With an Autumnal chill in the air - it can only mean one thing. It's time to start planning your

Image credit: Fluid London

The Summer holidays are well and truly done and dusted and despite the weather being warmer than normal, there is certainly an Autumnal chill in the air. With the release of Santa’s Grotto and Ice Skating tickets, our focus too is turning towards Christmas.

Here at Cooks & Partners, the Team have actually been taking Christmas party bookings for the last month or so for our top London venues. We advise getting in quick if you already have a venue in mind to avoid disappointment.

With Christmas events, whether it be the company staff party or client breakfast luncheon, it’s important to get the styling right as well as the venue, food and drink.

If you are planning on booking an event venue through us for a Christmas party and are stuck for styling ideas, our Events Team are sure to have some suggestions. Over the years they have certainly seen their fair share of Christmas parties!

Below are a few Christmas party considerations:

Food

Cooks & Partners are experts at bespoke menu creations. Our chefs have years of experience and the key thing for Christmas is ensuring there is something for everyone. Have a good mixture of canapes, serving a variety of at least six dishes with a split of meat, fish and vegetarian options. It’s also a good idea to have half of them cold and the other half hot.

Sweet treats should also work along the same lines with something for everyone. Not everyone loves chocolate so have a mix of dishes keeps everyone happy. These might include mini sticky toffee puds, mini lemon tarts, chocolate minted truffles and mini raspberry cheesecakes.

Drinks

A well-stocked bar is always a must-have at any Christmas get together. Some of our venues offer drinks packages so what better way to kick off an evening with a Christmas cocktail. Mulled wine is the ultimate classic but most bartenders are happy to get creative and create something more bespoke.

Dressing the venue & your guests

It’s all about feeling festive and reds, greens, golds and silver are definitely a sure way of creating traditional Christmas glamour. Colours are an easy way to style an event, with colour schemes carried through subtly by décor choices. This can be in your choice of tableware or flowers. You can even ask your guests to dress accordingly. Chances are though, they will come dressed in one of the colours mentioned above anyway.

Other Tips

The best piece of advice the Cooks & Partners Team can give any Christmas Party Planner is to be organised. Start researching your venue early and for your first date choice and the best prices, book well in advance.

In terms of your guests, try and find out if any of them have any special dietary requirements when sending out the invitations. There are quite a few people these days who have nut allergies or who are gluten intolerant. It’s always nice to have been thought and this will help with menu design too.

For Christmas Party venue choices, take a look at our venues page or alternatively call the office on 020 7731 5282.