Corporate Christmas Dinner in Barcelona: 10 Memorable Ideas

For many teams, the company Christmas dinner is the only night of the year when everyone gets together outside the office. When it goes well, people talk about it until the summer; when it is just a set menu and a long sit-down, by eleven o'clock half the room is checking their phones. The difference is rarely the restaurant: it is what happens before, during and after the meal.

In this guide we bring together practical ideas to liven up your company's Christmas dinner in Barcelona, from a casino night to karaoke or a Christmas photo booth. We also explain how to organise it step by step, when you should book and which factors affect the budget. Everything we suggest is set up by us, with our own team and our own equipment.

A casino night at the company dinner works with any kind of team: nobody needs to know how to play, because the croupier explains the rules in a minute and no one bets real money. Each guest receives play money, which we can personalise with your company logo, and at the end the winnings are counted up to hand out prizes.

With our casino tables for events you can combine several games:

• French roulette, the table with the biggest visual impact.
• Blackjack, with quick games lasting just a few minutes.
• Texas Hold'em poker tables, for the most competitive guests.

Every table comes with its own croupier, and each one is set up in around 15 minutes, so they fit easily into restaurant function rooms and hotels. If you want to take it further, we put together a full Las Vegas themed party, like the one we organised for a company at Maremàgnum in Barcelona.

Few things break the ice like watching the finance director sing a duet with the support team. Our professional karaoke for events has more than 30,000 songs in seven languages, including Spanish, Catalan and English, a touchscreen for choosing songs, a large screen for the lyrics and two wireless microphones.

To make sure the karaoke at the company Christmas dinner doesn't end up as an abandoned microphone, we recommend:

• Opening it right after dessert, while the energy is still high.
• Setting up a contest between departments with a small prize.
• Personalising the machine with the company logo, an option we offer.

Set-up takes around 30 minutes, and transport, set-up and dismantling in Barcelona are included in the service.

A photo booth for the Christmas dinner does two jobs: it keeps people entertained all night without needing a schedule, and it gives every guest a printed or digital keepsake. These are the options that work best in December:

• Christmas bauble photocall. Our Christmas bauble photocall is a giant inflatable snow globe, about 4.5 metres long, that guests step inside to have their photo taken. The printed backdrop can be swapped for a design for your company.
• Magic mirror. The magic mirror photo booth takes three photos with a countdown and prints them on the spot, with a personalised design and a technician included.
• 360 platform. The 360 photo booth films videos rotating around groups of up to four people, which are downloaded with a QR code.
• Artificial intelligence. The AI photo booth transforms each photo with fun effects, such as seeing yourself as a cartoon child or a few decades older.

If your team prefers something more relaxed than a show, set up a bar games area where people can chat while they play. It is one of the company Christmas dinner activities that best mixes departments, because games are short and teams form on their own.

Depending on the space available, you can combine:

• Table football for events, the classic that always has a queue.
• Pool tables for events.
• Ping pong table for quick tournaments.
• Arcade machines with retro games.

If you want to turn it into a party, our Sport Bar Games themed event recreates the atmosphere of a bar with games, music and nibbles. And for the most competitive, our simulators for events add races and challenges with a leaderboard all night long.

During the welcome drinks or between courses, close-up magic is one of the best ways to entertain without interrupting the dinner. The magician goes from table to table, performs tricks just centimetres from the guests and gets even the shyest people involved. No stage or sound system is needed.

If you prefer a centrepiece moment, a stand-up comedian for events offers around 30 or 40 minutes of comedy after dessert. The key is personalisation: the script can include anecdotes, in-jokes and situations everyone in your company will recognise. Bear in mind that a personalised set needs about a month of preparation, so you need to book it well in advance.

When a company wants its corporate Christmas party in Barcelona to be more than a dinner, a theme ties everything together: invitation, dress code, decoration, games and entertainment.

• Las Vegas. The Welcome to Las Vegas themed event combines a casino with croupiers, an illuminated welcome sign, red carpet, photocall and shows.
• The Roaring Twenties. The Gatsby themed event fits perfectly with December's black-tie mood: feathers, sparkle and period music.

Interactive experiences can also be included without a set theme, as we did at Glovo's corporate party. And for the welcome, our event hostesses greet the guests, hand out the play money and help get everyone involved.

