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You’re Invited!
by Micquelle Corry |
Hard to believe, but fall is upon us and the autumn equinox is only days away. Tomatoes are ripe for the picking, the crickets are loudly chirping their goodbyes and, suddenly, in the mornings, a sweater seems like a good idea.
All of these little hints of fall mean it is time to put away the BBQ and figure out your plan for Thanksgiving and the other upcoming fall-winter holidays. The most important, of course, being Christmas-Kwanza-Festivus-Hanukkah-Boxing Day. Whatever the holidays mean to you, I’ll bet somewhere on your fall survival list—between “clean out the rain gutters” and “service the furnace”—you’ve listed “plan office holiday party.”
Early October may seem a little soon to be thinking about the office holiday party, but advanced planning is one of the most important steps to a great event. It means less stress immediately before and during the event and allows for you to actually take a moment and enjoy your hard work along with the rest of the guests.
So, starting with advanced planning then, here are some thoughts to get you started down the path to the perfect party.
Advanced Planning:
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Article Highlights:
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Select a venue and reserve it early. |
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One of the best ways to figure out all the details is to work out the budget for your event. |
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Invitations should go out no later than four weeks before the RSVP deadline … so first week of November for most holiday parties. |
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The master invite list can be used for everything from mailing labels to name tags to seating charts to place cards. |
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The best way to leave an immediate and lasting impression is by developing a theme for your event. |
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Find a venue and make a reservation. This is key for holiday parties as the Salt Lake entertainment landscape is somewhat limited and there’s lots of other businesses out there competing for it.
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Details, details, details! Create an event outline/budget spreadsheet. One of the best ways to figure out all the details is to work out the budget for your event. This outline can also be the starting point for listing all the necessary tasks, the due dates for the tasks and the person to which the task is assigned (it is always good to take an inventory of the tasks that can be delegated). This document makes a great agenda for your planning meetings, too!
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Invitation List and Invitations:
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Create your invitation list using Excel or other spreadsheet software remembering to list first and last names in separate fields from the address information to ease merging later. This master list can be used for everything from mailing labels to name tags to seating charts to place cards. You can also use it to track RSVPs and as a check-in sheet the night of the event.
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Invitations should go out no later than four weeks before the RSVP deadline…so first week of November for most holiday parties. Invitations can be practical or more elaborate depending on budget. However, the invitation is your first chance to get the invitees excited about the event, so whether you have a theme or just a particular color palette, the invitation should communicate at least a little bit of what’s to come.
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In these days of ubiquitous electronic connections, a fun way to invite people to a party is with an Evite. Just go to www.evite.com and follow the easy instructions. Evites only work if you have email addresses for your invitees, but for an office party it is the perfect way to get the word out. Evites let you customize the look and the text of your e-invitation, add a photo and create an RSVP center where invitees can not only say they’re coming, but write in droll and/or pithy comments. It helps build anticipation by showing a list of everyone who is coming.
Be careful though, some ambitious spam filters may prevent your Evite from getting to the intended recipient.
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Details:
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Your event outline will ever be evolving as you continue towards the big day. Some of the things you might want to think about include: music, parking, flowers, seating arrangements, photographer, signage, prizes, awards or other special presentations, greeters/hostesses, gifts for speakers and party favors.
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Theme:
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The best way to leave an immediate and lasting impression is by developing a theme for your event and using it to tie together the many elements of your party (invites, décor, party favors, flowers, etc.). And for all of you that were on the prom committee in high school, you’ll know that this is the fun part of event planning. For example, for a winter party, holly is a beautiful symbol of the season and the holidays. And with a little Internet research you’ll also find holly has been used for ages as a winter solstice symbol of continuing life, joy and merriment. You can use holly and maybe even a quote or sentence about its symbolism on the initial invitation and then extend the theme by having holly corsages and boutonnières for your VIPs, holly wreaths and candles for centerpieces, etc.
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Night Of:
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One way to spruce up any event is with a raffle or auction. Auctions are fairly time-intensive to plan, but a raffle is easy and helps to keep the energy up.
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Having a photographer at your party—either professional or amateur—will keep the memories alive (even if Jack from accounting would rather not remember his dancing-on-the table-with-a-holly-wreath-on-his-head moment). Whether posted on your website, printed in a newsletter or pinned up on a break room bulletin board, the party photos will have everyone talking and remembering for days.
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Music can make or break a party. Consider your venue and audience carefully when selecting the tunes. And there are many options to choose from: live band, soloist or small combo, a DJ or just CDs played on a boom box. Whatever your final choice, just make sure the music isn’t so loud that your guests can’t talk to each other. Because, ultimately, that’s what all parties are really about: bringing people together.
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With these suggestions and your personal flair, you’ll plan your next party with aplomb and confidence. However, if you were exhausted by the second paragraph of this article, you might just want to chuck your event outline and hire an event planner (like the folks at POW! creative services) to do the work. No matter how you decide to get the job done, with a party on the horizon, you might just find that you’re looking more forward to the holidays than usual.
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Micquelle Corry is a
seasoned veteran with 15 years experience in marketing, advertising, copywriting, graphic design and event planning.
She is an owner/partner of POW! creative services in Salt Lake City and can be reached at 486–5769.
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Miracle Max: Don't rush me sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles. |
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