Event type
Company Christmas party
In December the constraint isn't price. It's whether a crew is free at all.
Headcount rule of thumb
Seated dinner: one per 15-20 guests. Standing reception or buffet: one per 30-40 guests.
In short
For a company Christmas party, waiting headcount turns on service style: one per fifteen to twenty guests for a seated dinner, one per thirty to forty for a buffet or standing reception. December is unlike the rest of the year, though: the second and third weeks are every event organiser's peak at once, so booking time matters more than anything else. Book in October and you can choose; look for staff two days out in December and you take what is left. Budget for a cloakroom too, because in winter it is both the first and the last bottleneck.
Who you need, and why
- Waiting staff
- Dinner or standing reception. Headcount follows the service style.
- Bartender
- At a company party the bar is the busiest point after dinner.
- Cloakroom attendant
- In December everyone has a coat and scarf. One person means a queue.
- Welcome hostess
- Seating and table allocation, when teams or departments sit separately.
- Support staff
- Packing, washing up, replenishing. In the late hours this holds the event together.
What to decide, and when
October
Book, if you're planning the second or third week of December. That's the real deadline.
3 weeks ahead
Guest count, service style, venue and cloakroom settled.
1 week ahead
Running order and who speaks when, because courses are timed around it.
On site, 2 hours early
Laying up, cloakroom set up, sections split.
What usually goes wrong
- Looking for staff in early December for mid-month, when every good crew is already committed.
- The cloakroom runs with one person, and guests queue twenty minutes for a coat at the end.
- Speech timings aren't agreed with the kitchen, so the main course arrives during the toast.
- No closing hour is planned, and at midnight there is nobody to pack down.
The staff we usually supply for this
Where are you organising it?
Information tailored to the city, with local venues.
Company Christmas party
Give us the date and the guest count and you'll have a concrete headcount and price within one working day.
- A real quote within 24 hours
- Replacement guarantee for drop-outs
- No minimum order
- A dedicated coordinator on every booking
Frequently asked questions
When should I book December staff?
For the second and third weeks of December, in October. That isn't a sales tactic: every company party falls on those same dates and capacity is genuinely finite. For January or late November we can find a crew much later.
How many staff for a 150-person company dinner?
Eight to ten waiters for seated service, plus a team lead and one or two cloakroom attendants. For a standing reception, four to five waiters and a bartender can be enough.
Is there a discount for booking regularly?
Yes, against a monthly volume, and in peak periods priority is often worth more than the discount. The details are published on the pricing page.