Dinner doesn't have to be the first or the last thing of the night. A few ideas to make the experience last longer:

• In the afternoon, a workshop. With our cocktail service for events you can organise a cocktail workshop in small groups, where the bartenders show you how to mix drinks, or set up a cocktail and gin and tonic bar for the pre-dinner drinks.
• On arrival, snow. A snow cannon for events creates a truly festive moment at the entrance or on the terrace, perfect for photos.
• To finish, silent disco. Silent disco headphones let everyone keep dancing without speakers, with up to three music channels to choose from. It's the answer when the venue has noise restrictions after a certain time.

Organising the company Christmas dinner is above all a question of timing. This is the order we recommend:

October: date, budget and number of guests

Set the date as soon as possible. Most company dinners take place in the second and third weeks of December, and the Thursdays and Fridays of those weeks are the first to sell out, both at restaurants and for entertainment. Also bear in mind the 8 December public holiday.

November: book the venue and the entertainment

Most bookings are finalised in November. If you wait until December, you will most likely have to make do with whatever is left. Check the room dimensions, access and set-up times with the venue, and share them with us so we can suggest what will fit.

Two or three weeks before: personalisation

This is the time to finalise logos, photo booth designs, personalised play money and invitations. A tailor-made stand-up set needs more time, around a month.

Event week: the running order

Decide what time each activity starts: welcome, dinner, speech, entertainment and party. A clear schedule avoids dead time.

There is no single price, because all entertainment for a company Christmas dinner is tailored to the event. These are the factors that affect the budget most:

• Number of guests. This determines how many gaming tables, croupiers or photo booths are needed so that nobody waits too long.
• Hours of service. An hour of magic during drinks is not the same as a whole night of casino and karaoke.
• Venue and access. Distance, whether there is a lift or stairs, and set-up and dismantling times all change the logistics.
• Number of games or activities. The more stations, the more equipment, transport and set-up.
• Staff. Croupiers, technicians, hostesses, performers or bartenders, depending on what you choose.
• Personalisation. Logos, photocall backdrops, themed decoration or a stand-up set written for your company.

The quickest way to find out is to tell us the date, venue, number of people and what you would like to do. Ask for a no-obligation quote and we will prepare a proposal tailored to your event.

How far in advance should we book the entertainment?

Ideally, book in October or, at the latest, in early November. Company dinners are concentrated in the second and third weeks of December, especially on Thursdays and Fridays, and those dates fill up fast. If your event falls on those days, the sooner you confirm, the more chance you have of choosing exactly what you want instead of making do with whatever is still available.

Can you set up the entertainment in the restaurant where we're having dinner?

Yes, in most cases. We work in restaurants, hotels, event venues and offices. We just need to know the dimensions of the space, whether there are sockets nearby and when we can set up. Many of our games are set up in a few minutes and don't need a stage, so they adapt well to function rooms where the tables take up almost all the space.

What entertainment works best if the team is very mixed?

Activities that don't require skill or being the centre of attention: the casino with play money, the photo booth or close-up magic. Everyone joins in at their own pace and nobody feels obliged. Karaoke and tournaments work very well as the second part of the night, when the atmosphere is more relaxed and people get involved on their own.

Can it be personalised with our company branding?

Yes. We can put your logo on the casino notes, on the photo booth print design, on the backdrop of the Christmas bauble photocall or on the karaoke. We also make promotional pieces, like the roulette wheel we set up at the Hotel W Barcelona, and we adapt the themed decoration to your corporate colours.

Do you work outside Barcelona?

We are based in Barcelona, where we run most of our events, but we also work in the rest of Catalonia and in other cities in Spain. In those cases, transport and staff travel are included in the quote, so it's best to give us the exact location from the start.

Are staff included?

It depends on the activity. Casino tables come with a croupier, and the magic mirror and 360 photo booth come with a technician. For other options, such as bar games, you can choose whether or not you want staff. We always set this out in the quote so you know exactly what each service includes.

Make this Christmas dinner one to remember

A great company Christmas dinner doesn't need big speeches: you just need to give the team a reason to stay, mingle and laugh. Casino, karaoke, photo booth, bar games, magic or a full themed party: tell us what your team is like and what space you have, and we'll suggest the combination that fits best.

December dates get booked up fast. Get in touch and ask for a quote for your company Christmas party today, or check availability for your date on our contact page.