The shift toward daylight
The biggest change we have seen in corporate holiday parties is the move from a night in a ballroom to an afternoon somewhere else. A daylight party solves the problems that make December events stressful: nobody is driving home late, nobody is wondering how much is too much, the photos are better, and people with families are home by eight. In the Hill Country, December afternoons are often sixty degrees and clear, and a winery with a fire going is about as festive as Texas gets.
Holiday party ideas, from a long table to a whole estate
40 to 300 · The one we would build
A winery afternoon with dinner on the estate
Coaches from the office or the hotel at two. A sparkling welcome, a short estate tour, guided tastings in small groups, the blind tasting challenge with bottles for the winners, and then the part that makes it a holiday party: the microphone for the year-end remarks, the awards, the open bar, and a catered dinner in the event space with the fire going. Coaches home by nine. One venue, one invoice, nothing to reconcile.
10 to 60 · December · A full day
The Fredericksburg Christmas day
Fredericksburg leans into its German heritage in December: the Christmas pyramid and market on the Marktplatz, lights down Main Street, the biergarten warm and full. A company day out there pairs two estate tastings in the afternoon with Main Street at dusk and dinner in town, and the drive home is the quiet part. Book it in October; the town is busy every December weekend.
8 to 40 · Any evening
A private dinner with the cars arranged
The classic, done properly. A private room at a restaurant with a point of view, a set menu so nobody studies a bill, a toast with a purpose, and vehicles arranged at both ends so the night has a beginning and an end the company controls. The transportation is the part most companies skip and the part that makes it feel looked after.
20 to 80 · A long day
The afternoon out and the evening in town
A Dripping Springs winery afternoon that ends at golden hour, then straight to a reserved bar or a private room downtown for the evening. Two events for the price of one plan, and the people who want to leave after the first half can.
6 to 40 · Half day
The team outing in holiday clothes
For a smaller team, the ordinary wine-country outing becomes the holiday party with very little effort: three wineries, lunch at the pit, a gift exchange at the second stop and a case of something to take home. Half a day, inside working hours, and genuinely festive.
Any size · January · Our quiet recommendation
The January kickoff instead
December is the most expensive, most crowded, most exhausted month to throw a party in. January is empty, cool and clear, every venue is available, and a party that opens the year reads as intention rather than obligation. Several of our best company events have been first-week-of-January kickoffs that the December party would have struggled to match.
Austin in December, for planners
- Trail of Lights in Zilker Park runs through most of December and is a fine family-inclusive evening, but it is a public event with real crowds; it suits an informal team night more than a company party.
- Downtown hotel ballrooms and private dining rooms are quoting December rates by August and are full of other companies' parties by November.
- The weather is usually kind: afternoons in the fifties and sixties, the occasional cold snap, rarely rain for long. Have the indoor room anyway.
- Daylight ends before six. An afternoon party in the Hill Country should have the group at the estate by two and dinner indoors by half past five.
- Hill Country wineries are quieter in December than in spring and fall, and happy to host a company during the week.
The things that make or break a holiday party
- Transportation, decided with the venue. The holiday party is the one event of the year where nobody should be driving afterward. Coaches from the office or a central hotel, and back.
- A moment. Five minutes with a microphone, the year in three sentences, the people thanked by name. Without it the party is a happy hour; with it, it is the company's.
- Food for everyone. The buffet that has only one thing a vegetarian can eat is the buffet people remember for the wrong reason. Ask the dietary question in the invitation.
- Non-drinkers, visibly looked after. A real non-alcoholic option poured as naturally as the wine.
- Plus-ones decided early. It roughly doubles the headcount and changes the venue.
- An end time. A party that ends while people are still enjoying it is remembered as a great party.
Austin Wine Car
A holiday party with a fire going
A Hill Country estate for the afternoon, dinner on the property, coaches home. Tell us the headcount and a few December dates and we will tell you what is still open.
A holiday party on the estate, hour by hour
- 12:00 — Coaches leave the office. Something warm to drink on board.
- 22:45 — Sparkling welcome at the estate. The fire is already going.
- 33:00 — A short walk of the property, then guided tastings in small groups with charcuterie.
- 43:45 — The Blind Tasting Challenge. Bottles for the winning team.
- 54:30 — The microphone: the year in three sentences, the people thanked by name, the awards. Group photo while the light holds.
- 65:00 — Open bar, the grounds at dusk, the lights coming on.
- 75:30 — Dinner in the event space.
- 88:00 — Last pours. Coaches back downtown by nine.