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Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? The good news is they’re far off in the distance, and you still have plenty of time to book and organize a corporate holiday party that will make hearts sing.
Here are 76 corporate holiday party ideas that will win big. *Taken from roaminghunger.com/blog/12793/
1. Kara-offkey
Turn your corporate holiday party into the good old days when MTV actually played music videos. Look up the top hits from the decade and prepare everyone’s ears for unique renditions of “Livin’ la Vida Loca.”
2. Game time
Snag some retro games on eBay, or raid your parents’ closet for classics like Grape Escape, Gator Golf, Mr. Bucket, Jumanji, and Jumpin’ Monkeys. Set up a lounge area at the event space where people can play a few rounds on breaks from the dance floor.
3. Food+ Drink: 90’s Eats
We’ll help you book a food truck or that can whip up 90s-inspired food. Create-your-own Lunchables-style mini pizzas, Cheez Balls, P.B. Crisps, Dunkaroos. Don’t forget to send party guests home adorned with oversized Ring Pops.
4. Attire: Throwback ‘fits
Luckily (or maybe not so much) the 90s are back in fashion, so employees might already have some of these gems lying around. Encourage attendees to show up in overalls with one strap undone, bleached tips, chain wallets, neon windbreakers, grunge ripped jeans, Hypercolor tees, and anything else that screams the 90s.
Theme: A Night of Chance
5. Who has #88302?
Give everyone a raffle ticket as they enter, then a few times during the evening, halt activities to announce winners. Stock the prize box with items like gift cards, Apple TVs, and tickets to sporting events.
6. Up the ante
It’s easy to bet big when you’re playing with fun money. Set up slots, poker tables, and roulette for a fun and unique corporate holiday party activity. Yelling “Mama needs a new pair of shoes” and accusing your colleagues of being card sharks is mandatory.
7. You won’t believe your eyes (or ears)
A talented magician is always a corporate holiday party pleaser, especially if the Full House Martinis already have guests seeing double. Or, hire a fortune teller to offer party goers a peek into the future.
8. Live music
There’s nothing like a blast from the horn section to keep the energy up at the craps table. Book a local band to make sure the whole night is uptempo.
9. Food + Drink: Casino Bites
With all eyes on the cards, you’ll want to make sure food is edible in small bites, and available on toothpicks, shish kabobs, or dippable with chips or veggies. Pack the buffet table with on-theme nibbles like Texas Hold ‘Em Hamburger Bites, Black Jack Cheese Dip, Full House Martinis, Roll the dice sushi rolls, Poker chips and dip, Big Money Meatballs, and if you’re feeling really brave, Clams casino. For a sweet treat, cut brownies into squares and decorate them with frosting to make them look like dice.
10. Attire: Glam
Ask attendees at your corporate holiday party to jazz it up. Guests can put together their best Queen of Hearts, Lady Luck, or fedora-wearing gangster ensembles for an extra hand of good luck.
Theme: Do Good, Feel Good
11. No Grinches allowed
Get into the spirit of giving with an office-wide charity event. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen or ask everyone to donate to a charity of their choice instead of gifts. Check outGivewell.org, a great tool that ranks charities in order of their effectiveness and shows where your money is going and the impact it will have.
12. Invite some puppers
Help adoptable pups find their furever homes with aPuppyPart. Seriously, it’s a real thing. Guests can get in as many snugs and boops needed with these doggos.
13. Slow-mo kisses
The only thing that could pawsibly make a photo with a pupper better is a slow motion video booth. Capture every adorable moment in a cool highlight reel of the night’s soiree.
14. Food + Drink: Food Truck
Park a food truck outside to keep the fluff and the food separate. Click on the banner below to learn more.
15. Attire: Sweaters
Anything that can easily be lint-rolled. You’ll be covered in fake snow after the first ten minutes.
Theme: Merry Craftmas
16. More glitter, please
Start the festivities with a holiday ornament decorating party. Grab some plain ornaments and crafts supplies at Target or a hobby shop. Throw down some newspaper and let guests go to town.
17. Sugary decor
Nothing says holiday season like the smell of freshly baked gingerbread walls and roofs, right? Stock up on sugary decor like candy canes, cinnamon hearts, gummy bears, M&Ms, Starburst, Smarties, sprinkles, icing, and of course, gumdrops, and let staff create their own gingerbread houses. When everyone’s done building their masterpiece, hold a vote to see who wins for best curb appeal.
18. The Great Cookie Bake-Off
This corporate holiday party activity is just like the gingerbread houses, but cookies instead! You can vote for the best design, or just let everyone dig in.
