Holiday potluck at work! Please help!?!
Answers: I'm in charge of throwing a work potluck Wednesday. How do I make sure its a success? I believe people can bring in a wrapped gift between $20-30, but not sure what game? Have a list of to-bring items like meat and stuff...what else do I need to do or think about!?? Thank you!!
Ugh! Most people I know HATE workplace potlucks and last-minute holiday parties. The gift exchanges are almost never successful, because some people are nice and some people are chinchy, and so it will be uneven. If you really want to boost people's Christmas spirit (oops I said something politically correct I'm sure there but w/e) instead of turning them into Scrooges & Grinches, how about you just have people bring gifts for Toys for Tots, food for a food drive for the needy, or some other donation type gift. If you MUST do gift exchange, make it something fun like "white elephant" or homemade or food or something VERY easy & not expensive. You can do the game where you draw numbers and go down the line and steal presents or open a new one, or just play music and eat and forget all that nonsense.
If you do that, you may be able to ask them to donate to food as well and just have the meal catered instead of asking them to make more dishes on top of all the other holiday parties and entertaining they probably have to do. If you must ask them to bring stuff, PLEASE keep it simple--chips, dips, cookies, etc. & have the company provide the meat or get everyone to chip in.
Trust me, I'm NOT the only one who feels this way--your office will thank you profusely if you don't get all carried away with this like it is an extravaganza!
If it is a "pot luck" then people will be bringing stuff. I would suggest you make a sign up sheet so people can write down what they will bring...this may elimate duplicate items.
Will you need paper plates and forks, cups, drinks, napkins, ice? How about sweets? Who will do the clean up? What will you do with the leftovers? Have fun!!!!!!!!!!
First relax man.........it's not like you lost ur cellphone, like me
GREAT! (sarcasm) -_-
Plates/ napkins/bev cups....secret santa where one opens a gift and the next one open one and if they like the first guys gift they can trade it and so the game goes with everyone at their turn swaping gifts for ones they take from some one else
until they are finished...gifts should be $15 to keep it fair so they all are in the same price range....
desert/ salids/ buns/ shrimp plate/ cheese& crackers/ dips
Go with the white elephant gift exchange. Soooo fun!! Have all your participants put their wrapped, unmarked gifts on a table. Have them draw a number. Number 1 picks a gift off the table and un wraps it. Number 2 picks a gift from the table or takes the gift #1 unwrapped. If the gift is "stollen" by #2, then #1 gets to pick another gift to unwrap. Proceed thru the numbers. The person who's turn it is can pick from any unwrapped gifts or a new one. We did this at my office party and a 5 lbs hershey bar went around the room about 12 times!!!