Company Christmas party ideas: A group of coworkers hold champagne glasses at an office holiday party

The year is flying by. Before you know it, it’s December and the company Christmas party is just around the corner. Forget last-minute event-planning panic and lackluster party games — make this the year your work celebration leaves a lasting impression. When it’s time to start planning your company’s holiday get-together, here are our best company Christmas party ideas to help you make it an unmissable event.

Fun Company Christmas Party Themes

Company Christmas party ideas: An invitation for a winter wonderland ball

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Company Christmas parties can often feel like an afterthought, but it’s easy to transform them into the celebration of the year. Banish the boring with these fun holiday party themes, or mix a few of them together for the ultimate festive get-together.

Colorful Christmas

Say goodbye to the traditional reds and greens, and embrace a brighter, more colorful company Christmas party this year. Decorate the office with all the colors of the rainbow, and get your team involved in the fun.

A bold, colorful workplace makes for the perfect backdrop to a fun, lively office party. You could even go further down the rainbow theme and opt for brightly colored desserts, or create your own bold company cocktails (or mocktails). Complement the theme with fun party games like karaoke, and you have an impressive and unusual party that people won’t want to miss.

Holiday Movie Party

Create a Christmas party that has a real sense of atmosphere with a festive movie-themed celebration. Make your own movie theater, set up a projector, and keep the Christmas movies rolling on a big screen while everyone mingles. Make sure there’s plenty of popcorn and cozy lighting too.

This is a party theme that you can really run wild with. Deck out your office so it looks like a scene from Home Alone or A Christmas Story, or see if everyone will dress up in outfits inspired by their favorite festive movies. You could even theme the food, drinks, and activities around your chosen movies.

Winter Wonderland

While we’re past the days of visiting Santa’s Grotto, it doesn’t mean you can’t recreate the experience one last time. Get creative and transform your workplace into the perfect Winter Wonderland for a memorable Christmas party.

Embrace the whimsical and decorate your space with fake snow, Christmas trees, cheerful snowmen, and mountains of presents. Create your own Grotto space and restyle it as a photo booth, drinks station, or gaming corner. This is a really fun party theme that you can get everyone involved in, and it’s sure to make your guests smile when they walk in.

Festive Food and Drink Ideas

Company Christmas party ideas: An invitation to a cookie decorating party

Design: Becky Nimoy Stationery

Some of the best parties are all about the delicious food and drink. Get ready to take your party food from bland to brilliant with these festive dining ideas.

Potluck Buffet

What better way to bring people together than with great food? A potluck buffet is an ideal way to cater a company Christmas party because it means you can create a table full of food everyone can enjoy, without ordering from multiple places. It’s also a great way for foodies to share their latest creations and for star bakers to bring along their famous chocolate cookies for everyone to sample.

Festive Bake-Off

Speaking of cookies, a festive bake-off can create the perfect mix of Christmas cheer and competitive spirit. Set some ground rules for your company bake-off and either hand out a standard recipe to see who can recreate it the best or ask everyone to get creative with their own recipe. Ask your employees to bring their baked goods to the company Christmas party where they can be judged and enjoyed.

Hot Chocolate Stand

Embrace the warmth and festive cheer with your own DIY hot chocolate stand. Have flasks of warm cocoa ready for people to help themselves, with a selection of tasty toppings close by. Fill the stand with cream, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and plenty of syrups. Add reusable company-branded coffee cups to the stand and turn this into an experience and a gift all in one.

Cocktail (or Mocktail) Station

If you’re looking for a fun alternative to a standard drinks station, how about a DIY cocktail (or mocktail) station? Lay out plenty of mixers, juices, and spirits if you want to include alcohol. Print out recipes to inspire your guests or let them go wild and see what works together. Turn this into a fun party game by judging the best cocktail (or mocktail) of the night and making this your company’s signature drink for the year ahead.

Sweets Table

Complete your festive party with a decadent sweets table. Serve up a mix of cupcakes, cookies, gingerbread men, and mini cheesecakes that your guests can help themselves to. Share plenty of toppings, like fresh fruit, chocolate sauce, and cinnamon sugar, so everyone can put together their own sweet creations. You could even buy some gingerbread house kits and encourage people to build their own in teams.

Unmissable Company Christmas Party Activities

Company Christmas party ideas: An invitation to a musical party

Design: Morgan Kendall

The right activities and experiences can really make a company holiday party pop. Create a party that people will remember for years to come with these unmissable party games and activities.

