Holidy office parties

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-1999
Holidy office parties
3
Sat, 11-27-2004 - 10:00am

One of the big stress-inducers of the holidays is the office holiday party....grabbag gifts, pot luck, cash bar, will-the-boss-pay-or-not?, new outfits.......

Do you know yet what is happening with the office party where you work? If you don't work outside the home, think of playgroup parties or parties for organizations you belong to like church or some social group.

How much money will you be expected to spend or is it going to be all paid for?

Is your office party great or have you been disappointed? Does it depend on who is the boss or how well your company has done financially this year?

Is participating in the party in your budget this year? (Or do you never go?) Do you get together with your work frinds separately from work sponsored holiday parties?

If you have organized them before, what do you think is the hardest part to setting up the event?

Littlesbigs

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-06-2003
Sat, 11-27-2004 - 12:29pm

This will be my first Christmas party as I started working

Kassandra

"It is said that life has its peaks and valleys.  The challenge is to accept them equally and experience them

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2004
Sat, 11-27-2004 - 2:36pm

At the company where I work at full-time the are doing a potluck, to which I will bring a dish to share. They are also doing a big secret santa deal but I opted not to sign up for it - I felt kind of scrooging not signing up but at the same time I need to be realistic and I can't afford to participate in things like that right now.

At the company where I work part-time they have a huge fancy party at a ballroom that they rent out each year. Everyone has told me not to eat that day because the food they serve at this party is to die for. You get pretend casino chips when you arrive and you get to gamble with them and cash in your chips for prizes at the end of the night, they also do drawings throughout the night to give away prizes too. There is a bar to which you get drink tickets to when you arrive. I'm going to where a black velvet DKNY dress that I purchased last year for a trip to the opera so I won't have to spend any money on a new outfit and I'll make do with what shoes/purse/accesories I already own.

This is my first year at both of these companies so I don't really have anything to compare it to from last year (although last year I worked at a small office and the owners gave everyone a trip to Vegas for Christmas so it's going to be hard to top that!).

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 11-28-2004 - 8:16pm

I'm so proud of myself this year! The only thing we are responsible for at dh's office party is our own clothes. The past three years I have worn things out of my closet, and frankly not been really happy with the results--one year I had to have something I could nurse in, another year I made a dress but didn't get done in time, and another time I was pregnant (and unwilling to spring for a dress I would wear only once ever). I've always felt under-dressed.

Not this year! I started planning in August, and keeping my eyes open at yard sales. I bought a fabulous purple stretch velvet dress that is very flattering at a yard sale for $1 (the lady threw in a nice tailored shirt that I wear frequently). Thinking I would wear basic black shoes, imagine my surprise and delight when, the very next week, I found, at a yard sale, a pair of sueded strappy high-heeled sandals in a *matching shade of purple*!! Again, $1. Last weekend, I finally found a faux-pearl hair piece (.25), and I plan to borrow a string of fake pearls from a friend. My husband found three brand-new-in-packaging pairs of black tights in a dumpster and brought them home. Excluding underwear (which doesn't have to be purchased special), my entire fabulous Christmas party outfit cost $2.25.

Now, as for friends, I am blessed with many wonderful frugal friends, many of whom are as financially strapped as we (or more so). Our Solstice (Christmas) celebration will include a gift exchange, but we all bring items that we already have but no longer need, and do a sort of random exchange. This is fun and free. I wrap the presents in Sunday comics, which I save out of the paper every week.

So, the party scene is pretty low-stress for me this year. Hurray!

Heather