Office parties are those cultural staples that we are all at least , and have likely experienced at some point in our lives – and they can be held for any of a multitude of reasons. 

Perhaps the business in question has just secured a new and lucrative client, or maybe the party is being organised for someone’s birthday? Or it might be a Christmas party, or a bash held as a ‘send-off’ to an employee who will shortly be leaving the company. 

You get the idea; there are a lot of potential justifications for an office party, and many forms that such a celebration could take. But what are some of the broader steps that you should be taking to ensure your London business’s next office party is well-organised and delivers a positive experience for all?

‍Setting the budget 

Yes, it’s a “dull” step, but it could scarcely be a more important one. It’s important partly because of timing factors, as you will likely need to submit your budget for approval by whoever is responsible for such matters at your company, at least three weeks prior to the planned event. And when you do, there is probably a good chance that some items may not be approved, or that you will be asked to cut back on your presently planned budget for the office party. 

So, you will need to think about your budget nice and early, and break down the costs into segments to make it easy for the relevant authority at your business to understand and approve. That will include clearly setting out the amount you propose to spend on the venue, the entertainment, any audio-visual (AV) elements, the party invites, transportation, and so on.

‍Determining a venue, date, and time 

These elements all naturally play into each other, as you will need to ensure whichever venue you have in mind will be available on the intended date. Obviously, you can often expect to have much greater flexibility if you plan to hold the party in your own company’s offices, as per the traditional ‘office party’. 

‍The above factor might make deciding on a suitable date and time the much tougher of these three tasks. You may need to use an online meeting scheduling tool, such as Doodle, to give you an overview of when every staff member is likely to be available. 

‍The chances are that there will be a ‘sweet spot’ somewhere on the calendar that you can take advantage of when choosing a date and time everyone will be broadly happy with. 

‍And once you’ve done that – and received approval for your party by the ‘higher-ups’ – you will be able to design and send out invites for the event. When you do so, we would urge you to provide as many relevant details as possible, to minimise the hassle of having to answer a lot of questions from prospective guests. Information on such things as how to get to the venue (if it isn’t your own company’s office), and the dress code, should all be included.

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Arranging the catering 

Everyone who is invited to an office party deserves to be able to expect delicious food and drink to enjoy once they are there. While whatever venue you choose might offer its own catering instead of requiring you to contact separate catering providers, even if this is the case, you might still like the idea of reaching out to your own preferred office party caterers in London. 

‍That particular decision might come down to the kind of food the caterer makes available, and that you might wish to see served at your event. Here at Spoilt for Choice, for instance, we are independent business caterers that provide tasty, freshly made food for businesses in the capital; it is also quick and easy to make your order with us via our website. 

‍There you have it – the above doesn’t cover absolutely everything you might need to know when organising an office party in London, but it touches on many of the crucial bases. We deliver to most areas of the capital and can work with many specialised requirements, so why not contact us today for any answers to your questions before you commit to purchasing from our team?