A works Christmas party comes down to four decisions made in the right order: the date, the venue, the shape of the night and what fills the gaps in between. Get them in that order and the rest tends to sort itself out. We've been supplying Christmas parties in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley since 1999, so here is how it looks from the supplier side of the fence.
Pick the date before anything else
December Fridays go first, and they go early. Most workplaces get one Friday a month in December at best, so everybody's diary lands on the same handful of dates. Once the venue is held, the entertainment slots around it, because good venues fill their function rooms a year or more ahead in the run-up to Christmas. Midweek dates in early December are usually easier to hold, and they leave the weekend free for family commitments, which goes down well with the people who would otherwise send apologies. Book the venue and the games in the same week if you can, then the rest of the plan has a fixed point to work around.
Decide where the night happens
The usual three options are a hotel function room, a village hall or social club, or a marquee on your own ground. A hotel gives you the food and the licensing sorted but caps what you can bring in, so it suits kit that needs little more than a table and a socket. A hall costs a few quid and gives you free rein on layout, which matters when you want a rodeo reindeer or a 9ft shuffleboard running alongside the bar. A marquee turns the office car park into a venue, though it needs level ground, a power supply and a decent run of weather luck, so it is one for the braver organisers. Whatever you pick, tell the supplier the door widths, the floor surface and the access times. A reindeer racing table goes up a standard staircase; a walk-in snooker table does not.
Give the night a shape
The stretch that kills most works dos is the hour between people arriving and food being called. The room fills, everyone stands with a drink, and nobody quite knows what to do with their hands. Put something to do in that hour and the night starts on the front foot. A reindeer racing game runs four players at a time for short heats, so a queue forms, races get loud and strangers from different departments end up cheering for the same reindeer. Head-to-head games are the useful kind here, because they give people a reason to talk to someone they would otherwise only nod at in the corridor.
What goes in the gaps
Between courses and after the speeches, the quieter side games are the ones people drift towards. A retro arcade game is a cocktail cabinet two people sit at together, so it works as a seated corner away from the noise of the main room. A magic selfie mirror takes up a corner, runs up to 40 sessions an hour and hands people a printed photo to prop on their desk afterwards. If the party has a mixed age range, a whack a snowman game needs no explanation - grab the mallets, hit the lit pads, highest score wins - and it is free play, so no one needs a pocket of change.
It is a competitive format that works, in the words of one Trustpilot reviewer after her firm's Christmas do. Becci said: "We hired the Saloon Shoot Out game for our Country themed Christmas Party! Was a great addition to our event and really brought out everyone's competitive sides!"
What we cannot sort out for you
We supply the games, the operators, delivery and set-up, and the risk assessment is with you or the venue well before the day. The food, the drink and the music licensing are the venue's or the organiser's side of the deal, and most venues have an approved supplier list worth checking before you commit to a hog roast van. If your room is on the small side, say so at the quoting stage - a two-player game usually fits where a four-player one will not, and it is much easier to swap at the quote than on the day.
Not sure what fits your room? Have a look at the Christmas party hire range, then ring 0114 345 0135 and we'll tell you straight - we would rather talk you down a size than watch the big kit not fit.
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