from Event Experts to Put on the Perfect Celebration
Holiday party planning doesn’t have to be a guessing game or a stressful end-of-year chore. With a clear, comprehensive checklist, any corporate holiday party can come together smoothly, on-budget, and with plenty of room for creativity.
To plan a seamless holiday celebration this year, this holiday party checklist walks you through every detail, breaking down what’s essential to do:
This holiday party checklist is broken up into a timeline leading up to the event, featuring helpful insights and pro tips for each phase of the process. Click here to see and print our Holiday Party Checklist PDF, featuring a short task list to help you stay organized going forward.
First Steps: 8 to 12 Weeks Before the Holiday Party
These are the first steps you should take to start bringing your corporate holiday party to life. Ideally, you’d begin these Christmas party planning tasks 2 to 3 months before your event (i.e., around October or November for a December holiday party).
⃞ Set a date.
Pick a day and date for optimal attendance. If there’s anyone who must attend, run possible dates by them first.
Pro Tip: Choose a few options for party dates, so you have some flexibility when you’re booking venues. That can give you more wiggle room if the venue you want is booked on the date you had in mind for the party.
⃞ Figure out your budget.
Your budget will guide your other choices and bookings for the office or corporate holiday party. So, make sure you have a crystal-clear budget as a starting point.
Pro tip: Break down that budget for each aspect of your holiday event, so you have a venue budget, a food budget, a holiday party entertainment budget, etc. That will make it a lot easier to stay within budget (and to know where you have wiggle room to spend more if you need to!).
⃞ Choose a party theme.
Jazz up your corporate party up with a unique, inspired theme. As you consider holiday party themes, think about the:
Guests
Venue
Party decorations
Holiday party entertainment.
You could go with pretty much anything you can dream up, like:
Rock ‘n Roll holidays
Ugly sweaters
The North Pole
Favorite movie or holiday characters
Christmas in the ‘80s or ‘90s (or any decade)
Circus, masquerade, or carnival-esque themes
Black tie Christmas
A post-holiday holiday party—More and more corporate holiday parties are happening after the New Year when bookings are easier (and end-of-year rushes are over).
⃞ Compile your holiday party guest list.
What’s your headcount limit? Will your guests be staff, clients, and/or both? Can your guests bring a plus one? Are children allowed to attend? These are all important details to consider as you put together your Christmas party guest list.
⃞ Book your holiday party venue.
Pick a venue that has the capacity, services, and overall vibe you want for your corporate or office Christmas party. Visit venues before putting down a deposit and check out everything from the guest area and bathrooms to parking and other amenities.
⃞ Create party planning committees, if needed.
If you are putting on a larger celebration or simply need help, select other people or groups to handle different aspects of the event. You can create separate committees for planning the food and drinks, holiday party entertainment, decorations, gifts, and party cleanup.
What to Do 4 to 6 Weeks Before a Holiday Party
When your event is about a month or two out, here are the next things you need to do to set your holiday party up for success.
⃞ Book your holiday party entertainment.
Booking DJs, bands, and other talent a month or two before your holiday event is key to ensuring you have the best acts to entertain your guests. Aside from music event services, you may want to consider holiday-centric entertainment, like a Santa Claus or Rockette-type dancers.
⃞ Reserve the equipment you will need.
The equipment you need to reserve will depend on your venue, holiday entertainment, and other plans. Some specifics can include commercial AV equipment for musical acts and holiday party entertainment, tables, chairs, tents, lighting, heaters, and more. If you’re going to need multiple rentals, you may want to work with an event production company that offers turnkey solutions, great vendors, and competitive rates.
⃞ Figure out food, drinks, and décor.
Will you serve appetizers or a full meal? Does your venue have a bar and kitchen or do you need caterers and bar service? And what type of decorations (tablescapes and other décor) do you need to create the perfect atmosphere? Choosing the right venue can help you simplify these details. So can the right holiday event production company.
⃞ Plan for any “secondary” holiday entertainment.
This is the time to think about and plan for things like an event photographer (or videographer), photo booths, gift exchanges, or any other activities or entertainment ideas you want to put in place for your upcoming holiday party.
What to Do 3 Weeks Before a Holiday Party
A few weeks before party day, here are the key tasks to focus on.
⃞ Send invitations to your guests.
Include an “RSVP by” date so you can get a final headcount for attendance before the big day.
⃞ Order party supplies and/or party favors.
This can include guest gifts, Christmas lights, tablescape items, and other special décor.
⃞ Visit or contact your venue to nail down any last-minute needs.
As things start coming together, double-check your plans with your venue and confirm what you may need to bring for the party. Also, ask how early you (and/or your event production team) can arrive to get things set up and what the venue provides or expects from you in terms of cleanup.
Checklist for 1 Week Before a Holiday Party
The week before your holiday party, take these steps to dial in the finer points, so your event goes off flawlessly.
⃞ Set the holiday party schedule.
What’s the plan for the party?
To build this out:
Create a timeline of events for the different holiday entertainment and activities you have planned.
Figure out who will be responsible for each activity and for moving things along, making announcements, etc. A good DJ and event production team can oversee this on the big day, so you can actually enjoy the party you’ve worked so hard to plan.
⃞ Email RSVP reminders & send guests event info.
If anyone hasn’t RSVP-ed yet, send them a quick reminder about your event. Also, send confirmed guests any information they need, including venue directions, parking info, and available transportation (if applicable).
⃞ Pick up any last-minute items & assemble gifts, tablescapes, etc.
If anything you ordered for the party hasn’t made it yet — or if your orders are wrong or you simply need more stuff — now’s the time to pick it up. You may want to delegate this to one or more people, especially if you’re really busy in the days leading up to the party.
Post-Holiday Party Checklist: What to Do After the Event
The party’s over, and your guests have left—but that doesn’t mean the “work” of overseeing the event is over.
Here are the last things to do to close out a successful holiday party.
⃞ Clean up.
Venues may have staff to take care of most of the cleanup. Still, you may need to package up rented equipment, pick up items left by guests, and collect any décor you brought to the venue.
If the corporate holiday party will run late, ask the venue if any cleanup can wait until the day after.
⃞ Share holiday party photos & videos.
Email pictures and video clips of your party to guests and post highlights to social media and/or the company website. These shares can be a great reminder of how much fun the event was while serving as a sort of “Thank You” to your guests for attending and making it such a great experience.
⃞ Pay any remaining bills from party vendors.
Althougth many holiday party vendors charge up front, some will have portions of bills due after. This could be the case for bar tab overages that exceed deposits, additional hours of labor, last-minute equipment needs, or incidental charges assessed by the venue.
Beyond Checklists: Planning a Perfect Holiday Party
Exceptional holiday parties often start with an experienced events team like The Music Trust.
We have been behind big-name annual events, from tree lightings and Christmas parties to NYE celebrations and beyond, delivering entertainment and production that elevate every moment. If you’re ready to plan an inspired holiday party, we’re here to help.
From venue sourcing and entertainment booking to full-scale production and day-of coordination, our team brings the expertise and creativity to activate standout celebrations.
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