Christmas may only just feel like yesterday, however we are already booking Christmas parties for 2023! We want to ensure our clients secure venues that meet their brief. With this in mind, we thought it might be good to share some of the latest trends that we have observed both here at Story, and with our colleagues at Venue Search London.
Less Availability
Pre-covid the trend was that there were 9-12 popular dates for the corporate Christmas party season. However, we have seen that this number has now reduced to 6-8 popular dates. Thursday’s are now significantly more popular than Friday’s given a lot of corporate companies increased flexibility surrounding hybrid working. In addition, there has been a shift in demand towards the beginning of December, with the second week now being twice as popular as the third week of the month.
Work Hard Play Hard
With the rise in trend of hybrid working it is rare that a full company will all be in the office at the same time. Therefore, many clients are combining company updates with staff gatherings.
We have found that the format of these events tends to involve a conference or workshop in the afternoon before the main party takes place. These events also offer the option of an earlier finish making journeys home more manageable for many attendees and therefore makes attendance likely to be higher.
Summer over Winter
Following on from the pandemic it remains difficult to predict any long term impacts the pandemic has had on the seasonality of internal parties. What we have noticed since 2022 is that there has been a shift in popularity moving towards summer parties instead of Christmas parties. We have seen an increase in enquiries for corporate away days and off-sites. There is a lot more opportunity for team building activities when including vast outdoor space therefore summer parties are definitely on the rise! January is the perfect time to make the decision as to whether you would like to have a summer or Christmas party… or both!
Our Story Top Tips
Ask the audience!
To ensure you get as many guests as possible attend your event an internal survey to choose the best date is recommended. This is a great way to ensure early engagement!
Agree the right budget
It is no secret that venue and catering prices tend to increase year-on-year in line with inflation. Therefore it is important to consider your budget carefully and that it matches the objectives you are looking to achieve. You want to ensure your budget allows for key considerations including catering, entertainment and theming; which in turn when executed well will provide fantastic feedback. Having this budget detail will help your events team to plan more efficiently and manage spending.
Top Tip! Early bookings may also reduce the cost of the event, as prices continue to rise throughout 2023.
Get ahead of the game
If you have a specific brief for an event taking place on a Thursday in December – get in early! The best venues open their diaries a year in advance, so it is always worth booking in site visits and securing dates as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Story are here to help!
Our wonderful team are always on hand and willing to assist you through every step of your event planning journey! The team have extensive knowledge of the events industry and have great connections to ensure we give our clients the best of everything.
To find out more and speak with the team directly about your events for 2023 and beyond please give us a call on 0207 870 9303 or send us your enquiry.
