How to Plan an Unforgettable Holiday Party
The holiday season is here, and it’s time to start thinking about how to celebrate with your team! Whether you’re hosting a virtual or in-person holiday party, you can create a festive and memorable event for everyone. Here are some fantastic ideas to make your holiday party a success.
Virtual Holiday Party TIPS and Suggestions
Hosting a virtual holiday party can be just as fun and engaging as an in-person celebration. Here’s how to make it an unforgettable experience:
1. Plan Your Virtual Holiday Party Early
Planning your virtual holiday party early is essential to ensure a seamless and unforgettable celebration. The most desirable time slots and venues book up fast during the festive season, as companies everywhere race to secure the best options for their events. By organizing your party in advance, you’ll have more flexibility in choosing the perfect date, platform, and entertainment to fit your team’s needs. Early planning also allows ample time for creativity and customization, giving you the best chance to host a standout holiday experience that everyone will remember. Here are some Rockoly Holiday Specials to secure the best time slots and venues.
2. Get Everyone Involved
- Involve your team in the planning process. Ask for their ideas on food, games, music, and themes.
- By including everyone, you’ll ensure the party reflects your team’s preferences.
3. Make It Interactive
- Set up chat rooms for mingling or play games like trivia and charades.
- Consider hiring a virtual Santa or holiday character for a special appearance.
4. Festive Decorations
- Encourage participants to decorate their backgrounds with holiday-themed items.
- Hold a contest for the best-decorated space or the most festive holiday outfit.
5. Holiday Trivia
- Test everyone’s knowledge of holiday traditions, movies, and songs.
- Make it competitive with prizes for the most knowledgeable team members.
6. Create a Holiday Party Playlist
- Use a streaming service like Spotify that has collaborative lists. Team members can guess who contributed what to make a game out of it. Hold a contest for the worst choice, the cheesiest song, or even the one that missed the memo and didn’t fit the theme at all.
7. Virtual Photo Booth Fun
Remember the old days of photo booths? Squeals of laughter as way too many people tried to cram into a tiny booth after way too much Christmas punch. But it was worth the struggle, and it’s always great to look back at the zany photos stuck on the fridge and give a nostalgic smile.
But all is not lost – you will find capturing memories of your virtual holiday party much easier to manage via Teams or Zoom, but the result is just as fun. So, gather the team for a virtual call and play around with filters and backgrounds to suit the vibe.
Shutterfly has some fantastic printable photo booth props that participants can print at home if they want to put a more authentic spin on their photo booth experience.
Throw in some wild poses, funny faces, and holiday movie scene recreations to ramp it up and once you are done, choose the best screenshot of your group to send out as a virtual holiday card.
8. Holiday Party Secret Santa
Secret Santa is always fun. There is something about giving a gift that you know is perfect for the recipient, and you can’t wait to see the look on their face.
And who says it must be a secret Santa? It can be adapted to any holiday. How about a Secret Jack-o-Lantern? Or a Secret Uncle Sam on the 4th of July? Each team member draws a name and does a bit of digging to come up with the ideal gift.
It’s free to organize, so you can even consider donating a minimum spend to make it easier and even the playing field.
9. Holiday Movie Dubbing Party
Want to enjoy some improve and have a great laugh together? A movie dubbing virtual holiday party will deliver all of that. Pick out some holiday classics and some cheesy favorites. Then, assign a scene to each member and let them rewrite the dialogue and perform it over the scene. The results are hilarious and will result in some memorable faux pas.
What the Dub?! is a great platform to facilitate your fun and make it more streamlined. It even creates a score and assigns a winner. Teams can be broken up into groups of 6, but each team can also have 12 spectators, which guarantees great fun and laughter.
10. Virtual Cooking Workshop Holiday Party
Rockoly’s holiday cooking workshops offer a festive way for remote teams to gather. With ingredients delivered directly to each participant’s door, the workshops provide a convenient, enjoyable solution for remote team building. Each workshop is led by an expert chef, who guides participants in crafting holiday-inspired dishes. Menu options include and so much more:
Workshops are customizable, allowing teams to add festive touches like mulled wine or personalized aprons. These unique elements create an engaging and tailored experience for all.
11. Virtual Santa Escape Room
Your Mission: As part of the elite group of E.L.V.E.S. (Extraterrestrials Lifting Vexes for Extraterrestrial Santa) tasked with protecting Santa’s workshop, your job is to keep the presents safe and secure from threats from outer space. However, on Christmas Eve, an alien on the naughty list broke through your security, stole all of Santa’s presents, and scattered them across a dozen planets. Now your crew must adventure into a myriad of terrains, uncover secrets, and reclaim these presents to save Christmas!
In-Person Holiday Party Ideas
If you’re planning an in-person holiday party, here are some fun and festive activities to try:
1. Ornament-Making Craft
- Have everyone create their own ornament to decorate the office holiday tree.
- This activity is perfect for adding a personal touch to your workspace.
2. Gingerbread House Building Contest
- Divide into teams and see who can make the most creative gingerbread house.
- Provide prizes for categories like “Most Festive” or “Best Disaster.”
3. White Elephant Gift Exchange Holiday Party
- Set a Budget: Agree on a price limit for the gifts to ensure fairness.
- Bring a Wrapped Gift: Each participant brings a wrapped gift to the exchange.
- Draw Numbers: Everyone draws a number to determine the order of gift selection.
- Gift Selection: The first person picks a gift from the pile, unwraps it, and shows it to everyone.
- Stealing or Unwrapping: The next person can either “steal” an already unwrapped gift or choose a new, wrapped one to open.
- Limits on Stealing: Each gift can only be stolen a limited number of times (typically twice or three times), and a gift becomes “frozen” after it reaches this limit.
- End of the Game: The game continues until all gifts have been unwrapped and all steals have occurred. Often, the first person gets a chance to make the final trade, if desired, as a bonus.
These rules add excitement and make for a hilarious and interactive holiday game!
4. Secret Santa
- Assign each person a Secret Santa and exchange thoughtful gifts.
- It’s a fantastic way to bring coworkers together and spread holiday cheer.
5. Ugly Sweater Contest
- Have everyone wear their most hideous holiday sweater.
- Award prizes for the ugliest, most creative, or funniest sweaters.
6. Holiday Carol Karaoke
- Belt out classic holiday tunes in a fun and casual karaoke session.
- Encourage everyone to get involved, whether they sing solo or in groups.
7. Christmas Scavenger Hunt
- Organize a holiday-themed scavenger hunt with clues hidden around the office.
- Get people moving and working together to solve puzzles and find prizes.
Celebrate the Holidays with a Rockoly
Whether you choose to host a virtual or in-person holiday party, Rockoly is here to help you make the event a success. At Rockoly, we want to help you get in the holiday spirit and celebrate the end of the year with your team. With a little bit of planning and some creativity, you can make sure your party is one that everyone will remember. So get planning and have some fun! For more ideas Rockoly is always happy to help your team connect through Virtual Team Building Cooking Classes, Wine-Tastings or Virtual Happy Hours.
