Celebrating with your team, colleagues, and/or clients is a great way to mark a special milestone in your career. It does not matter why you are hosting an annual dinner, but once you know the few basics on how to do it right it will be a dinner everyone remembers for months to come. That being said, planning an annual dinner can be stressful and time-consuming, every single step can make or break the entire flow of the evening. That is why we have put together an easy-to-follow guide that reminds you of the things to consider when organizing a company’s annual dinner.
Budget
The first and most pressing point you need to consider is your budget, once you have a budget you can easily start making decisions to put together the dinner. Rather than setting the budget at a later time, we urge you to set down a number right at the beginning, this way you can take a look at the options with a realistic approach. There are a few ways you can create an event budget. Firstly, you can let your finance department allocate a budget. Or you can set the budget based on the cost-per-head. The main expenses come from venue rental, food and beverages, entertainment, door prizes, and decoration.
Guest List
The second most pressing point you need to focus on is your guest list. It’s not just about knowing who you are going to invite. You need to know who is invited, and who has responded with a confirmation. This way you can manage a setup based on a realistic number of guests. It’s a good rule to keep a few extra guests in mind, so there are no surprises at the end.
Venue
Once you know the amount you have on hand, and a tentative number of people attending; you can move forward with a venue. Start by looking at places that have a good location, something that can easily be found, offers a comfortable setting, and is big enough to hold and seat your guests. Remember that this is a corporate event, so the setting should match the attendee’s expectations.
Theme & Decor
When it comes to setting the mood you need to keep two things in mind. How the event will flow, and how much are you willing to upscale the space? You can keep things basic and just set up something sophisticated and minimal, or if your budget allows you can go a little more elaborate with the theme decoration and prizes. However, since it will be a company dinner, it’s best to stay focused. Think of it as a fancy dinner party and build from there. However, while you are wrapped up in décor, do not forget to think about door prize ideas, and games and also to add a little music to set the mood and keep the attendees engaged. It does not have to be fancy or a dance part. Something that plays well in the background will be perfect. Check if the venue has built-in speakers or if you have to hire a DJ.
Once you have a basic plan in setting you can easily move towards things such as the meal itself, drinks, dress code, table plan, and so on. Taking on these steps one at a time can ensure a healthy buildup leading to the actual event.
