Christmas party dates should be settled in October or early November, because December evenings are booked earlier than any other time of year and venues are gone before the group has decided. Propose four or five dates across early and mid December, collect answers in one place, and book once you have a real number. Who can when? does this free, with no account for anyone invited.
The calendar is the constraint, not the group
In most months, if a date does not work you find another. In December there is no other - the group has three or four possible evenings and every one of them is competing with someone else's party, a school play and a family thing.
This is why asking early beats asking well. A mediocre poll sent in October outperforms a perfect one sent on the first of December.
How to run it
- Ask six to eight weeks ahead. October is not too early.
- Offer early December as well as the classic mid-month slots. The first week is much less contested.
- Include a Thursday. It is the most winnable evening in December.
- Get the number before the deposit. Venues want a headcount and will happily take a wrong one.
- Collect dietary requirements in the comments at the same time - you will need them anyway.
For a team, not just a party
If it is a work Christmas party, the date decides who can come far more than the venue does. Ask about it separately from the plans, settle it, then send the calendar invitation immediately - December calendars are overwritten fast, and an agreement that is not in a diary will lose to one that is.
Common questions
- When should I send the poll?
- October for a group of more than ten, early November at the latest. Both are earlier than feels necessary and both are right.
- What if half the team can do one date and half another?
- Two smaller dinners beat one that half the team misses. The grid tells you when you are in that situation early enough to act on it.
- Can I send a calendar invitation once we decide?
- Yes, automatically, to everyone who left an email address.
Ready when you are
Friends, family and the weekend
The occasions where everyone is willing and nobody is free on the same evening.
Related
- Scheduling a team dinner Organising the team dinner? Propose a few evenings, send one link, and see who can make which. Free, no account, and the calendar invitation sends itself.
- Calendar poll Propose dates, let everyone mark them, and finish with a calendar invitation in everyone's diary. Free, no account, nothing to connect.
- Board meeting scheduling Non-executives, investors and a founder, none of whom share a calendar system. Propose the dates, collect the answers in one grid, and stop chasing.
Read next
- How to plan a team dinner Date first, venue second, and a few things that decide whether people come. A practical order of operations for whoever got handed the team dinner.
Or see everything we have written in one list.