Everything You Need to Know to Throw an Office Secret Santa Party.

Most of us spend 8 to 9 hours a day in an office with our colleagues and sometimes we see them more than we see our actual friends and family. So this year, let’s start the holiday season right and why not throw a Secret Santa party at the office. Not only are you receiving gifts from a coworker, but this also strengthens and boosts up team morale and spirit.

How do you throw this party? Who gets to give who a gift? Is there a budget? Calm down, we have the answers to all your questions, keep on reading to find more. This might put you in the Christmas spirit and who knows, maybe you’ll have a bomb Christmas party thanks to this article.

What is Secret Santa?

It is a simple way to give your friends and colleagues gifts anonymously. The premise of the game is not complicated at all, you pick a budget for the presents that none of you can exceed it, and you each draw names at random from a hat or an online generator because we aren’t living in the 1800s anymore. Then it’s your turn to be someone’s Santa and you’ll have to curate gifts that fit the receiver’s personality or that will make them happy.

The rules of the game:

1. Send an invitation to all the players; this can be a written note or an email.
2. Create an online generator and put in everyone’s name, or write down everyone’s name and put it in a hat.
3. Everyone should write one or two gift suggestions (be as vague or as specific as you want).
4. Everyone is assigned a name by the generator, or you pick one from the hat.
5. Plan a gift exchange party- you can do this on the eve of Christmas to put everyone in a festive mood.
6. Guess who drew your name- The fun part of the game is guessing who your Secret Santa was.
7. Reveal who had who as Secret Santa.

Ho Ho Ho, you are father Christmas now. What you decide to gift and what you are gifted depends on the person giving the gift, and there are no takebacks. For any, The Office nerd out there, don’t be a Micheal Scott when it comes to the Secret Santa and doesn’t exceed the set limit by buying an iPod, rather be like my childhood crush, Jim Halpert, and give something that has sentimental value and shows that you know that person.

Tips to decorate your office

1. Decoration

After everyone is assigned someone, you need to decorate the office for the actual gift-giving part and in my opinion, this makes or breaks a Secret Santa party. You should literally deck the halls with tree ornaments and tinsel. You can even buy most of your decorations from Target, which you can reuse every year for your annual Christmas and Holiday parties.

2. Food and Drinks

This is where you let your creative juice run free. Add food coloring to your eggnog, spike it up with some more green liquor or any other alcohol of your choice, and voila you have The Grinch stole Eggmas. You can even create your own sweets and decorate them with your favorite Christmas characters. Make cake pops in the shape of Rudolph the red nose reindeer or sugar cookies that you can make your guest decorate with royal icing and let them have their own DIY cookie station. You can even have a sugar cookie competition where the person with the best-decorated cookie gets an additional gift.

3. Games galore

This is your office’s Christmas party, so it can’t be boring. Keeping in with the holiday spirit, create games that highlight this. You can play charade but only with Christmas movies, yes those cheesy rom-coms that all of us watch (even those who say they don’t) every year and cry when they finally get together.

And yes, at this point we are all aware that Die Hard is technically a Christmas movie because it came out on Christmas day but you need to get over it and stop annoying us with it. Depending on the mood and tone of the party, you can also have a couple of drinking games, but again, this all depends on you and your colleagues.

4. Save the Best for Last

Yes, we all know that everyone is excited to discover their gift and this is why you should keep this for the end of the party. At the end of the night, when everyone is well into the festive mood, you can all open your gift and guess who your Secret Santa is.

Voila, this is how your throw the perfect Secret Santa office party. And remember, don’t be a sore loser and be respectful and grateful for the gifts you receive. Sound off in the comment section below and tell us if you plan a Secret Santa party for your office this year.