Ending the year with a bang is a thoughtful way to show your team you value all their hard work and impressive accomplishments from the previous twelve months. Your corporate holiday party should be a night to relax and celebrate, but if you don’t partner with the right vendors and location, you won’t be able to enjoy it properly.
Here, we’re going to take you through some of our best tips and tricks for hosting corporate holiday parties, with a specific focus on choosing the right location for the soiree. We’ll also detail the Seasonal Packages you can book at four of our Butler’s Pantry venues. These ready-made bundles take all the planning stress off your plate and guarantee a good time for your guests.
We’ll cover your three different Seasonal Package options in a later section. First, we’ll go over general holiday party planning wisdom. Using all of this knowledge will help you avoid any planning pitfalls you might otherwise run into. Let’s start with the considerations you need to keep in mind when selecting a venue.
Finding the Right Corporate Holiday Party Location
- Size of Group: This is an excellent starting point for most event planning. Having an exact head count at this early stage is unrealistic, but a general idea is important toward finding the right corporate holiday party venue. Too small, and all your guests won’t fit. Too large, and the space can feel sparse and empty.
- Parking and Transportation: Getting to the venue can be a huge headache for your guests if there are not ample parking or public transportation options.
- Convenient Placement: In the same vein as the transportation point above, making sure your venue is not too far out of the way for your guests is paramount. You don’t want them to get lost or show up in a bad mood because the party is so far out of the way. The best corporate holiday party venues are easily accessible by the majority of your guests.
- Good Reputation: Check reviews or get references to ensure the venue has a good track record for hosting events. Staff professionalism and responsiveness are key.
- Safety and Security: The venue should have necessary security measures in place, like CCTV, security personnel, and fire safety protocols.
- Technology: Consider venues with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, reliable Wi-Fi, and other tech facilities, especially if you’re planning presentations or digital entertainment.
- Accessibility: Ensure the inclusivity of your event by choosing a corporate holiday party venue that’s ADA compliant. Find a location that has ramps, elevators, and easily accessible restrooms.
Beyond the Holiday Party Venue
Once the organization has settled on the right location for the year-end celebration, you’ll still need to plan the rest of the event. Here are the different elements that, when thoughtfully combined, come together to create a spectacular evening.
- Entertainment: Chatting with your coworkers, clients, or other guests is often the main activity at a corporate holiday party. It’s a prime opportunity to spread some holiday cheer and get to know your team in a more relaxed setting. However, providing a more novel source of entertainment can be one way to really treat your guests to a memorable night. Whether that’s an interactive component like cookie decorating or a performance to watch, make sure there’s never a dull moment at your holiday bash.
- Food and Beverages: For many guests, this is a main draw, if not the top concern. Planning the menu is one of the most crucial tasks in creating a successful corporate holiday party. Lean on seasonal favorites, hearty comfort foods, and crowd pleasers, making sure to add enough options for all dietary needs and preferences. When it comes to drinks, keep in mind that alcohol can be a large expense, and you can often make your budget stretch farther if you choose to only offer beer, wine, and nonalcoholic options.
- Gifts: Consider the year-end gift-giving traditions of your office when planning the holiday party. If leadership likes to hand out gifts to the team, or if your team has a gift exchange every year, make sure there is space for them at the holiday party venue. It depends on the size and preferences of your team, of course, but if they go for it, a white elephant or secret santa activity can liven up the event and leave everyone in the festive spirit. Just make sure to communicate the gift expectations to the team, either way.
- Decorations: The right venue will have most of the visual elements taken care of for you. However, truly festive affairs will transform the corporate holiday party location. Jewel tones, wintery whites, and lots of sparkle are all great options when it comes to colors. Also consider choosing a specific theme to make your holiday party truly memorable.
General Holiday Party Tips
It’s great to have a plan for each aspect of the fete, but you should also make note of these pieces of more general advice.
- Keep the traditions and cultures of your guests top of mind when you’re planning your holiday party.
- Establish a reasonable budget and stick to it.
- Ask for input during the planning process to get a better understanding of expectations and desires. You’ll probably get some exciting new ideas from the rest of the team.
- Start planning early — many of the top holiday party venues are reserved far in advance. Choosing your preferred location early will give you a better chance of being able to book your ideal date.
- Clearly communicate the dress code and any other expectations with the team ahead of time.
- Poll employees or use scheduling tools to find a date that works for the majority. Consider avoiding dates close to major holidays, as many people travel or have prior commitments.
- Make time during the party to acknowledge the team’s achievements. It’s a great time to reflect on the year’s successes and recognize employees for their hard work.
- If alcohol is being served or if the venue is far, consider arranging for shuttles, ride-share codes, or other transportation options.
