[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":204},["ShallowReactive",2],{"marketing-blog-blog\u002Fplanning-the-christmas-party-front-door-in-september":3,"marketing-blog-related-blog\u002Fplanning-the-christmas-party-front-door-in-september":185},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":163,"date":164,"description":165,"draft":166,"extension":167,"image":168,"imageAlt":169,"imageCredit":170,"imageCreditUrl":171,"meta":172,"navigation":173,"path":174,"readTime":175,"seo":176,"stem":177,"tags":178,"__hash__":184},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fplanning-the-christmas-party-front-door-in-september.md","Planning the Christmas party front door in September","The CheckInHub team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":152},"minimark",[10,14,17,20,25,28,37,40,44,47,55,59,62,70,73,77,80,88,92,95,103,107,114,118,140,143],[11,12,13],"p",{},"By the end of September most work Christmas parties have a venue and a date. December Fridays go first, and anyone who has tried to book a room for the second week of December in October knows how little is left.",[11,15,16],{},"What rarely gets planned this early is the front door. It tends to arrive in the last week as a printed list, a pen and whoever volunteered. That is a shame, because a Christmas party has a door problem all of its own: a guest list that changes daily, partners nobody has named, everyone arriving at once straight from the office, and a late finish where somebody should know who has gone home.",[11,18,19],{},"Here is what is worth settling now, while there is still time to do it properly.",[21,22,24],"h2",{"id":23},"treat-the-rsvp-as-a-first-draft","Treat the RSVP as a first draft",[11,26,27],{},"Christmas party replies are softer than almost any other event. Cartridge People's 2025 office Christmas party survey found only half of UK workers planned to go if invited, with 35% planning to skip it. The people who say yes in October are not all the people who arrive in December, and some who said no will change their minds once the date is near.",[11,29,30,31,36],{},"So build the list to change. Open replies early, then ask everyone to confirm a week or so before the night. Anyone who does not confirm is a place you can release, and a short waitlist means that place goes to someone who wants it rather than an empty chair at a paid-for table. We went through how to run one in ",[32,33,35],"a",{"href":34},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcancellations-and-a-waitlist-that-works","cancellations and a waitlist that works",".",[11,38,39],{},"The number that matters to the venue is the final one, so agree with them now when the catering count has to be locked, and plan your confirmation email for a few days before that.",[21,41,43],{"id":42},"name-the-plus-ones","Name the plus-ones",[11,45,46],{},"\"Plus one\" is not a guest. If partners are invited, ask for their names at registration, not on the night. It saves the conversation at the desk where a colleague spells a name while the queue waits behind them, and it means the list at the door is the list of people actually in the building.",[11,48,49,50,54],{},"Let a couple or a small group check in together, so one scan brings in the pair rather than two separate searches. ",[32,51,53],{"href":52},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgroup-and-household-check-in-handled","Group and household check-in, handled"," covers how to set that up.",[21,56,58],{"id":57},"plan-for-everyone-arriving-at-once","Plan for everyone arriving at once",[11,60,61],{},"Most office parties have one arrival window, and it is short. The office closes, everyone walks round together, and two hundred people reach the door inside twenty minutes, most of them in wet coats.",[11,63,64,65,69],{},"Two things help. First, staff the door for that peak, not for the evening as a whole. A second lane for those twenty minutes is worth more than two people standing about at nine o'clock. ",[32,66,68],{"href":67},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhandling-the-door-rush-when-everyone-arrives-at-once","When everyone arrives at once"," goes into the detail.",[11,71,72],{},"Second, keep the cloakroom away from the check-in desk. If coats are taken at the same point names are checked, the slower of the two sets the pace for both. Check people in first, then send them on to the cloakroom a few metres further in.",[21,74,76],{"id":75},"keep-someone-on-the-door-after-the-rush","Keep someone on the door after the rush",[11,78,79],{},"A Christmas party has a long tail. People come on from another meeting, from the school run, or from a later train. If the door is abandoned at half past seven, the late ones wander in unannounced and the headcount stops meaning anything.",[11,81,82,83,87],{},"One person, or a self check-in point with a tablet on a stand, is enough for the rest of the evening. ",[32,84,86],{"href":85},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdesigning-for-guests-who-arrive-late","Designing for guests who arrive late"," has a few ways to make the late arrival feel expected rather than awkward.",[21,89,91],{"id":90},"know-who-has-left","Know who has left",[11,93,94],{},"This is the