Year-end company party checklist: 8 weeks to the night

A week-by-week checklist for HR and party committees planning a year-end dinner: budget, venue and AV, theme, programme, prizes, rehearsal, the day itself and after.

Most year-end dinners are planned by a committee that also has a day job. The work is not hard, but there is a lot of it, and most of it has a deadline that sneaks up. This checklist breaks it into weeks so nothing lands on the last Friday. It is the "who does what, when" companion to our year-end party ideas, which covers themes, the running order and the moments people remember.

Before you start: the committee

Give each committee member one area they own from start to finish. Shared jobs are the ones that get forgotten.

Venue and food: contract, menu, dietary needs, seating plan.
Programme: running order, emcee, performances, speeches.
Games and prizes: lucky draw, voting, quiz, prize collection.
Communication: save-the-date, invitation, reminders, photos afterwards.
AV and screens: projector or LED wall, laptop, sound, internet.

One person chairs and holds the budget. Meet for 20 minutes once a week; it is enough.

8 weeks before

Get the budget approved, and find out how purchases work: do you need quotations, a purchase order, or approval for every prize?
Set the date. Check it against public holidays in every country your staff come from, school holidays, the financial year end and other big company dates.
Decide the guest list: staff only, or partners too? Contractors and interns?
Shortlist three venues and ask each the same questions: capacity for round tables, screen or LED wall size, projector brightness, HDMI at the stage, sound system, microphones, internet for a laptop, and when you can get in for setup.

6 weeks before

Book the venue and pay the deposit.
Book the emcee, and any band, DJ or photographer.
Pick a theme people can dress for without buying a costume. Decide whether there will be a Best Dressed award, and the categories; see Best Dressed categories.
Send a save-the-date with the date, venue and theme, so people can plan outfits and childcare.

5 weeks before

Draft the programme: arrival, speeches, dinner, performances, games, awards, lucky draw. Our annual dinner games explains which games work at round tables.
Decide which parts run on the big screen, and who runs each one on the night.
Start the prize list as a ladder, from many small prizes to one grand prize. Ask directors or departments to sponsor some.
Ask departments for performances early; rehearsal time is what they need most.

4 weeks before

Send the invitation. Collect attendance, dietary needs, allergies and table preferences in one form.
Get the staff list from HR for the lucky draw and voting, with a staff ID or department to tell same names apart.
Set up the event: the lucky draw with its prizes, Best Dressed voting with its categories, the quiz questions, and a photo wall.
Order prizes that need delivery time, and trophies or certificates for awards.

3 weeks before

Chase people who have not replied. Send one reminder, not five.
Write the quiz questions, or pick them from our office party quiz questions.
Agree the lucky draw rules: who is in, one prize per person, absent winners. See how to run a fair raffle.

2 weeks before

Confirm the final headcount with the venue.
Finish the seating plan, and mix departments at some tables.
Rehearse every game and the lucky draw on the laptop you will use at the venue, with the committee playing on their phones.
Brief the emcee with the running order, the names that are hard to pronounce, and the draw rules.
Write the speeches' time limits into the running order, and tell the speakers.

1 week before

Print table cards with the QR code guests scan to join. One code works for every activity in the event.
Visit the venue for a tech check: plug the laptop into the projector, check the picture fills the screen, test the sound and the internet.
Pack the kit: laptop and charger, HDMI and USB-C adapters, a phone for hotspot, a printed running order, spare batteries for microphones.
Arrange the prize desk: who sits there, with which list.

The day before

Wrap and label prizes in drawing order.
Charge every phone and laptop you will use.
Send guests a short reminder: time, place, dress code, parking.

On the day

Arrive two hours early for the AV check.
Open the big screen and the controller on your phone, and check both are connected.
Put the photo and greetings wall on the screen as guests arrive.
Keep one committee member at the side of the stage for prizes and photos, and one at the prize desk.
Keep to the running order. If something runs long, cut a game, never the lucky draw.

After the night

Export the lucky draw winners for prize collection, and the event report for management.
Send a thank-you message with the best photos within two days.
Collect feedback with a two-question form while the night is fresh.
Write one page of notes for next year's committee: what worked, what did not, what it cost.

Try it free

Every game in this checklist runs in one Yaypick event, and you can try it free with up to 20 people, enough for the committee rehearsal. When you are ready, choose a plan for your real guest count on the pricing page.