A company party is a perfect way to reward your team for continued great work and results and bolster your team’s morale. Similar to bonuses and other rewards, a company party will show your employees how much you value them and their contributions to the success of your business. You can host many types of events, from meals provided by top-quality chefs to parties complete with live music and dance floors. Not only that, but you can the place you choose to host your event will change the entire vibe too. Hosting a party outdoors can be perfect for the summertime, for example, and would be perfect for a barbeque in the summer sunshine. We’ve created this ultimate guide for your outdoor company party to help you with the complexities of planning such a grand event.
The Benefits Of Outdoors
Not only does an outdoor event open up more opportunities for both amenities and event types, but there are also a number of great benefits for your employees by hosting your event outside. When hosting an event indoors, it can get quite gloomy and oppressive, especially if there are many people in attendance. Whereas hosting your event outdoors has many benefits and can actually serve to boost the mood of your staff too. Sitting outside in the sun can increase vitamin D production in the body and lead to happier employees. It’s also proven to reduce stress levels when you’re surrounded by nature and out in the fresh air, and so, weather permitting, an outdoor event may be the best choice for you.
Find A Space
First, you need to look into finding a good space to host your event. Another benefit of hosting your party outdoors is that you tend to find that these spaces are larger and can hold more people without it feeling overly crowded. Finding a space is entirely dependent on the location of your office, as well as the travel capabilities of your team. Try to find somewhere as a good compromise for everybody so that the majority doesn’t have to travel too far to the event. You’ll also want to arrange for travel for those that do need to travel far so that people aren’t out of pocket and even consider nearby hotels that you can book for those that will require a room instead of travelling there are back on the same day.
Think About Accessibility
As well as travel distances, you’ll want to ensure that your venue is accessible for those with disabilities. Ramp access around the hired space is essential whether you know that people have any disabilities or not. Sometimes these ailments can be invisible, and while someone may not be using a wheelchair, a ramp can still be beneficial to those that may struggle with things like arthritis and other hidden physical ailments. As well as ramp access, it’s important to make sure that there are disabled toilets available for those that will need them. You should also make sure there are enough toilets available in general, especially if you’re hosting a lot of people. Remember, a single portacabin isn’t going to be sufficient for a party of 100 people.
Power Your Event
Don’t forget; your event is likely going to need power, especially if you’re going to be hosting a late afternoon or evening party outside. You’ll want to set up lighting within your event area and have the surrounding area sufficiently lit up to keep people safe when visiting the facilities or heading to and from their mode of transportation. You may also want to consider having electric heaters to take the chill off as the sun goes down. But remember, powering a space like this means that cables and power sockets will be required, and so it’s essential to consider safety as much as possible. Use a cable protector for any cables that need to be laid across anywhere that people will be walking. This will allow your guests to walk over the cables you lay around the area without them being a trip hazard.
Arrange Catering
When hosting an event, even if it’s not specifically a meal, you’re going to want to feed everyone. Whether you opt for casual barbeque food or a full three-course meal, you’ll want to arrange for your meal prep as early as possible to ensure that you’ll have a quality caterer for the day. If you leave this to the last minute, you might only be able to arrange for something sub-par, or you may struggle to hire a caterer at all. It’s essential to make sure you have enough food for everyone and consider how long the event will be so that you don’t leave people for too long without food at any point during the party.
Sort Out Seating
You’re also going to need plenty of seating to cater for everyone, and don’t forget to have this seating spaced out so that people don’t feel too closed in. Seating and tables that are all packed into an area are also a hazard, reducing access and making it harder for people to get out of the area in the event of an emergency. Most event spaces will provide seating and tables, but it’s important to double-check just in case you need to supply your own. You may also want to check that there are spaces for people to sit that aren’t at a table. Benches and comfortable seating in breakout spaces will help to give your employees the chance to mingle better and have a change of scenery.
Prepare For Bad Weather
Of course, there is always a risk of an unexpected downpour, and this is why it’s so important to make sure that you’re prepared for this to impact your event. Having a backup space to retreat to might be a good idea, so hiring a venue with both outdoor and indoor spaces for your guests to enjoy will reduce the impact that bad weather will have on your event. Alternatively, it may be worth arranging for a canopy or marquee to cover your seating area, so that rain won’t ruin the day, but everyone will still be able to sit outdoors. There are lots of benefits to hiring a marquee, and they can not only provide shelter from the elements, but they can also add a wonderfully relaxed and cosy vibe to the day.
Provide Entertainment
While your team may have a great time socialising with each other, a whole evening of people simply chatting and eating can get tiring and boring fairly quickly. Instead, you should try to break up your event with some fun activities or entertainment. Live music always goes over well with most people and can give them something to focus on instead of forcing conversation for too long. As well as entertainment like this, you could also provide your team with some fun party games. Games like croquet and mini-golf are a great choice, or you could get people to come out of their shells with some karaoke. Perhaps a casino night would be a good idea too. You could provide your employees with some chips for the night and reward those with the most chips by the end of the night with some great prizes. There are so many opportunities, so use your imagination to come up with something exciting for everyone to enjoy.
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