Planning an office Christmas party is never easy, especially during these unprecedented times. However, when you put in an extra effort to come up with a unique theme and take it to its highest level, chances are most people will love it. While you can’t please everyone, a unique twist on holiday classics ups the odds of creating positive vibes and happy memories.
Whether you’re planning a virtual party this year or thinking ahead for next year, here are 3 unique Christmas party ideas for your next corporate event that even the biggest Scrooges and Grinches on your guest list will love!
1. Elegant winter wonderland
While this might sound over the top, keep in mind that classics are classics because they have staying power! This idea allows you to put your own spin on the winter theme, customized to suit your needs and budget. First, the decorations are elegant and nostalgic, and second, it provides a less cultural theme, so it appeals to people of all different backgrounds. That makes it a winner in today’s inclusive workforce. Some ideas to create a winter wonderland at your corporate event include:
- Wintery drinks: Icy vodka cocktails, seasonal flavours in hot mulled cider and wine, and fun martinis such as peppermint, pomegranate, or orange are all the perfect welcome for your guests.
- Icy buffets: Build on the winter theme featuring a buffet complete with a central ice sculpture, shrimp cocktail on ice, fluffy rice dishes or gourmet mashed potatoes, succulent meats such as ham or prime rib, creamy soups, and more.
- Snowflake desserts: Create a table of tantalizing sweets embracing the snowflake theme with icy blues and frosty whites on assorted cupcakes and cookies, white peppermint truffles, coconut chiffon cakes, and elegant shortbreads decorated with sparkling sugar and silver beads. A live beignet station where servers create mouthwatering and heartwarming donuts filled with chocolate, vanilla, or pistachio cream adds a new twist to the standard holiday fare.
- Snow and ice décor: A classic blue, white, and silver décor theme at your corporate event venue featuring plenty of snowflakes, twinkling lights, and ice-inspired sculptures help capture the light of candle-lit tables complete with icy blue tablecloths, elegant white roses, seasonal white berries, and snowy white birch branches.
2. Whimsical ugly Christmas sweater
If your crowd is more likely to respond to something a little more fun and spirited, nothing adds more whimsy to your corporate event than ugly Christmas sweaters. Covered in kitschy holiday paraphernalia, everyone wears their worst Christmas sweaters, creating a party that is all about comfort and joy. This is also an especially easy theme to have for a virtual party — you can provide sweaters for those who might not have one and even hold a “worst Christmas sweater” contest. To be more inclusive, you can call it an “ugly holiday sweater” party, and people can choose between holiday themes or just downright ugly sweaters. Your ugly holiday sweater theme can include:
- Whimsical cocktails: Have your corporate venue create custom cocktails such as a Reindeer Martini complete with a red cherry nose, gingerbread-spiked hot chocolate, or peppermint cream white Russians to welcome people to the event.
- Fun fare: Go for a more casual meal, whether it is sitting down, buffet, or simply a cornucopia of finger foods. Have crudites and dips laid out like a Christmas tree, a sandwich buffet complete with reindeer antlers on buns, rolled meats to create a wreath and condiments dressed like ornaments, or platters stacked high with sizzling sausages. Think comfort foods with yummy pastas, hearty mains like roast porchetta or chicken cacciatore, and mouthwatering sides like a mashed potato martini station where guests stack their taters high with their favourite fixings.
- Colourful desserts: This dessert table better cries for brightly coloured seasonal favourites from Rudolph-nosed cupcakes to red, white, and green cakes and candy cane cookies to fanciful gingerbread displays. Have fun with a waffle or cake pop station where people can customize their own desserts!
- Ugly sweater décor: Holiday emblems should be flying everywhere with strong influences in traditional red, white, and green. Pull ugly sweaters over chair backs, and place multi-coloured strings of lights all around your venue. Centrepieces should be uber festive with bright red poinsettias, plenty of greenery, fun little punches of candy canes, tree ornaments, ribbon candy — alternate tablecloth and napkin colours throughout the room to create contrast.
3. Holiday masquerade ball
If the sky’s the limit and the occasion and guest list call for ultimate elegance, a masquerade ball fits the bill. Shrouded in mystery with traditional masks and formal finery, this is the perfect evening for a splendid affair once we return to normalcy. Easily made holiday neutral, this is an inclusive theme that doesn’t sacrifice elegance or the spirit of the season. To create this magical night at your corporate event, you can include:
- Champagne toast: Nothing sets the tone for a sophisticated party better than ice-cold champagne in sparkling fluted glasses. You can create an elegant champagne or prosecco cocktail or offer chilled, elegant glasses filled with classic martinis or refined retro cocktails.
- Holiday fine dining: This meal calls for several courses served at elegantly dressed tables by accommodating servers. Beautifully prepared antipasto primavera, elegant lobster bisque, festive smoked salmon rotolo, and sumptuous beef or salmon Wellington complete the feast.
- Decadent dessert: While you can serve a luscious dulce de leche cake to guests, don’t forget to keep the night going with a seafood and sweets table at midnight. This provides tantalizing seafood such as snow crab and lobster with a dazzling selection of elegant, sweet treats. You can also create a sumptuous truffle table featuring rich chocolates that reflect the season’s festive flavours—the perfect end to the perfect evening.
- Magical décor: With guests donned in festive, elegant apparel, the room should create an alluring backdrop that is chic yet filled with holiday joy. Flickering candles in tall candelabras, twinkling white fairy lights strung everywhere, shimmering curtains hung from the ceiling to create separate spaces for food stations, the bar, and the dance floor, glittering silver and gold ornaments with hints of deep reds or blues, elegant, simple centrepieces of amaryllis or oversized hurricane lanterns flickering with candlelight surrounded by simple seasonal greenery offer subtle sophistication with a wintery feel.
Don’t forget to include some games if you think your crowd will enjoy them. Also, remember to include mocktail versions of the drinks you create! These ideas are the perfect solutions to please even the most discerning crowds.
If you would like to get ahead and start planning your next office Christmas party at a corporate event venue in Vaughan, speak to the Chateau Le Jardin team today.