part most office parties skip, and the one that matters most at the end of the night. If a guest leaves early, feels unwell, or goes on somewhere else, someone should be able to see that they have gone, rather than finding out on Monday.",[11,96,97,98,102],{},"Counting people out as well as in gives you a Departed list, with times. It helps with taxis, with the last few people when the venue wants the room back, and with a straightforward duty of care. ",[32,99,101],{"href":100},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcounting-people-out-not-just-in","Counting people out, not just in"," explains how to do it without slowing the exit.",[21,104,106],{"id":105},"send-it-from-you","Send it from you",[11,108,109,110,36],{},"The invitation, the reminder and the pass should come from your organisation, not from a shared noreply address that ends up in the spam folder alongside the festive offers. A pass that arrives from a name people recognise is a pass they can find on the night. There is more on that in ",[32,111,113],{"href":112},"\u002Fblog\u002Femails-that-come-from-you-not-a-shared-noreply","emails that come from you, not a shared noreply",[21,115,117],{"id":116},"a-short-list-for-this-week","A short list for this week",[119,120,121,125,128,131,134,137],"ul",{},[122,123,124],"li",{},"Agree the final catering count date with the venue.",[122,126,127],{},"Decide whether partners are invited, and collect their names if so.",[122,129,130],{},"Plan a confirmation email a few days before the count is due.",[122,132,133],{},"Mark the arrival window and staff the door for it.",[122,135,136],{},"Put the cloakroom after check-in, not beside it.",[122,138,139],{},"Decide who counts people out at the end.",[11,141,142],{},"None of it is complicated. It just needs doing before December, when everyone is busy with everything else.",[11,144,145,146,36],{},"CheckInHub handles the list, the plus-ones, the arrival rush and the count out at the end, with every guest shown as Registered, Checked in, Departed or Absent, at ",[32,147,151],{"href":148,"rel":149},"https:\u002F\u002Fcheckinhub.co.uk",[150],"nofollow","checkinhub.co.uk",{"title":153,"searchDepth":154,"depth":154,"links":155},"",2,[156,157,158,159,160,161,162],{"id":23,"depth":154,"text":24},{"id":42,"depth":154,"text":43},{"id":57,"depth":154,"text":58},{"id":75,"depth":154,"text":76},{"id":90,"depth":154,"text":91},{"id":105,"depth":154,"text":106},{"id":116,"depth":154,"text":117},"Event planning","2026-09-25","The venue and the date for the work Christmas party get booked early. The front door usually gets planned the week before. Here is what to settle now, while there is still time to do it properly.",false,"md","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1763463608728-6eeb317023d2?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop","A long festive dinner table with gold chairs, candles and warm fairy lights","Dragon White Munthe","https:\u002F\u002Funsplash.com\u002F@fotomagi?utm_source=checkinhub&utm_medium=referral",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fplanning-the-christmas-party-front-door-in-september",5,{"title":5,"description":165},"blog\u002Fplanning-the-christmas-party-front-door-in-september",[179,180,181,182,183],"christmas party","corporate events","planning","guest list","arrivals","glzli8e2Cxg6NaqiDvBqnNaVOu6d0WxsQ5MeIcq0SuY",[186,192,198],{"to":187,"title":188,"description":189,"date":190,"category":163,"image":191,"readTime":175},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-front-door-when-the-trains-are-running-late","The front door when the trains are running late","Leaf fall, storms and engineering works mean autumn is the season for late trains, and a late train turns a steady arrival into a gap and then a rush. Here is how to run the door on a disruption day so the people stuck on the platform still get a calm welcome.","2026-10-20","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1514832450343-9cce27b0df5d?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",{"to":193,"title":194,"description":195,"date":196,"category":163,"image":197,"readTime":175},"\u002Fblog\u002Frunning-the-front-door-at-a-fireworks-night","Running the front door at a fireworks night","Bonfire Night falls on a Thursday this year, so most displays will run across two weekends. It is dark by half past four, the crowd arrives in one wave and everyone leaves at once. Here is how to run the gate so the count holds from first arrival to last car out.","2026-10-16","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1535379665706-aea78de84a41?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",{"to":199,"title":200,"description":201,"date":202,"category":163,"image":203,"readTime":175},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-front-door-after-the-clocks-go-back","The front door after the clocks go back","From Sunday 25 October, most evening events start in the dark. Here is what changes at the front door, from the walk up to the entrance to the last guest out, and how to plan for it now.","2026-10-08","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1785914214681-d33b4ee7d222?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",1792518509150]