How To Plan Your Works Christmas Party – a Guide!

Pitch the event to the relevant people in the business to understand if you have a budget for a Christmas Party this year for your team. Get a total figure or a per-head cost and start your research.

Are you looking for the cost to include a dinner, entertainment and drinks? Will you provide accommodation or transport?

Our Christmas parties start at £34.95pp up to £54.95pp.

Some tips to stretch your budget a little further:

• Choose a date or day of the week outside of peak dates - some venues host November & January parties.

• Book a package deal that includes food, drink and entertainment

• Add on an all-inclusive drinks package to save time figuring out rounds or drinks tokens.

How many people will be attending? Depending on the size of your team, you'll have a few different options to choose from! If you need a better idea of the numbers attending, we'd suggest sending out an email, a poll, or a Survey Monkey to get an idea of numbers and budget (if your employees are funding it themselves).

No matter what size of your team, we can accommodate your group.

• For groups of 1-7: we'd recommend joining one of our mixed party nights where you'll join a table with other guests.
• For groups of 8 - 80: we'd recommend one of our mixed party nights where you can have private tables and will have other guests in attendance.
• For groups of 80+: you can join a mixed party night with other guests or host your private party in one of our ballrooms or function suites with a private bar, dancefloor, and in some rooms a cloakroom and toilets!

This year, there are fewer weekends than normal in the run-up to Christmas, meaning fewer December weekend dates. Get an idea from your team if there is a mutual date that the majority of people are attending can make.

Dates available for our mixed parties:

• Friday 29th November
• Saturday 30th November
• Friday 6th December
• Saturday 7th December -SOLD OUT!
• Friday 13th December
• Saturday 14th December
• Friday 20th December
• Saturday 21st December

Planning a private party? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. about our remaining dates!

Working throughout the festive period? No problem! We are hosting a retail, keyworkers and 999 party in January.

With many restaurants, bars, hotels and sporting venues offering Christmas parties, it's important to check reviews before booking and to understand how long that venue has hosted Christmas parties. Why not arrange a visit to the venue and meet the events staff to get a feel of the team and experience?

A few questions to ask when considering a venue:

• Is this venue suitable for our group size?
• Do they offer what we are looking for?
• Is it convenient for colleagues to get to or if not, does it have accommodation?
• Is food and drink included?
• Is there any entertainment?
• Does this fit into our budget?

There's nothing better than sitting down to dinner with all your colleagues and catching up on the year and everyone's plans for the festive season! If you'd love to enjoy a sit down meal with your colleagues, many venues will offer this as part of their party package, in some cases you can enjoy a welcome drink or add on drinks packages.

You can view this year's sample menu here and find out more about our NEW All-inclusive drinks package here.

Not every team member will live close to your chosen venue, so accommodation may be needed for all or some colleagues. Check if there is accommodation nearby the venue or even better, if there is accommodation at the venue! You may be able to get a preferential rate as a party attendee. Find out more about our accommodation rates here.

With Christmas being a popular time of year, it's always recommended to book taxi's in advance, there are a number of local taxi firms that can be booked for Christmas parties at Old Thorns, including:

• Liphook Cars – 01428 723723
• Apple Cabs - 01428 722044
• A.J.L cars - 01420 478889
• Billy's Cars - 01730 777555
• Haslemere Alpha - 07908556622
• Mercedes Taxi - 07472326644

Double up and turn it into your end-of-year conference! At Old Thorns, we have multiple conference and meeting room facilities and can even turn around our ballroom to host a conference during the day and a party in the evening!

Your step by step guide to plan your Works Christmas Do!

Step One - How many people will be attending

Step Two - What's your budget per head?

Step Three - Research venues

Step Four - Chose venue and get some possible date options

Step Five - Confirm date with colleagues and get final numbers

Step Six - Organise Taxis or accommodation

Step Seven - Collect Menu choices and dietaries

Step Eight - Seating plan to the venue

Step Nine - Enjoy the night!

We've been hosting Christmas parties at Old Thorns for decades and love the fun of the festive season!

With elegant ballrooms, fantastic food and top-level service, a Christmas party at our Hampshire Hotel is a memorable event for all to enjoy.

Located in the Hampshire countryside, we are by the A3, easily accessible from Portsmouth and Guildford and have plenty of hotel rooms and apartments for guests to retire to at the end of the night.

Considering choosing Old Thorns for your Christmas Party? Our team would be happy to chat with you about our party packages and help to make this Christmas Party, the best one yet!