It’s the most wonderful time of the year and it’s time to plan an office Christmas party! Whether you are a big company or a small business, this is the perfect time to celebrate the achievements within your company over the past year and boost company and personal morale. And, naturally, it’s a way to bring all of your work colleagues together and show them your appreciation in a festive style! So, here are some of our unique and unusual office Christmas party ideas to help you with your party planning, whatever your company size, culture or budget!
Unique & Unusual Office Christmas Party Ideas
1. Cocktail, Anyone?
Why not try your hand at cocktail making? This is a fun group activity that lets you enjoy your creations afterwards, what’s not to like?! You can either get out of the office and head down to a bar to get shaking, or get a professional to show you how to stir to perfection in your own private venue.
We have hundreds of mobile bar and mixologists who can come and teach you how to muddle, crush and shake your way to Christmas cocktail perfection. But don’t worry, there are also plenty of options for those who prefer virgin drinks as well, and it is a great way to bring your team together to teach them a new, fun skill.
2. Murder Mystery
Get suspicious! Which one of your colleagues killed Santa?! Could it have been Linda from HR, or Mark from Finance?! A murder mystery whodunit event can get your employees thinking creatively, dressing up and getting into a new role while working together to solve the murder!
This can be a cheap option if you want to plan and organise one yourself with online tools or a board game, or you can go to an event hosted by a lead detective who will guide you along in solving the mystery! Who will be named the best detective?!
3. Dashing Through The Snow…
Another office Christmas party idea is a basically the modern version of a sleigh ride, why not take your work staff on a bit of a tour around in a party bus. This can either be a precursor to the main event, by taking your colleagues to the party location, or it can be the main event and you can hire a bus for a few hours to drive around. Party busses are often fully equipped with a mobile disco, alcohol or refreshments and karaoke. This way the party can be brought to you – hassle-free and easy! Why not take a look at our party bus suppliers to find the right one for you?
4. Pottery Creations
Another unusual office Christmas party idea is to try your hand at pottery painting or moulding. Many local pottery shops offer classes for sculpting creations or decorating crockery.
With a mug of mulled wine or a good cup of hot chocolate, this activity can become a relaxed Christmas treat for your party. You even get to keep your creations for yourself – or, of course, you could gift them to your family or friends!
5. Ice Carving Classes
What a great ice-breaker! Get your creative brain on and take your staff to try their hand at ice sculpting. These sessions can usually be held for between 5-100 people and are a big change from the normal work team building or Christmas activity.
Not only will your colleagues be sculpting their creative ice masterpieces, but they will also be carving out stronger work relationships with their colleagues. If it all gets a bit messy, you can always use the sculptures as artistic ice cubes in a nice bailey’s afterwards!
6. The Great Escape
One of our beloved office Christmas party idea is an Escape Room. Over the last few years, Escape Rooms have become more and more popular. This is a great way to build teamwork and innovation in a fun situation. This activity is bound to get everyone scratching their Santa hats as they try to solve puzzles and riddles to escape. Oh, and there is the added pressure of being stuck in a room with your co-workers for an extended amount of time! Good luck!
7. Christmas Portrait Time
Caricatures are a great Christmas gift to your staff! Have you ever received such an original moment from a party? Your colleagues can get individual portraits or get them with their partners or work friends! This is a great way of remembering the party, but also a unique gift that you can give to your employees.
One of our very popular caricaturists is Pen Jones who has drawn top quality pieces to multitudes of people all over the country. Of course, he is just one of our many caricaturists that would be great for your event!
8. Keep it Hush Hush
All-time classic office Christmas party idea! Secret Santa is a simple, but effective way of getting your colleagues involved with Christmas fun. It can be the main highlight of your work Christmas party or as an add on to a larger celebration. Not only does it get all of your employees involved, it doesn’t have to be boring!
Give your secret gift-giving a theme: perhaps homemade gifts, the worst gift you can find for £10, or even have your colleagues go on a treasure hunt to find their presents!
9. Ugliest Jumper Competition
Love it or hate it, everyone wears an ugly Christmas jumper at some point during the festive season – so why not assign a day to see who has the most outrageous one? This is a good way of setting a dress code for a party or to allow your staff to have a themed ‘dress down day’.
If you want to go a step further, you could ask your colleagues to dress up as elves, Christmas trees or snowmen even! The best costume or ugliest jumper wins a prize!