- Have some way of recording memories from the event. You might hire a professional photographer or set up a DIY photo station to document the evening.
- Don’t forget to have fun!
Corporate Holiday Party Packages from Butler’s Pantry
Searching for the best corporate holiday party locations in St. Louis? Look no further than our Butler’s Pantry venues. To make the planning process as simple as possible, choose one of our Seasonal Packages. You can host a seamless corporate holiday party with one of our three options: The cocktail party, the dinner party, or the extended party.
3-Hour Cocktail Party
You and your guests will enjoy three passed hors d’oeuvres and dessert as well as a local cheese and crudite display. The party will also have access to a three-hour bar with beer, wine, and soda.
This is a wonderful option for brief affairs, teams that prefer not to have a sit-down dinner, and events that roll into another activity, like a performance, for example. Other pros of a cocktail party include that you can have more guests in a smaller space since you don’t need to account for tables and chairs for everyone. So, if capacity, timing, or the budget are concerns, a three-hour cocktail party package at one of our venues would be an excellent choice for your corporate holiday celebration.
4-Hour Dinner Party
At these events, you’ll dine on a chicken entree, with your choice of a buffet-style or seated meal. You can also choose to have three passed hors d’oeuvres or dessert to supplement your dinner. And for drinks, enjoy a three-hour signature or premium bar, depending on which venue you choose.
Many corporate teams find this option suits their needs perfectly. You’ll treat your guests to a full meal, and the bar options are expanded. Four hours is a typical length for a corporate holiday party. It gives you enough time to mingle and participate in any activities you’ve planned for the event without having things drag on.
5-Hour Extended Party
This option is truly the whole package. Celebrate the end of another productive year of work with three passed hors d’oeuvres or dessert as well as dinner with any entree. The meal can be a buffet or a seated affair — you make the call. Plus, the premium or signature bar will be available for four hours.
Consider this package for your corporate holiday party if your organization really wants to roll out the red carpet for its guests. With more entree choices, you can customize your meal to perfectly suit the tastes of the team. There’s also just more time to enjoy each other’s company as well as any entertainers or activities you’d like to bring in. The extended party option is an excellent way to take proper care of your guests and show them how much you value their contributions.
Our Corporate Holiday Party Venues
The seasonal party packages we outlined above are each available at four of our venues. Learn a little more about each one, and choose the right location for your corporate holiday party this year.
- Palladium Saint Louis: A versatile location, Palladium Saint Louis can host your event of up to 700 guests for a cocktail party and 400 guests for a seated event. One of the real show-stopping features of this fully renovated former laundry facility is the view of the St. Louis skyline. Two-story windows will treat your guests to a stunning look at the cityscape. Other highlights are the advanced audio and visual capabilities as well as the theatrical lighting.
- The Coronado: Those looking for a historic St. Louis venue for their company holiday party will be thrilled with the Coronado’s lavish event space. Opened in 1925 and host to the likes of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Charles Lindbergh, this iconic event space was fully renovated in 2001 with further improvements made in 2015. Your guests will be truly impressed by all of its authentic art deco glory.
- 18Rails | The Venue @CityFoundrySTL: Industrial history meets modern luxury at 18Rails. It’s located in the heart of City Foundry STL, a hotspot of St. Louis culture and activity. Your guests will enter through the food hall and be wowed by the wall of windows flooding the room with natural light. It’s a 6,700-square-foot space that can be arranged in many different layouts to accommodate the specific needs of your event.
- The Reverie: This is a contemporary space that allows your special event to stand out from a solid but understated backdrop. In The Reverie’s 15,000-square-feet, you’ll find different breakout and experience rooms, pre-function space, and stunning floor-to-ceiling doors. The main dining room seats up to 300 guests, so this could be a perfect corporate holiday party venue for a seated dinner. In addition to these outstanding features, the location of The Reverie is also something to marvel at. It lies in The District of Chesterfield, a unique and convenient entertainment destination.
Choose the right corporate holiday party venue, and have a great event!
With all of these different considerations in mind, it should be a no-brainer to choose our excellent service here at Butler’s Pantry for this year’s festivities. Your whole team will go home happy and well-fed after a corporate holiday party at one of our venues. Our Seasonal Packages make planning the event a breeze — all you have to do is choose from the four beautiful locations listed and decide how long you’d like the party to go. These packages are available from December through March, so even if you can’t get your party in before the new year, there’s still plenty of time to take advantage of this convenient offer.
If you have any further questions about the best corporate holiday party ideas, menu items, locations, or anything else our expert team can help you with, feel free to contact us. We can help you create a corporate event that is truly spectacular any time of year.