How To Throw A Christmas Party?

Christmas time is a stressful period. If you’re somebody who roams December stress-free then something has gone wrong. For Organisers, Christmas has long since lost its magic, instead transforming into a period of overwhelming reliance by Contributors around you. 

Christmas parties, Secret Santa’s, Family gatherings. 

The responsibility will consistently land at your door to organise everything. You reluctantly agree every year because, without you, Christmas would fall flat on its face. Nothing would ever get completed. 

In the spirit of frustration, we have made a quick five-step framework to be referred to when Organising various things around the holiday period. Designed to break down the challenge of Organising and help you to relax this Christmas after all. 

And no, we aren’t all giant Scrooges. You turned us into this monstrosity by being completely and utterly useless. 

So in the spirit of easing the new Christmas tradition. Here’s our five-step framework for Organising things this holiday season!

1. Set an intention for the thing

What is the purpose for your thing even existing?

Will it be for Clients? For family? Or just to have fun with some friends?

Is it a house party? A dinner? Or just some drinks down the pub?

What tone do you wish to send? Fun? Corporate? 

As thing master, the parameters of your thing will be totally at your discretion. Be warned, without a direction you may as well be driving a Ferrari into a blizzard with the probability of survival a big fat slim to none.  

Having a defined vision for the thing will help everything else fall into place. And despite being grumbly at the prospective headache, the little clogs of your brain are now whirring with ideas and possibilities for what the thing might be.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” - Yoda

2. Set A Budget for the thing 

So you’ve set a clear intention for your thing and now clearly have shone a light upon the direction you’re headed towards. A Christmas thing to make everyone all warm and fuzzy.

Before you do anything, you must find out the budget and then break that budget down into smaller budgets for all of the things you may need to budget for. 

The purpose of budgeting is to maintain a balance between reality and ambition. There’s no point in blowing most of the money on caviar if you must hold the event in a shed as a result.

Here are some examples of the kind of things you must budget for… 

• Venue
• Food & Drink
• Decorations
• Entertainment
• Accommodation
  

3. Pick a date for the thing

Seems obvious. You must have a Date to work around. It seems irksome but solidifying early what you’re doing and when you’re doing it acts as a North Star for everyone else to get their sh*t together; coming to your thing. 

This step might seem insultingly obvious but please remember that it’s them that are the children and not you. 

You’re doing it for their benefit in the first place! Here are some ways you could administer this step... 

“Hello Deborah, I’m doing a thing on this specific date. It will be a Christmas thing because it is December and nobody else had the balls to organise it themselves. Hope you can be there”

"Mark, listen to me. On this date, I will host a Christmas thing. No, don’t bother asking me what it is yet, that’s for step two. You moron. Also, don’t bring Jackie, she gives poor gifts” 

Once you’ve set a date you can now go about finding a place for the thing.

4. Find a place for the thing

Find a place for your thing. Find a house, a restaurant or a pub.

A Bus, Boat or whatever other vessel that you and your companions could use to paint the town with glitter, metaphorically speaking...

This step is very crucial because without a place for the thing. The guests will be left with only a time for the thing. Therefore, upon arriving at the thing that they have a time for, they will be greeted by only eternal whiteness and the bleak cacophony of nothingness. Without so much as a branch of mistletoe in sight… 

Here are some things you could ask them to do this step. 

“I say, Deborah, I’m having a thing in a party bus if you would like to attend”

“Hullo Mark, You know that date that I have previously told you about for a thing that did not yet exist because it didn’t have a place; only a time? Yeah, well that now has a place. We’re doing it down the pub. It would be lovely if you could make it. But not Jackie, I would like to reinforce that she’s not welcome”

5. Execute the thing

May your pores meld and excrete endless amounts of oozy Christmas cheer. You have successfully pulled off Organising your Christmas thing and can now relax, enjoying your event safe in the knowledge that all bases have been covered. The organising has been executed perfectly. 

The real action for this step is just to show up and keep one eye on the thing to ensure that all goes to plan.

By this point, you’ve transcended into a spiritual shepherd of fun. 

Deborah, Mark and Jackie will at intervals come forth to congratulate you on pulling off a great thing. You will sleep soundly knowing that today the thing you planned was a thing that positively affected those around you!

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