Office parties can sometimes be a little overwhelming to prepare especially when there are expectations to meet. Let’s be honest, office parties have the credibility of being awkward, boring and uncomfortable. So when the job of planning for a last-minute office party happens to land on your lap, you being the brave soul to have taken on the responsibility of making sure that this office party will be more interactive, lively and ultimately fabulous under your watch. It is your primary objective to be able to unleash the party side of your colleagues by encouraging them to set aside work for a moment, to start mingling with other co-workers, make friends and eventually have fun.

The task of bringing this off to actuality requires a lot of planning that includes great activities, awesome decors, upbeat modern music, and amazingly great foods while staying on a budget. To meet all your objectives, you can easily plan the party by having an office party planning checklists on what you need to accomplish. Office party planning checklists are a great tool for last-minute office party planning to assure that all actions have been taken. It is also useful when the party calls for unforeseen last-minute changes or when an unfortunate event occurs that you are unable to supervise. Your replacement can easily grasp what to do by following through the catering and party planning checklists and can readily identify what has already been done and what still needs to work on to have a smooth and enjoyable party to take place.

So now that you touched base with what you need to do, here are the office party catering checklists to guide you on your last-minute office party.

Office parties do not only involve employees. Company management may invite other important business partners, clients, and resource persons. Keep in mind that different people have different preferences especially in food. Some may eat less while others are big eaters. It is important to have a survey on what to serve before ordering. If it is an office Christmas party or a company’s family day event wherein families are the main guests, be mindful that children are small eaters compared to adults while teenagers have wide appetites so you need to have a variety of food served. Put also in consideration if there are men and women guests at the party you’re holding as men eat more than women. Some company parties might include senior citizen as employees wherein a special dietary requirement comes to play for healthier food choices. The key to determining what food needs to be catered generally is to make a quick survey to your colleagues to know the majority of what food they prefer.

The kind of occasion will be a determinant on how much budget does the company needs to allocate for a specific event. If the party is only for a smaller group like a routine birthday party that needs only birthday cake and a small personalized gift to be given in behalf of the company, then it only involves a small budget but if it is for a larger event like company’s Christmas party or company’s year-end party, then a much larger budget is needed to put up the decors, cater for the food and set up fun activities including buying gifts as prizes for the games.

Secure a clear schedule on when the party is going to be held and will it be an afternoon lunch or a dinner set up? Knowing what date and time will help in easing out your catering plans. Once the date and time are determined, then you can send out the official invitations which will be the basis of how many guests are expected. This way you can identify which catering service you will hire that has the expertise to accommodate the number of people in attendance and can set up food at the right time.

For a last-minute office party planning, it is not easy to find a reliable caterer. However, to keep everything in control you can order from a reputable catering service that has a proven good track record on providing superb quality food in corporate parties. If this is your first time to order from a food catering service, you can call them and ask for their list of menus that you can browse in accordance to your occasion and budget and discuss with them with clarity the date and time the party is going to be held. For cold food platters, delivery should be 1 hour before the event and 15 minutes for the hot food. Also, consider the following in making an order:

·       For a starter, a light finger food catering
·       What you will serve for a main meal like pies, rice paper rolls, and quiches
·       Food platters like sandwich platters
·       Menu for special dietary options
·       Morning or afternoon tea and sweet treats like cakes and desserts
·       Beverages like spring water, juice, iced tea, and soft drinks

Few days before the party, send emails to remind everybody of the upcoming party. Check out also if everything is in its right places for the party. See to it that preparations are set for the music, games, and entertainment. On the big day itself, it will be a busy moment for you as you attend to little details to polish to ensure that the party will run as smoothly as possible. You can delegate some tasks to your co-workers if it will no longer be possible for you to attend to some responsibilities.