10. Get Some Snaps in!
How often do you manage to get photos of your colleagues together? A photo booth is a low pressure, fun way of getting snapshots with your work friends! You can use a fun backdrop and props to take some funny photos and have a good laugh!
If you want to leave it to the photography experts, you can hire a photo booth from one of our supplier, who can provide a quality, personalised service for your office Christmas party! They come in digital and physical copies, and the photos can always go on a company Christmas card or be used as a calendar gift to last the whole year! If you have a tight budget, you can always get the props and take the photos yourselves.
11. Potluck Party
Having a potluck is a great way to save some money, bring everyone together and eat lots of tasty foods. It’s easy to organise and a simple way for everyone to come together and get to know each other a little better. To mix things up a bit, there can always be a theme.
For example, Christmas dishes, foods from everyone’s favourite country, childhood favourite foods… the options are endless! If you don’t fancy having a proper meal, you can do the same thing with drinks, cocktails or cakes and cookies perhaps?
12. Presenting…the Presents!
Why not have a present raffle this year? This little twist on Secret Santa is a little different. Instead of having everyone bringing in a gift for their chosen colleague, let the presents be raffled off at random! Even better is to make the gifts silly – get everyone to bring in a miscellaneous tin of food or the silliest mug they can find.
13. A Barrel of Laughs
If you want to get your employees ‘ho, ho, ho-ing’, hire a comedian! There are loads of different performers to choose from, but they are sure to get your colleagues giggling together. A comedian is a great mood-uplifter and the perfect solo party entertainment.
We have tons of great comedians on the Poptop website, one of whom is Drew Cameron, who has been on Britain’s Got Talent and has won awards for his comedy.
14. Pantomime Party
Oh no, you shouldn’t! Oh yes, you should! A night out to the panto is an enjoyable way of celebrating the holiday spirit that doesn’t take too much planning. Allow your employees to get involved and relive their childhood by taking them to the panto! This is a good option for all kinds of budgets and is a little bit more laid back than some of the other hands-on options.
If you don’t fancy the bright colours and sing songs from the theatre, you can always rent out a room in a local cinema to play your favourite holiday film!
15. Hark! The Christmas Carolers Come
So, you’ve gathered all of your colleagues together at the Christmas office party. The food and drinks are flowing… now you need some Christmas jingles! How about getting some carol singers or a guitarist to visit your office and sing some Christmas hits!
There is something to suit every event, whether you would prefer a classic choice of hymns from a supplier like Pop Up Gospel Choir to light up your party, or a Michael Buble impersonator to bash out all of his classics. For example, Anthony Myers “The Voice of Vegas” is one of our amazing impersonators who would be sure to rock up to your party with his Christmas Bublé hits!
16. Capture that Christmas Magic!
One of the best office Christmas idea, if you want to hold your colleagues’ attention – think about hiring a magician. Great entertainment can really change up your party and give a little something extra to the Christmas dinner you have organised. The best thing about magicians is that they don’t have to do huge tricks on stage, instead, you can find someone who will perform small table tricks or hypnotise your guests in smaller groups if that is what is preferred.
Check out Magio, one of our many mentalists and close up magicians. Magio has toured the globe and would be perfect to mingle with your employees and entertain them at your office Christmas party!
17. Get Quizzical!
This time of the year is all about bringing people together, so why not hold a Quiz? It can be Christmas themed, but can also celebrate the successes of individual employees or teams. Get everyone to bring in a baby photo of themselves and ask your colleagues to guess who is who, quiz your friends on their favourite holiday films or festive jingles. Quizzes are always easy to organise and a safe bet for everyone to get involved with – just make sure there is a fabulous festive prize for the winning team!
Still unsure about what sort of thing to go for?
Ask your employees! Set up a poll or a suggestion box. Many colleagues would love to have a say on the big event of the year, and of course, then you will get an accurate representation of how your workforce want to celebrate the festive season!
Or have a look at our website for some more inspiration for some suppliers for your office Christmas work party! We have a smorgasbord of entertainers, performers, caterers and lots more! If you would like to get in touch to discuss some supplier options in your area, please don’t hesitate!
Check out more office Christmas party ideas here:
Client Support Hero & Event Expert
Passions: Travelling, Plants, Halloween, Gigs, Disposable Cameras, Noodles, Indie Music, Books and Roller Skates.