Holiday Cocktail Reception

The holidays are the perfect time of year to express your appreciation for employees, coworkers or clients. Show them your appreciation with a more formal, elegant holiday cocktail party. Don't forget, planning an office holiday party can be a tremendous amount of work.

Elegant Invitations

A wonderful formal holiday invitation would work perfectly since this is a more formal affair. This is definitely not the time to use an electronic invitation. We would even recommend having someone hand address the envelopes. Be sure to include your dress code on the invitation. It would also be appropriate to invite your guests and employees with their spouses. No one wants to get dressed up for an evening party and have to leave their spouse at home.

A winter snow theme invitation is a nice option for a non-denominational cocktail party. And, even with a more formal event, you can still have fun. A custom caricature is a one of a kind wonderful holiday invitation that is a little more whimsical but that still works for this event.

cocktail party decorations

A welcome sign at the entrance, complete with a Happy Holiday greeting is a great way to welcome your guests. Light it in holiday colors (or company colors) for maximum effect. If your room doesn’t lend itself to hanging signs you should consider a welcome banner for the registration table. Elegant doesn’t mean you can’t be festive. Have guests enter by walking underneath a balloon arch made from linking snowflake Mylar balloons. (We love these linking balloons and use them all the time at our parties.)

Add a touch of whimsy to your party and welcome everyone with a lifesize Santa cutout or Mrs. Clause cutout with the boss's face added! You can even add a speech bubble and have them welcome everyone.

There are so many beautiful winter theme decorations that work for an elegant cocktail reception. Here are a few of our favorites:

Snowflake Cutouts - these are great to hang behind a bar
LED light up trees - place these light up trees outside (under cover if it's snowing) or by the entrance.
Hang starlight spheres from the ceilings and silver gossamer on the walls!

cocktail party table decorations

For centerpieces, use multiple tiered, candy-filled gift boxes, wrapped, tied off with bows and ribbons. Each box should be numbered. Then, a number is placed under each plate so that guests at each table pull numbers and each can take home "a present." Around the bottom of the centerpiece, sprinkle iridescent snow around an assortment of lit votive candles for a great look.

You can also use beautiful holiday flowers for your tables. Talk to a local florist about creating a one of a kind centerpiece to match the colors of your event. You can use beautiful white flowers for a holiday party that has more of a winter feel or something as simple as Poinsettia for a look that's more Christmas.

Another great centerpiece idea that can be used on the tables or your buffets and bars is to fill a large vase with an assortment of Christmas ornaments. Choose a single color or an assortment. Either way, it's a wonderful look.

We would, of course, recommend real linens for this event. You caterer or party facility should be able to help rent these for your event. Or, you can go online to a number of fabulous linen rental companies that will ship linens for your event.

A few things to keep in mind for your menu and bar:

Have a few options for your meal, so everyone is happy. Not everyone likes fish or steak.
If you can swing it, offer an open bar at your party. It's the time of year to say thank you to people, so splurge on them.
Don't forget dessert. A dessert buffet is great fun. People love options when it comes to sweets.

Corporate Holiday Entertainment

Music is a must for entertainment at a cocktail party. Depending on the size of the crowd you may want to get a 3 piece jazz band. For a larger crowd and a longer evening, maybe a full band is in order.

You can also add a few other activities to add to the festivities. Casino games, which you can rent locally, are always fun. Have a magician on hand to do strolling magic. People will be happy relaxing and chatting so you don't need to plan too many activities.

Corporate Holiday Party Favors

Don't forget to thank your guests from coming! A fantastic favor is a personalized wine bottle label with a winter theme. It truly shows your guests how much you appreciate them being there for your event and during the year.

At each seat, place a personalized candy bar with your company logo and information all about you on front and back (even use your business card). Guests will love this special treat!

Your guests will be sure to have a wonderful evening at your elegant office reception. Happy Holidays from the Party Girl!