DIY Photo Booth

Give your company party guests something to talk about with a DIY photo booth. Find the perfect space, then add a dazzling backdrop or stage a festive scene complete with a tree. Add in plenty of props, like Santa hats and Rudolph’s nose, and you have a fun and festive photo booth. If you have a camera and a self-timer, get those set up for everyone to use. If not, encourage people to ask someone to snap a photo of them in front of the festive backdrop.

Festive Awards

Christmas parties are the perfect time of year to introduce some humorous company awards. Send out categories ahead of time and ask people to send in their nominations or votes. Gather everyone together at the party and announce the winners of awards like best Christmas sweater or funniest festive joke. Add in some inexpensive trophies or prizes for the winners, and have a mini awards ceremony.

Christmas Trivia Quiz

Who doesn’t love a trivia quiz? Company Christmas parties are the perfect opportunity to test your knowledge against your colleagues and see who comes out on top. Create your own quiz based on what you know about all things festive, or borrow a few from a ready-made Christmas trivia list. Use this as a fun activity for people to enjoy, or make it a team-based effort with attractive prizes like gift cards or an extra vacation day.

Party Games

Liven up the party atmosphere at your festive bash with plenty of Christmas party games. Play the classics like Never Have I Ever or Charades and put a Christmas twist on them with themed rounds. If your company is full of video game fans, bring in a few consoles and set up a mini-tournament. Board games are also great and give people an opportunity to relax and unwind.

Karaoke

Set the stage and invite your colleagues to join you in a festive karaoke battle. Encourage everyone to get involved and soak up the holiday cheer, whether it’s to sing or to cheer on their brave colleagues. Borrow a few props from the photo booth, and you have a lively karaoke event your guests will love. If setting this up in the office sounds tricky, see if you have a karaoke bar nearby that can host your group.

Scavenger Hunt

If you’re looking for a party idea that’ll take you out of the workplace, a festive scavenger hunt could be ideal. Plan a route across your local area and write clues to guide people on their way from point to point. Make this festive by challenging team members to wear their most jolly attire, or leave candy canes out along the route. If you have business neighbors nearby, this can be a great way to encourage team-building with different companies.

Festive Gifting Ideas

Company Christmas party ideas: An invitation to a white elephant party

Design: Nicole Winn

Christmas is a time for giving, which is why so many companies include gifting as part of their annual office holiday party. Take inspiration from these ideas and put gifting firmly at the heart of your celebrations.

Gift Exchange

Foster some of that famous holiday spirit by hosting a gift exchange at your company Christmas party. Invite the weird and wonderful with a white elephant gift exchange, or encourage people to get creative with a budget-friendly Secret Santa. If you have a lot of remote workers, try a remote gift exchange instead. Set a gift card limit and encourage people to shop and send online.

Charity Donations

Community spirit thrives over the holiday season, so it’s the ideal time of year to give back to the people and causes around us. Encourage your company to send a festive donation or goodwill hampers to a local charity or cause that’s close to your hearts. Make it a shared experience by setting up a volunteering day, or use your corporate holiday party to raise funds through fun activities.

Company Christmas Party Invitations Inspiration

Get your colleagues excited about your company Christmas party early with a fun, memorable invite. To help you find the perfect design, here are a handful of our favorites.

What’s great about these designs is that you can personalize the wording, color scheme, and other elements to match your party theme. Want to customize your design even further? Raise a smile with a Christmas party invitation branded in your custom company colors.

Elfin’ Good Time Party Invitation

Company Christmas party ideas: A humorous elf invitation

Design: Stacey Day

Let your colleagues know you’re embracing the fun this year with this witty Christmas party invitation. With its cute elf design and mix of traditional colors and modern typefaces, it’ll be a hit with everyone.

Snowy Fa La La Party Invitation

Company Christmas party ideas: A Fa La La invitation

Design: Jen Montgomery

Make a real impact with this bold, modern festive party invitation. With a striking design on the front, there’s plenty of space on the back for your celebration details. This is great if you’re planning a gift exchange or want to share an early clue about any surprises.

Holiday Cookie Swap Party Invitation

Company Christmas party ideas: A holiday cookie swap invitation

Design: Paper Raven Co.

This fun holiday cookie swap invitation is a great option if you’re hosting a stand-alone bake-off or if baking is the main focus of your Christmas party. There’s also a matching thank you note, which could be the perfect way to thank people for their hard work and celebrate the winner.

Create a Memorable Company Christmas Party

We hope this guide has given you plenty of inspiration to help you plan the perfect company Christmas get-together. Take time to find the ideal party theme, send out customized digital invitations, and start organizing those all-important games, food, and drink. Before you know it, the planning will be behind you, and you can hit the dance floor or sing your heart out to a Christmas classic.