19. Food + Drink: DIY Donuts
What’s better than an endless amount of tasty sweet treats ready to be eaten? Sweet treats with your preferred toppings. Hire a donut food truck to cook up some piping hot dough rings and set out a smorgasbord of toppings choices.
20. Get Culinarily Educated
Calling all Julia Childs and Gordon Ramsays (just no yelling, please). Take a company-wide cooking class and ensure you end up with some new knife skills and a delicious homemade dinner.
21. Crafty craft cocktails
In lieu of hiring a bartender, set up a mini bar and let guests craft their own drinks. Organize mixers, tinctures, spirits, and herbaceous ingredients like rosemary, mint, sage, basil, cilantro, and thyme, along with suggested recipe cards. Don’t forget the muddlers and shakers.
22. Attire: Channel your inner Martha Stewart
Aprons! Buy a box of cheap holiday print aprons for guests to take home with them.
Theme: Holidays Around The World
23. German party game
Translation: Chocolate Eating – Schokoladenessen is a German party game where players sit in a circle and roll and pass the dice until someone rolls a double. Whoever rolls a double puts on the hat, scarf, and gloves and tries to unwrap the candy bar, using the kitchen utensils, and eat all the candy before someone else can roll a double. The new double roller then takes over the hat, scarf, and gloves and continues eating the chocolate. The game ends when you’re outta chocolate. Of course, this can always be modified into an adult version with drinks, but we’ll leave that up to you.
24. Break out the blindfold
In Mexico, piñatas are not just for birthdays. Buy a safe for work-themed piñata and stuff it with goodies like airplane-sized shooters of booze, candy, and toys even adults would love, like sticky hands.
25. Food + Drink: Aren’t We Potlucky
Hire a food truck, or organize catering to provide the main meal (like empanadas), then create a sign-up list for employees to reserve a traditional holiday side dish from another country. Start with potato latkes from Israel, mince pies from England, chocolatey Bûche de Noël from France, spiced hot chocolate from Peru, and for those who don’t cook, KFC from Japan.
26. Attire: Guest choice
Encourage guests to wear garb traditional to the region of the dish they brought.
Theme: Let The Games Begin
27. Take me out to the ball (or puck) game
Hockey, basketball, and football are all in full swing during November and December, so round up the troops and turn your corporate holiday party into a sports-fueled soiree. A fun perk idea? Provide everyone with a hat or shirt to cheer on your team.
28. Slippery banana peels not included
When does one get the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of 5 horsepower and whoop his or her colleagues in go kart racing? Your corporate holiday party should be just that opportunity.
29. High score!
Run free into the flashing lights of the arcade and connect with your colleagues as you challenge each other to air hockey and PAC-MAN, or share futile attempts to claim that plush Batman with the impossibly flimsy claw.
30. Food + Drink: Ballpark favorites
Prepare employees for a night of junk food: ballpark hot dogs, salty nachos, cotton candy, Bud Light in an aluminum bottle, pretzels and “cheese.”
31. Attire: Athletic casual
Anything that lets you move.
Theme: Santa Con
32. Gift exchange
A Secret Santa or White Elephant can make even the most unbearable parties a little better because… gifts.
33. Pin the nose on Rudolph
Without his nose so bright, Rudolph won’t be able to guide Santa’s sleigh tonight! Put on the blindfold, take a few dizzying spins, and listen to the laughter as everyone witnesses you stumble your way to Rudolph to try to save the day.
34. Say cheese
Get proof that it did, in fact, happen. A photo booth (bonus points if it’s branded like these done by Gold Frame Media) is essential to remember what happened at your corporate holiday party. It’s also a reminder to try to keep yourself in check.
35. Food + Drink: Holiday treats
Go all out with the red and white: strawberries topped with whipped cream, bowls stuffed with candy canes, red velvet crinkle cookies, winter white red velvet fudge, sangria with stocking-shaped ice cubes, tomato and mozzarella kabobs.
36. Attire: Reverse Santa
Our own CEO, Ross Resnick, suggests a unique spin on staff dressing in head to toe red and white: “everyone dresses like Santa, but you hire a model to come dressed as an office worker for everyone to take pictures with.”
Theme: Movie and Reindeer Games Night
37. Put on the classics
Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Elf … the holidays are the perfect time to recline and take in some classics. Dim the lights, pass the popcorn, and get everyone comfy for the cherished tradition of watching classic movies and collectively quoting all the best lines. And hey, if there’s booze around, why not create a whole new drinking game? Here’s one to get you started: Take a drink every time Buddy says “Santa” in Elf.
