Sound and lighting for a Christmas party

It is dark before the party starts

In December the lighting does more of the work than at any other time of year. Guests arrive in the dark, and whatever light is in the room is the whole room. A hall that looks fine in June looks like a car park in December unless somebody thinks about the entrance, the bar and the tables as well as the dance floor.

Warm light for a winter room

• Warm white or amber uplighting on the walls lifts a room instantly and photographs better than an all-blue scheme, which turns everyone grey.
• Festoon along the bar, the beams or the stage front adds a second layer of warm light and a bit of Christmas without a tree.
• Light the entrance and the cloakroom. The first two minutes of a party set the mood.
• Keep the tables and the buffet lit. People remember a Christmas party where they could see their food.
• Colour on the dance floor comes later, once the meal is over.

Speeches, awards and the boss

• A wireless handheld for the welcome and the thanks, with the music down rather than off.
• If there are awards, agree the order and who hands them out. The microphone is the easy part; the queue at the front is what takes the time.
• Change the batteries before the speeches, not during.
• Keep the level set from the back of the room, where the people who cannot hear will be standing.

The music

A Christmas party playlist has to bridge the meal, the speeches and the dancing. A band or a DJ takes the pressure off whoever owns the phone, and either works in the same room as a playlist. If there is a band, the changeover is a cue: the last song of the set leads into the playlist rather than a silence while somebody finds a laptop.

December practicalities

• Coats take space. Check where they go before the room is laid out, and keep the route clear.
• Load-in happens in the dark and often in the rain. Allow an extra fifteen minutes and a dry route for the cases.
• Ask whether the heating stays on and who controls it. A full room gets warm quickly, and a room that is too warm empties early.
• Confirm the finish time and the venue staff’s Christmas hours. Both are fixed earlier than usual in December.
• If the party is in a marquee, heating belongs to the marquee supplier. We light and sound it.

What it costs

The plug-and-play party PA is £115 for three days, or £140 with local setup, and includes a small mixer and a wired microphone on a stand. A wireless handheld is £25 and a subwoofer £45. Six wireless uplighters are £70 and ten are £100; festoon is £1.50 per metre run per day. Where the night ends with a band, the live music atmosphere package is £460 including setup and programming for the band lighting and the front-of-house tops; the band brings its desk and monitors. December dates go first, so ask early.