Casino: standing, no effort
Roulette, blackjack and poker with a croupier. Played around the table, drink in hand, without moving: the best fit for after dinner.
Company Christmas Dinners
Christmas dinners
Dinner is sorted; what nobody has planned is what happens between dessert and the bar.
After-dinner shows, casino tables, close-up magic, photo booth and DJ for your company Christmas dinner. We set it up at the restaurant, hotel or country house, and take it down afterwards.
A company Christmas dinner follows the same script everywhere: arrival and standing aperitif, people taking their seats, two hours of dinner, speeches if there are any, dessert, and then the critical moment. That is where the evening is decided. With nothing prepared, half the table goes outside for a cigarette, the other half looks at their phones, and by half past midnight nobody is left. With something set up, the night runs two hours longer and is the one people still mention in March.
What works in that gap is not what works at a summer party. People have been sitting for two hours, they have eaten and had a drink, they are dressed up and they do not want to move much or break a sweat. That is why casino tables work: played standing around the table, no effort required. So does close-up magic, moving table to table during dessert without interrupting. So does the photo booth, which builds its own queue because everyone wants the picture with their colleagues. And the DJ, who closes. What does not work: anything that involves running, getting dirty or crouching.
The second factor is the venue, and at Christmas it is almost always borrowed. The dinner happens at a restaurant, a hotel or a country house, not at the office, so there are three questions to ask first: is there a separate room for after dinner, how much power is available, and until what time is music allowed. Many venues cut off at one in the morning, and that changes the whole shape of the night: with only ninety minutes, four activities will not fit.
The third is the calendar, which in December is brutal. From the 5th to the 22nd almost every company dinner in Spain takes place, and the Thursdays and Fridays of those two weeks are the most contested days of the entire year. It is not only the equipment: it is the technicians, croupiers, magicians and DJs, who can only be in one place at a time. What is booked in October gets set up; what is asked for on the 1st of December gets set up with whatever is left.
- 5-22 Decthe two weeks that matter
- 2 hthe gap after dessert
- 24 hquote turnaround
- BCNand all of Spain
Close-up magic, table to table
The magician works the tables during dessert. No interruption, no stage and no sound needed, and every table ends up talking about the same thing.
Photo booth and DJ to close
The picture with your colleagues is what ends up in the company chat the next morning. And the DJ decides whether the night ends at one or at three.
How we set it up
You tell us where you are dining
Restaurant, hotel or country house, how many of you there are and until what time you are allowed. That alone tells us what fits.
We propose the after-dinner
What gets set up and in what order, from dessert to closing, with a closed, itemised price.
We talk to the venue
Power, room, set-up window and music curfew. We deal with the venue manager directly.
We set up during dinner
We set up in the adjoining room while you eat, so everything is ready the moment you leave the table.
What gets booked most for a Christmas dinner
- Casino tables with croupiers and play money
- Close-up magic during dessert
- Photo booth with printing and company branding
- DJ and sound system for the closing hours
- Party kits and end-of-night accessories
- Caricaturist sketching the guests
- Cocktail or premium gin and tonic bar
- Christmas photocall with props
Budget, timings and the conversation with the restaurant
The cost of the entertainment side of a Christmas dinner depends mostly on how many of you there are and how many hours are covered. One casino table with a croupier for a group of fifty is one figure; three tables, a magician, a photo booth and a DJ for two hundred is a very different one. That is why the quote is always itemised line by line: rental, staff, transport and set-up. That way you can see at a glance what can be dropped if the budget has to come down, without losing the main activity.
The conversation with the restaurant is worth having before anything is closed, and we prefer to have it ourselves. The questions are always the same: is there a separate room for after dinner, how many kilowatts are available and from which sockets, what time can we get in to set up, and until when is music allowed. In December many venues run two dinner sittings the same night, so the set-up window can be twenty minutes: knowing that in advance is the difference between setting up calmly and setting up in a rush in front of the guests.
Frequently asked questions
Do you set up at the restaurant itself?
Yes, that is the norm. We need to know whether there is a separate room for after dinner, the available power supply and the time we can get in to set up, which in December tends to be very tight.
How long does the after-dinner part last?
Usually two or three hours, from dessert to closing time. If the venue cuts the music at one, we keep it concentrated; if it runs to three, there is room for casino, photo booth and DJ in sequence.
Is the casino played with real money?
No. It is played with play money and professional croupiers, and you can award a prize to whoever ends up with the most chips. There is no real betting, so no licence is required.
How many people does it take to be worth it?
We work from groups of thirty. Below that, one well-chosen activity (a magician or a photo booth) usually beats setting up several.
How far in advance should we book?
October. Almost every company dinner in the country falls between the 5th and the 22nd of December, and the Thursdays and Fridays of those weeks go first, especially croupiers and magicians.