38. Ok, who wrapped this thing?
There are a few variations on this classic holiday game. One way to play is to wrap a gift in countless layers of wrapping paper and pass it around the circle to be unwrapped one layer at a time. Whoever tears off the last bit wins the gift! Another way is to take turns attempting to open the gift with bulky oven mitts.
39. Musical cheers
Just no one get hurt, okay? Sprinkle some Christmas spirit over the beloved classic game musical chairs by playing only holiday music to signal the circling of the chairs.
40. Cheer pong
Use jingle bells instead of ping pong balls for a holiday twist on a cherished drinking game. Just don’t jingle all the way to a hangover.
41. Gimel! Gimel!
Every culture can appreciate the joys of candy and gambling. The dreidel gamegets everyone in a circle with a pile of game pieces (money, candy, etc) spinning the dreidel to see how it lands. Nun = nothing – The player does nothing. Gimel = everything – The player gets everything in the pot. Hey = half – The player gets half of the pot. Shin = put in – The player adds a game piece to the pot. The game is over when one person has won all the pieces.
42. Someone else’s home for the holidays
You don’t have to worry about cramming your entire office (and plus ones) into your pad, that’s what Airbnb is for. Host your epic party in someone else’s house, while still giving everyone that homey holiday feel.
43. Food + Drink: Pizza truck
Pizza and movie night go together like, well, pizza and movie night. Check out food trucks and catering options in your area and try to set a limit now on how many slices you’re going to eat.
44. Attire: Ugly sweaters
This just wouldn’t be a proper festive list unless we suggested ugly holiday sweaters somewhere.
Theme: Let's Get Physical
45. Anyone up for a Triple Salchow?
Bundle up, watch out for that toe pick, and show off your best figure 8 with an ice skating soiree. Serve (spiked) eggnog afterward for a toasty warm-up off the ice.
46. Feel like a hamster
Bubble Soccer is a newish sport where one plays regulation soccer encased in an inflatable ball that covers the head and torso. Be warned: Instead of providing protection, the balls act as bouncy balls that propel off each other, sending the athletes inside rolling and flying.
47. Take it to the lanes
Bowling is not only an engaging retro sport but also a modern nightlife staple. The animated scoreboard, the competition, the cocktails, the dance beats, and the glow in the dark decor, all make for corporate party paradise…and no one has to worry about which shoes to wear.
48. Food + Drink: Slider truck
All this carving up the ice, flying through the air, and pin pushing calls for a carb load. Feel like a baller on the field by pulling up your own food truck, or getting catering inside the office (limited to select cities). The cuisine options are as endless as the number of hits you’ll take in bubble soccer.
49. Attire: Sporty
Any piece of clothing that mentions Lycra, sweat-wicking, breathable, and stink-proof on the tag.
Theme: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
50. I Spy
…with my little eye. Scavenger Hunts are the adult version of the classic boredom-busting game I Spy. Create your own hunt theme and tie the clues to that topic. Send teams on a pub crawl to find a mustached man drinking a PBR, or on a foodie adventure to find something flavored with Sriracha. Here are some tips on getting organized.
51. Get us out of here!
Escape rooms come with their very own theme: zombies, music, murder mysteries, and more. The puzzles encourage everyone to work together or risk death. Maybe not death, but at least a disappointing loss. Roaming Hunger took on an escape room and highly recommends it as a great exercise in friendly company-wide competition (via HuffPost).
52. Food + Drink: BBQ
After all that work, employees deserve something that’s finger lickin’ good, like BBQ. Make sure no one has to lift a finger by booking a food truck or catering.
53. Attire: Your best spy-ware
Think Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible. Sleek pants with multiple pockets and a shirt tight enough that it won’t impede sudden movements you might need to make.
Theme: Booze Tour
54. Nothing to wine about
Who can ever really remember the nuances of every blend, especially on the third winery stop? This beats the heck out of a museum tour. Ride the buzz of tastings, luxurious gift shops, and artisanal menus as you create hazy, Pinot Noir-fueled memories with your colleagues.
55. IP-Yay
Ya sure, you’ll learn all about the brewery’s history and methods and yadda yadda, but the tastings! Repeat after us: pale ales, porters, stouts, lagers, ales. Strap on the beer goggles, yell a hallelujah for the 21st amendment, and make sure you have some water lined up for later.
