The holiday season is bustling with plenty of activities that need to be done, and can be very stressful. Many companies hold an office holiday party, which can be a fun way for employees to spend time with their coworkers when they're not busy working hard at their desk all day. Many offices ask one person to coordinate the entire event, and if that person is you - you're in luck! We have the tips that you need to organize and run the best office holiday party.

Office holiday parties can be very memorable, especially when there is alcohol involved! It can be an excellent way to meet the families of the people who work so hard for you, and is a way of showing appreciation for the year's work. Many holiday parties occur instead of a Christmas bonus, for companies that are too large to give everyone a bonus or are not able to afford a large sum of Christmas money.

Whether your party is a New Year's, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or winter-themed event, here is the essential guide that will help you learn how to throw an office holiday party.

Before you can make any arrangements, you will need to know that the location is of your party. Below are some advantages to holding the party in various locations:

At the office:

Holding your holiday party at your office is by far the cheapest and easiest option, however it may not be the best fit. Sometimes a great thing about company holiday parties is that you can spend time with coworkers outside of the work setting. In addition, your office may not be large enough to accommodate all of your employees and their families.

At an employee's home:

If someone has offered up their home, this is probably the best option provided the home can accommodate the entire guest list. Having the party at someone's home will free up extra money for gifts, entertainment, or additional food choices or more expensive food. This can be a really cozy homey way of celebrating the holidays with your coworkers.

Rent a party space:

Renting a party space is the most expensive option, but can lead to the most fun. Whether it is a convention hall, a hotel conference area, or a bar and restaurant, there are tons of options for renting out party space. Make sure that if this is the option that you go with, that you plan for this early and make a reservation so that the venue is available for your chosen date.

Regardless what you choose, make sure that your location is in a convenient place and doesn't not require a lot of driving and little parking accommodation.http://www.creativehomestyle.com/entertaining/office_party_ideas.html

In order to really start planning out the details of your office holiday party, you will need to know just how much you have available to spend. Knowing this can help you make a spreadsheet or list of all of the necessary components of the party and help you make crucial decisions. Some of the things you will need that will cost money are:

1. Decorations
2. Venue rental (if needed)
3. Food and beverage catering
4. Transportation (if needed)
5. Paid-time-off for employees
6. Gifts
7. Entertainment
8. Cleanup (you may not want to do this yourself, you may need to hire help)

Check with your boss or the person in charge of finances to see how much your spending limit is.

Choosing a date is sometimes one of the more difficult parts of planning a holiday party, because it can be hard to find a date and time that works well for everyone. You can't try to make everyone happy, you should just pick a time that works well for the company and schedule.

Try to plan as early as possible. This will give your employees enough time to plan for the party, which might be mean getting babysitters for their children or making sure not to schedule other holiday parties at the same time.

Spreading the word about your party is one of the more fun parts. You can tell everyone about the party in a number of ways. You can hang up signs in the office, design invitations to share with everyone, send out an email invite using a service such as Evite, or just rely on word-of-mouth. You should be sure to invite in many different ways in case email doesn't go through or others don't see the sign. You want everyone to know about the party!http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-team-building/3776675-1.html

Food and beverages are likely to be the most expensive portion of throwing your holiday party, and they are the most important. You need to make sure you have enough of the right foods so that everyone can enjoy while talking. Food makes for a memorable conversation piece. Catering is most likely the better option because you will be busy planning for the event and entertaining and unlikely to have the time to also be cooking for everyone. In addition, catering will give a wide variety of food for a large amount of people. You do not have to cater in beverages, as they can be cheaper bought separately.

Make sure to take the following into consideration:

1. Make sure to be conscientious of different eating lifestyles. Even though your coworkers may not be vegetarian, their families might be. Make sure to provide a variety of foods.
2. Always buy more food than you think you need. Nothing is worse than a party that runs out of food before it is finished.http://entertaining.about.com/cs/officeevents/a/officeparties_2.htm
3. Make sure if you are planning to serve alcohol that you make the holiday party a 21+ party so that you do not run into accidental mishaps. Also make sure that everyone has a ride and are not driving while intoxicated.
4. Provide plenty of non-alcoholic beverage choices for the people who are choosing to not partake in alcohol.