With Christmas just around the corner, advisors will be thinking about a staff party to thank their teams and to wish employees a happy and prosperous holiday season.

And with pockets still feeling the pinch of the recession, a low-budget party might just be the way to convey your gratitude. Joan Pierre, an event planner and consultant with Joan Pierre & Associates in Toronto who also teaches a course in event planning and management for professionals at York University, offers some ideas for feting your staff without breaking the bank.

“The first thing is to decide how much you can spend,” Pierre says, “and how best you can spend those dollars.”

Based on that, you can decide what time and where you are going to have the party, whether it’ll be lunch or dinner, in a private room at a restaurant, at a table among other customers in the restaurant or in the board room at the office.

“A dinner party is more expensive than lunch,” she notes, “so if you want to cut costs, do a lunch.”

If you decide to have a lunch in a private room at a restaurant, you can request to add your personal touch by bringing in your own décor, such as tablecloths to replace the restaurant’s white or cream tablecloths. You could also bring in a centrepiece or a corner arrangement to make the room more festive. Or, if there are just a few members on your team and you can’t afford a private room, ask for a corner table and personalize it with your own centrepiece.

“For a small staff, it’s less of a headache and less stressful to have the party at a restaurant than trying to do it yourself,” Pierre says, “as you’ll have the food right there and won’t have to clean up.

“When you go out and spend a little money,” she adds, “people really appreciate the ‘thank you’.”

But if you don’t have that much money to spend, you can use the company boardroom for a lunch and hire a caterer. If you have a theme for the party, let the caterer know, as some of them will accommodate you with the appropriate décor, tablecloths, napkins, etc. Or just have the caterer bring in the food and have someone from the staff do the decorating.

If you decide on an afternoon party in the boardroom with finger food, then the finger food must be high end, Pierre says. She suggests chicken or shrimp on skewers, mini patties, chicken puffs, mini spring rolls with plum sauce, and veggies and dip. Skip the cheese and crackers.

“With finger foods, you’ll have to serve wine, which is an added expense,” Pierre points out. “At lunch, you can serve a punch; you don’t have to have wine, but you can’t have finger foods and punch.”

You don’t need entertainment at lunch. If the party is in a private room at a restaurant, or in the boardroom, you can have some background music to add ambiance.

Make the party environmentally friendly, Pierre says: “Today, everything is about greening the event. So, although your party might be small, think about the environment.”

This means no paper plates, cups or plastic cutlery. Have dry arrangements for your centrepiece and corner arrangement. Flowers are nice, but cut flowers and plants carry pesticides that are not good for the environment. Pierre also suggests serving filtered water rather than bottled water.

You can also create a personalized thank-you card for each staff member, and add a small gift, such as a pen. IE