56. Food + Drink: Pretzels, pizza, popcorn, you name it
Drinks are already covered, clearly. Food should be anything known to help soak up the booze. Some of our favs: pretzels, pizza, pasta, and burgers and fries.
Theme: Take the Party on the Road
57. All through the town
The wheels on the xmas party bus go round and round. Take the celebrations to the streets, blast bumpin’ beats, and keep the holiday party fun rollin’ to multiple locations. Stop #1 – The roof, the roof, can never be on fire if there is no roof. A rooftop bar offers spectacular views and some fresh air before it’s time to go start the bus.
58. Hark! The herald employees sing
Who doesn’t love a heartfelt carol, especially when it’s belted out of a party bus? Sing-along to a pre-recorded song, or go acapella as you use your vocal talent to share Christmas cheer with everyone.
59. To the CEO’s house we go
When the big kahuna opens his or her doors to the entire team, it’s a grand gesture of holiday giving. Just don’t forget to take your shoes off at the door.
60. For those that prefer the water
Set sail for a night with your coworkers on a dinner cruise under the stars for your corporate holiday party. Just make sure none of the staff falls overboard. That’s going to make Monday more than awkward, and Christmas a little sad.
61. Food + Drink: Lobster rolls
Line up some gourmet catering from Vault Catering & Events for the boss’s house, and pack the bus with booze, water, and easy snacks like popcorn, crackers, and maybe even some fruit snacks just to bring back memories of your old bus riding days.
62. Attire: Classy casual
Classy casual is on the agenda for tonight’s dress. You want to look posh for the rooftop bar and boss’s house, but just remember you’ll be getting on and off a bus, which becomes more difficult as the booze rolls on.
Theme: VIPs Only (Very Important Partiers)
63. Reservation for awesomeness, please
It doesn’t get fancier than renting out an entire restaurant. Let someone else do all the work while you party down. Check out The Infatuation’s list of holiday party hotspots if you’re an LA-based company.
64. Treat Yoself
Book luxurious spa treatments for the team, and you will forever be remembered as the most beloved company party planner … of all time.
65. Fast pass to fun
Whether it’s the roller coaster or just excitement, a day at a theme park will have staff screaming over your corporate holiday party.
66. Food + Drink: Dine out
Check in with the venues to see where they might be able to help out with. Restaurants often offer affordable app or dinner packages, the spa may have an attached restaurant, and you may be able to book out a private area for lunch at the park.
67. Attire: Comfy chic
Depending on which route you go, everyone should dress to the nines for a restaurant book out, slip into loungewear for the spa, and plan on tennis shoes for the theme park.
Hostess With The Mostest Corporate Holiday Party Tips
68. Party down on a Friday
No one wants to go to work the day after a night of overindulging with colleagues. Have your corporate holiday party on a Friday or Saturday and save everyone the struggle of trying to make it in on time.
69. Make that a double
Drinking isn’t mandatory for your corporate holiday party to be a success, but those looking to imbibe will greatly appreciate a bartender or open bar service.
70. Your driver has arrived
If your festivities really take it up a notch, some of your guests may need a ride home. Save your employees the burden of figuring it out and provide a free ride service.
71. Babysitter’s club
Any parent knows that a night out is a rare event, and a company holiday party is the perfect excuse. If your company has a lot of working parents, consider offering a babysitter stipend to show that you understand how special the night is.
72. Tricked out
Your holiday party may not have a giant ball pit like SpaceX’s did, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for sad, cardboard snowflakes. Cool decor is vital to good holiday party vibes so don’t skimp on this part.
73. Morning pick me up
A catered breakfast is essential if your party falls on a weeknight. Help everyone recover with breakfast burritos (or some Yeastie Boys bagels). Pass the Cholula, please.
74. The Hangover Part 4
Keep the good times rolling with an in-office movie day following the night of your holiday party. If Elf isn’t being played then something is seriously amiss.
75. Partner up
Besides the pure entertainment factor of seeing what guests show up, allowing employees to bring a plus one to your corporate holiday party is a nice gesture to include everyone. Also, people are more inclined to attend if they can bring their spouse or significant other along.
76. Everyone’s invited
Just because your company is spread out in different locations doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the holiday cheer. Offer remote workers a gift certificate for a nice dinner out, movie passes, or sporting tickets to make everyone feel included in the fun.
In the spirit of giving, we may have listed more than 54 corporate holiday party ideas, but you deserve it. You’ve been good boys and girls this year. A holiday celebration is the perfect time and excuse to bond with your coworkers outside of the cubicle walls. These suggestions are sure to make your event a memorable time.