Holiday party checklist: a planning timeline you can copy

The checklist at a glance

December dates tend to go early, so start as soon as the budget is approved. One EA in a planning thread put it plainly: "Book venues ASAP. December venues go quickly." From there, the work falls into six blocks.

Phase 1: decide and budget

Before anyone calls a venue, settle what the party is for and what it can cost. These decisions shape every later line, and changing them after a deposit is where money gets lost.

• Confirm the purpose and the audience: all staff, one team, headquarters only, or several offices.
• Agree a total budget and name the person who approves spending against it.
• Pick two or three candidate dates, and check them against the company calendar and any religious or cultural observances your team keeps.
• Decide the plus-one policy and write it down in one sentence.
• Choose the format at a high level: seated dinner, reception, activity night or a daytime party.
• Send a short survey to the team on format, date, dietary needs and accessibility.

How to make each of those decisions, from the format to the per-head budget, is covered in our guide on how to plan a company holiday party as the office manager. If you are still choosing a format, our guide to company holiday party ideas sets out the options.

Phase 2: book the venue and vendors

This is the phase with the most money in it. Book against the format you will actually run, read the contract before you sign, and keep every quote in one place.

• Shortlist venues against the right capacity. A standing reception and a seated dinner are different numbers in the same room.
• Ask who is cooking: the venue's own kitchen, a caterer the venue brings in, or an outside caterer you hire. Ask whether the venue allows outside caterers at all.
• Pick the dining model: seated dinner, food stations or passed bites. Each needs a different amount of space and staff.
• Ask whether the whole group can eat at the same time.
• Confirm what the quote includes: the bar, the service charge, tax and any food and beverage minimum. The minimum is a separate figure from the price per person, so ask whether the service charge and tax count toward it. Our glossary of service charges, tips and fees explains each line.
• If you want the venue to yourselves, ask directly and get the answer in the contract. A restaurant buyout means the restaurant closes to the public for your group, which is different from a private dining room.
• Read the deposit and cancellation schedule before you sign. The signature, not the deposit, is the point of commitment, so note each date when the cancellation charge steps up.
• Book entertainment, AV and a photographer if you want them.
• Collect a certificate of insurance from each vendor if the venue requires one.

Our guide to the venue deposit and cancellation schedule explains which contract terms to negotiate, and our list of questions to ask in a custom event quote helps you compare quotes line by line.

Phase 3: invite and collect what you need

The invitation is also your best chance to collect everything the venue will ask for later. Ask once, in one form, and you avoid a week of follow-up messages.

• Send a save-the-date as soon as the venue is signed.
• Send the invitation with the time, the address, the dress code, the plus-one rule and a note on getting home.
• Build one RSVP form that collects attendance, plus-ones, dietary needs, accessibility needs and how each person plans to get home.
• Set a reminder schedule and an RSVP deadline that falls before the venue's headcount deadline.
• Decide what remote staff or other offices get instead, and tell them when the invitation goes out.

Dietary needs deserve care because a mistake here is the one guests remember. Ask a Manager's Alison Green advises: "And if you're unsure about your staff's dietary needs, ask people ahead of time." For guests with severe allergies, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology says "safe alternatives—including outside, packaged food items or a simply prepared meal arranged prior to the event—should be made available". Our dietary and allergy workflow shows how to collect that information and pass it to the kitchen.

Phase 4: the final week (confirm everything)

The final week is about turning plans into confirmations in writing. Work through this list with the venue and every vendor.

• Send the final headcount by the guarantee date in your contract. You pay for that number even if fewer people come, so plan for some no-shows and confirm the count as close to the deadline as the contract allows. Ask whether the count can still go up after that date, and how late.
• Send the dietary list to the kitchen, with names or seat cards so each plate reaches the right person.
• Share the run-of-show with the venue and every vendor.
• Book a microphone and AV test for toasts or awards.
• Agree the bar plan: drink tickets or a time window, a soft close, and good non-alcoholic options.
• Confirm the ride-home plan. For a venue outside Manhattan, decide between a group shuttle and individual rides.
• Name the on-site lead, and the person with card authority for anything unexpected on the night.
• Arrange a weather backup if any part of the evening is outdoors; our severe weather plan for outdoor events shows how to make the call.

