Select
a date and time for the Halloween office party. Generally, the party should
be held just after closing time on a day near Halloween, but never on
October 31st itself. Opposed to a party that you might throw at your home, an
office party should not be to long in duration, one to two hours is a good
time frame. Remember, people are either tired from being at work all day, or
may be coming in on their day off.
Decide
where
the party will be held. If holding the party at your actual place of
business is not practical, consider renting a banquet room at a nearby
hotel or community center.
Prepare
a detailed budget and go over it with your manager. Before you can do this you need
to know how many people will be attending, and what the party will be
comprised of. Once a tentative date and time is decided on, do a survey of
fellow your employees to see how many think they will be able to attend.
Once your party plan is approved, you will need volunteers to
help out. This usually isn't a problem as most people love to be involved in
throwing a party. For a business with a lot of employees, you may want to
start a committee with different people responsible for the various elements
of the party, i.e. decorating, food & beverage and any entertainment. Just
remember to only recruit volunteers that you can depend upon.
Decorating
an office or place of business must be accomplished quickly and be able to
be removed just as quick. Pre-carved plastic or hard-foam pumpkins may be
more practical and save you time.
Orange and Black Balloons
and Streamers
Large "Happy Halloween" Banner
Halloween Print Tablecloth
Real or Pre-carved Jack O' Lanterns
Fog machine, black lights, strobe lights and other effects
Food & Beverage
- Since it will probably be held just after closing,
employees will probably be hungry, so real food should be served in addition
to sweet treats. One option is to order a giant sandwich with
all the trimmings from a local sandwich shop. You may need to rent a banquet
table for all of the treats. A spooky punch bowl filled with punch of some
type looks great, just make sure you have plenty of cups. Whether you serve alcoholic beverages is a
decision that the owner must make, but we don't recommend it as it can be a
recipe for disaster. If alcohol is served at the party, don't drink your
self because if you get drunk at an office party you organized, you will
regret it later!
Entertainment
should include a couple of Halloween style games that will add some fun to
the party. The
Halloween Games website has lots of games to choose from. Music
can be as simple as a CD player playing spooky music to hiring an actual band. If
there is going to be dancing you will need an area large enough to
accommodate those that are going to dance.
Most
Halloween office party's we have attended or held have been for employees
only. This is usually because of limited space, funds and because this is a
business event. Whether this is the case or employees can bring a spouse or
friend, if must be decided in advance and everyone must know.
Once
all of the important details about the party have been decided, let your
fellow employees know what they need to know about the party, such as the
time and date, whether costumes are required or optional. If Halloween
costumes are optional, have a selection of inexpensive party eye-masks, like
those to the right, available.
The best way to do this is by typing up a one
sheet flyer to act as an invitation, making enough copies for every employee
and a few extra to hang on the bulletin board, walls, next to the time
clock, etc. This should include all pertinent information.
Date and Time of the party.
Name and address of
where it will take place.
Who's invited? Is it just staff or clients and partners too?
Whether costumes
are required or allowed.
RSVP: Date you need to know by if they are coming.
Now is the time to start planning your Halloween office party. Below are
some of the most important steps to take in your planning.
