With the festive season just around the corner, you might be gearing up for some corporate party planning. Preparing for these events can be daunting. After all, you might be splashing a lot of cash on the celebrations and it’s important that your guests have a great time. Also, if they’re done well, these parties give your company a chance to shine and they can even enhance your brand image. To help you perfect your planning skills, here’s a brief guide to getting ready for corporate soirees.

Start organising ASAP

The key to success is to begin your preparations as soon as possible. The earlier you start organising, the less stressful the process will be. You’ll also stand a better chance of bagging the best venues and entertainers if you give yourself plenty of time. One of your first tasks will be to set a date for your event, and as soon as you’ve done this, let people know so they can make sure they’re available. This could be especially important if your party is to take place during a busy period like Christmas. The last thing you want is to go to the effort and expense of arranging a celebration only to discover many of your guests can’t make it.

Give your event star quality by arranging a headline act

A decent sound system and a well-chosen playlist can suffice, but if you want your event to have that all-important wow factor, it’s worth going a step further and arranging a headline act. This will help to give your party a buzz and ensure that your guests have a night to remember. A singer or band is a classic choice, while if you want something a little more unusual, perhaps a comedian, cabaret act or illusionist would be ideal. Don’t worry if you lack experience when it comes to selecting suitable entertainers. You can specify your requirements to talent booking specialists like NMP Live and these experts will suggest appropriate acts.

Make sure your venue is spot on

It’s vital that you choose the right venue for the occasion too. As well as falling within your budget, your venue must be easily accessible to your guests and it should be the right size. Bear in mind that bigger isn’t always better when you’re arranging events like this. If you book a space that’s too large, you might struggle to achieve the atmosphere you’re looking for. To really impress your guests, it’s worth going to the effort of decorating your venue. You’ll need to think about catering too. Will this be included as part of your package or will you need to arrange for outside caterers to provide food and drink?

Get your timings right

Another top tip is to make a detailed schedule of your party from start to finish. This will help you to ensure that there aren’t any flat points where nothing much is going on. There should always be something happening during the celebration, whether it’s speeches, the serving of food, entertainers taking to the stage or simply music being played in the background.

Following these suggestions should take some of the stress out of your corporate party planning and ensure your night is a big success.