Our guide to holiday party alcohol safety for office managers covers the bar plan in detail, and our code of conduct and alcohol norms guide helps you set expectations before the night.

Phase 5: the night itself (day-of checklist)

On the day, your job is to keep the evening on time and catch small problems before guests notice them.

• Confirm arrival and load-in times with the venue and vendors.
• Set up name tags or a check-in list.
• Make sure dietary plates are labeled and the servers know who they are for.
• Post a short photo consent note if a photographer is working.
• Agree who gives the toast, and when.
• Agree who calls last call.
• Name who checks the room at the end, and where lost property goes.

A simple run-of-show keeps everyone working from the same plan. The times below are illustrative only; replace them with your own.

After the party: close out

A good close-out takes an hour and saves you most of next year's planning.

• Send a thank-you note to the team and to the venue staff.
• Match each final invoice against the quote and the signed event orders.
• Log what you actually spent, line by line.
• Send a three-question survey: what worked, what didn't, and what to try next year.
• Save this year's checklist, with your notes, as next year's starting point.

If several vendors took deposits, our event vendor deposit tracker helps you reconcile each one with its final payment.

When to hand the list to a local event designer

This checklist works well in-house for a format and headcount you know. It gets heavier when it's your first party in a new city, the group is larger than usual, the venue has complicated minimums, or entertainment and AV sit on top of your day job. One EA who brought in help for the night said: "This year we hired a day[-of] coordinator so I could actually enjoy the party and it was worth every penny :)"

A local Vantly event designer who knows the city can tailor the evening to your team and work through this list with you. Our intent is one vendor, one PO for the event, rather than a separate contract and deposit for every vendor. Our guide on how to brief a local event designer shows what to share, and you can meet local event planners in New York. You can also see sample events as examples of what a designer tailors.

Plan your holiday party with a local designer

Tell us your date, your group and the kind of evening you have in mind. A local event designer who knows the city can shape it with you and work through this checklist alongside you. Get a custom quote.

Frequently asked questions

What should be on a company holiday party checklist?

A good checklist covers five phases: decide and budget, book the venue and vendors, invite and collect information, confirm everything in the final week, and run the night and close it out. The three deadlines that matter most are the contract and deposit, the final headcount and the dietary list for the kitchen.

How far in advance should you start planning an office holiday party?

Start as soon as the budget is approved. December dates tend to go early, and the venue you want may be gone if you wait for every detail to be settled. Hold the date first; the theme, menu and entertainment can follow once the contract is signed.

When should holiday party invitations go out?

Send a save-the-date as soon as the venue is signed, then the full invitation with time, address, dress code, plus-one rule and a getting-home note. Set your RSVP deadline before the venue's headcount deadline so you have time to chase late replies.

When do you give the venue the final headcount?

By the guarantee date in your contract, which falls before the event. You pay for that number even if fewer people attend, so confirm the count as close to that date as the contract allows and plan for a few no-shows.

What should you confirm with the venue the week before?

Confirm the final headcount, the dietary list with names, the run-of-show, AV and microphone timing, the bar plan, load-in times, the on-site contact on both sides, and who can approve extra charges on the night. Get each answer in writing.

What goes in a holiday party run-of-show?

A run-of-show lists every moment of the evening with a time, what happens and who owns it: load-in, AV test, doors open, welcome and toast, food service or activity, last call, rides home and the final room check. Share it with the venue and every vendor.

Is there a free holiday party checklist template?

Yes. This page is the full checklist, in order, with a run-of-show template you can adapt. Copy it into your own document or spreadsheet, add your dates and owners, and save it as next year's starting point. There is no sign-up.

Related guides

• How to plan a company holiday party as the office manager
• Holiday party alcohol safety for office managers
• Event planning for executive assistants
• Planning a company party with Vantly
• All Vantly guides
• Should the holiday party include plus-ones?

Sources

• r/ExecutiveAssistants, "Event planning cheat sheet" (April 2025; quoted reply July 2026)
• r/ExecutiveAssistants, "Who plans and executes your company-wide holiday party?" (December 2023)
• Alison Green, Ask a Manager, "How companies can throw holiday parties people actually want to attend" (December 18, 2017)
• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, "Event planning and food allergy awareness" (undated)