A Christmas lunch is an event you’ll all be attending this year, whether it’s with your friends, family, work team or boss. There are plenty of fantastic Christmas party venues in the UK that will be a good fit for the event but once there we can’t do much to help you. We’ll try at least so here are some Do’s and Don’ts that might help you successfully make it through the meal.

Seating

Everyone thinks they want to be sat next to their best mate, the fun uncle, your twin colleague who you do everything with 340 days a year (minus weekends!). We know the drill. At the end of the day though, if there is ever a time to sit next to your boss, Granny, or enemy (!?) and converse with him/her on more of a personal level, the Christmas lunch is it. Everyone’s more relaxed, everyone’s winding down for the Christmas break, everyone has had at least one drink and everyone is up for a good time! If you do this, I promise it will be a success, especially from a work perspective. You’ll branch out and develop relationships with colleagues which is very important. There are some amazing Christmas party venues in Edinburgh with creative seating options that might be the right fit for your bash.

Drinks

This is pretty self-explanatory. Simply put, DO drink, DON’T drink too much. Many Christmas party venues in London have Christmas themes cocktails that might go down a bit too easy but control yourself. You really don’t want to start over-sharing with the table on topics that should fundamentally be kept out of work/extended family chat. You may think the topic is a good idea, maybe funny, but in the cold, sober, light of day, you’ll regret it. Bite your tongue and keep it PG. If it’s a company Christmas party, always keep it professional.

Food

Christmas is a time for excess, especially the Christmas lunch. We’ve all accepted this fact and look forward to it all year round. There is no need to nurse the bikini bod anymore, it’s time for a little indulgence. That said, pace yourself… DON’T overdo it early on so that by the time the mince pies circulate you turn green or have fallen into a food-induced coma. The likelihood is that you will all move on to location number two after the Christmas lunch, this could be the local pub around the corner, or on to some fun bowling or ping pong-related activity. In order to continue with the fun, you need to be able to move!

Secret Santa

This may not apply to all, but most of the time Secret Santa will be worked into the Christmas lunch activities. We all love it and get the same thrill when we open our gift and discover we have become the owner of yet another set of Bananagrams or a scented candle. Our overall advice to you is that when you buy your SS gift, make sure you cater to the masses. I am not sure how much your 70-year-old boss will appreciate a joke book on karma sutra. Then again, I could be wrong.