Top five Christmas party trends

The end of of the year is quickly approaching, which means so is the festive season and the Christmas parties. Whilst hosting the annual Christmas party is not a new thing, sometimes it can be challenging to keep each new one feeling much different to the last. Here are our top five trends for Christmas parties, that will keep your event feeling fresh and more exciting than the year before.

1. Day time events instead of evening

Yes, it's true, it's not just about the boozy dinners! We're seeing a lot of our party hire cater for outdoor and day time events. Often a company is now hosting the Christmas party during a normal workday, so more of their staff will be likely to attend. Given the time of year that Christmas falls into in Australia, it makes sense to make the most of the good weather and being outside.

2. Family-friendly work Christmas parties

With most work places aiming to be more family-friendly and supportive of working parents, we're starting to notice renting out kids furniture as well as standard for Christmas events. Most work Christmas parties that are becoming kid-friendly are usually being held in the day time and will include a kids activity or some sort, as well as a novelty item such as a slushie machine or a candy buffet for example.

If you're going to make your event kid-friendly, it's important to remember that you'll need to factor both the kids and the parents in your planning. i.e. You'll need tables, chairs and furniture for both adult and children guests, as well as separate catering usually.

3. Christmas photo booths

Photo booths have been popular for the last few years, and there's no sign of the trend going anywhere. If anything we're finding that photo booths are present at more and more events as a fun way to bring a crowd of people together. The props are also getting more creative with themed props also being a great tool for capturing the atmosphere and brand your event.

If you're hosting a corporate function, consider if you can get a cut-out that is aligned to your brand or includes your logo or tag line. For example could you have a polaroid cut-out with the year and a relevant hashtag, or branded backdrop (see below).

4. Include a wishing well for charity

Christmas is also a time of giving and sharing with those less fortunate. Many corporate and work functions now will provide a wishing well for staff to voluntarily donate to if they choose to. Most businesses have an aligned charity that they donate to, so a Christmas party event is a good opportunity to create a sense of community with staff to give something together.

5. A traditional Christmas lunch or dinner

Sometimes your work colleagues can become like your family, so why not share a traditional Christmas dinner or lunch! It's also a beautiful way to bring a group of people together, including larger organisations as we see businesses who need to cater for 100+ staff choosing this. Usually we'll see hosts hire long trestle tables and set this like you would having a Christmas dinner or lunch in the home.