15 Corporate Holiday Party Ideas for Small Groups

Companies and groups can now customize their own dinner party for up to 40 guests at Thompson Nashville’s Goldtop Terrace, which overlooks the city’s Gulch neighborhood. A menu of local favorites like Nashville hot chicken, black-eyed pea tomato salad, Southern braised greens, and pork belly skewers are served alongside an intimate live performance by a local songwriter.

Perfect for seasonal gatherings, the Sparkling Bourbon with Apple Ginger Sour Cherry from Blake Lively’s recently launched canned cocktail brand Betty Booze—a line of gourmet, low-cal, sparkling cocktails—features flavors of apple, ginger, and sour cherry. Plus, Betty Buzz, its nonalcoholic sparkling beverage sister brand, offers options like Sparkling Lemon Lime and Meyer Lemon Club Soda for those who aren’t imbibing.

Known for its Pollinator Spirits made with New York State-grown ingredients, farm distillery and food provisions company Catskills Provisions offers its tasting room in Callicoon, N.Y., for private events. It can accommodate 125 indoors and an additional 50 outdoors on the extended patio.

Instead of the usual party, consider a team-building outing from NYC-based Like A Local Tours. Through partnerships with citywide businesses, the tour company offers food tours, social impact experiences, and team-building activities. Prices range from $78 to $300 per person.

Beauty & the Board's Build-Your-Own Grazing Kits (starting at $105) contain everything needed to assemble a lavish grazing board at home or in the office. They include artisanal cheeses, premium charcuterie, and accompaniments, can serve up to eight people, and are shipped throughout the U.S. via Goldbelly.

In September, Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods, in partnership with NEXUS Luxury Collection and 8AM Golf, debuted T-Squared Social, located between Bryant Park and Grand Central Station in NYC. The “eatertainment” concept features Full Swing golf simulators, duckpin bowling, darts, and over 35 televisions. The 22,000-square-foot space includes a 32-foot green-tiled and marble bar, multiple low- and high-top tables, a variety of plush lounge areas, and reservations-only luxury “Box Seats” with 11 four-top tables in front of a 200-inch, high-definition screen (pictured). As a nod to the historic bank building it calls home, a 12-seat “Vault” room is also available for private dining and events.

Historic Hotel Bethlehem, located in Bethlehem, Pa., offers a unique package for smaller companies called the “Largest Small Office Party.” Companies can book individual seats in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom to join a larger party with multiple organizations. “Maybe you don’t have a company that has 60 to 150 people. Whether there are one, five, or 20 people in your organization, you can experience the fun of a big office party even if you don't have a big office,” explained director of room sales and guest experience Kelly Ronalds. A cocktail hour of hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and entertainment are among the “Largest Small Office Party” offerings.

Known for their colorful almond cake “cookies,” Zola Bakes can custom-make the sweet treats in a selection of colors, filling flavors, chocolate drip, and decorations, as well as add custom branded stickers to the packaging. For the holidays, the company also offers Christmas- and Hanukkah-decorated cookies. The 20-piece signature box starts at $49, and the holiday boxes are $56. Zola Bakes offers a 10% discount on 200-plus cookie orders and a 15% discount on 300-plus orders. There’s a minimum order of 10 boxes for corporate gifting.

Ring in the new year at izakaya rooftop bar 8 at The Londoner. A curated experience for up to 14 guests includes cocktails and Japanese small plates.

Drink Mixy’s jars of dehydrated, pre-mixed flavors turn anyone into a mixologist. Add 12 ounces of your chosen spirit (or nonalcoholic option) to the jar and put it in the refrigerator for two to three days to infuse. Each jar makes eight 1.5-ounce servings. New holiday flavors include Joy with dehydrated orange, cranberry, and rosemary, and turbinado sugar; Red Sangria with dehydrated orange, apple, and blueberries, and cinnamon sticks (the larger 32-ounce jars fit one full bottle of wine); and Peppermint Mocha with dark roasted espresso beans, cacao nibs, and peppermint sticks. Jars start at $12.50 each.

Even Rudolph would be a fan of the winter meetings offerings at Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key, Fla., just north of Key West. The property’s "reindeer games" team-building activities include the Santa Sack Race, Reindeer Antler Toss, Candy Cane Relay, Elf Toss, and Jingle Bell Jam—a version of musical chairs with holiday music.

Los Angeles-based Valerie Confections offers seasonal sweet treats including truffles adorned with a modernist menorah design ($25 for a box of nine), homemade peppermint bark ($20), eggnog petits fours ($65 for a box of 12), and the Winter Wonderland Cake ($65-$110, pictured), which consists of three layers of devil's-food cake layered with peppermint buttercream and finished with festive holiday decor (only available for local pickup at the Glendale bakery in Los Angeles).

Throw a flashy but informal 1920s-style party at KNEAD Hospitality + Design’s Gatsby, a reimagined upscale diner located in Washington, D.C. Book a holiday party by Nov. 15 for events held between Nov. 23 and Jan. 1, 2024, and receive a bonus gift card up to $500.

Get into the holiday spirit by solving a crime—seriously. The Alcatraz East Crime Museum, located in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., offers team-building programs including Initiation, which features detective challenges and an interactive CSI lab experience with fingerprinting and blood spatter analysis.

Convert any office space into a playground with Pepper Pong ($69.99). A combo of table tennis and pickleball, the game uses a free-standing fence, specially designed rackets, and a Nerf-like ball, which means it’s not as noisy as traditional pingpong.