Halloween in Chicago splits into two very different kinds of parties, and knowing which one you are throwing changes almost every decision that follows. There is the family and neighborhood party, built around kids in costumes, early timing, and food that is fun more than fussy. Then there is the adult Halloween party, which runs later, leans into theming and cocktails, and treats the menu as part of the entertainment. Neither one is harder to plan than the other, but they call for different menus, different timelines, and different staffing.

This guide walks through both tracks, plus a general timeline you can use no matter which kind of party you are hosting.

Family and neighborhood parties

These tend to run earlier in the evening, often 4 to 7 p.m., and mix trick-or-treating with a home base where parents can gather. A few things that consistently work well:

• Food that travels in small, easy-to-grab portions, since kids move around constantly
• A savory station alongside anything sweet, since a table of all candy leads to a rough night for everyone
• Warm drinks like apple cider for parents standing outside during trick-or-treating
• A dedicated treat table featuring seasonal items like taffy apples, which read as more special than a bowl of fun-size candy

Keep the layout simple. A buffet with clear labeling works better than a plated meal for this kind of party, since guests are coming and going on their own schedule.

Adult Halloween parties

Adult parties give you more room to play with theme, and the menu should follow that lead rather than sit off to the side. A few approaches we see work well:

• A passed appetizer format if you want guests mingling in costume rather than seated
• A themed cocktail or two, built around the party’s color scheme or theme, alongside a full bar setup
• A “spooky” menu treatment using ordinary ingredients presented with dark plating and dramatic garnish, rather than gimmicky food dye
• A late-night snack station for guests who stay past the main event, since Halloween parties often run longer than people plan for

If your adult party has more than thirty or forty guests, staffing starts to matter. A server keeping the buffet stocked and glasses cleared changes the feel of the whole night, and it is worth discussing staffing needs when you build your menu.

Building a spooky menu that still tastes good

Theme should never come at the expense of flavor. Some of the most effective “spooky” food ideas we build into Halloween menus are really just familiar dishes with a dramatic presentation:

• Deep, dark sauces and glazes (balsamic reductions, squid ink pasta, blackened seasonings) that read as dramatic without tasting like a gimmick
• Individually plated appetizers with a garnish that nods to the theme, such as a single dramatic herb or edible flower
• A dessert table anchored by something visually striking, like taffy apples with dark chocolate and toffee toppings
• A signature cocktail with a smoky or deep-colored pour, served with minimal fuss

The goal is a party that photographs well and tastes even better, not a table of novelty food nobody actually eats.

A three-week timeline for your Halloween party

Whether you are hosting ten people or a hundred, a simple countdown keeps the week of the party from becoming stressful.

Three weeks out:

• Confirm your guest count and party format, family-friendly or adult
• Decide between a full-service setup with staff and rentals, or a delivery order you handle yourself
• Book your date, since the two weekends closest to Halloween fill up fast across Chicago and the North Shore

Two weeks out:

• Finalize your menu, including any dietary accommodations
• Order rentals if needed, such as tables, linens, or bar equipment
• Confirm decor and theme details so the menu and presentation match

One week out:

• Confirm final headcount and any last changes to the order
• Confirm delivery or arrival time with your caterer
• Handle any remaining decor or costume logistics separately from the food planning

Day of:

• Set up serving stations before guests arrive so the space feels finished, not rushed
• Keep a simple labeling system for dietary needs, especially at larger parties
• If you have staff on site, do a quick walkthrough of timing before doors open

For more detail on what a spooky menu can look like, our earlier piece on good Halloween treats covers additional ideas worth folding into either party format.

Full-service or delivery, which fits your party

Not every Halloween party needs a full crew and rentals. If you are hosting a smaller gathering and want to handle setup yourself, a delivery order from our seasonal menus covers the food side cleanly. If you are hosting a larger party, especially one with a bar, staffing, or a rented venue, a full-service approach handles the logistics so you are not managing food and guests at the same time.

Either way, the earlier you lock in your date, the more menu and staffing flexibility you will have, particularly the weekend closest to Halloween.

Choosing a venue for your party

Most Halloween parties in Chicago and the North Shore happen at home, but a growing number move to a rented space, a community room, or an office suite for larger guest lists. If you are hosting somewhere other than your own kitchen, ask early about what the space allows: kitchen access, outlets for warming equipment, and how much setup time you get before guests arrive. A caterer who has worked in the venue before can usually tell you within a few minutes whether your planned menu will run smoothly there or needs adjusting.

For office Halloween parties specifically, treat the break room or lobby the same way you would treat a home kitchen. Confirm whether there is refrigeration on site, how much counter space is available for serving, and whether the building has any restrictions on candles or open flame for decor. These details rarely make it into the invitation, but they shape what the caterer can realistically set up.

A note on weather and outdoor elements

Late October in Chicago is unpredictable. If any part of your Halloween party happens outside, whether that is a fire pit gathering, a driveway trick-or-treat station, or a tented backyard setup, build a simple backup plan for cold or wet weather. Warm drinks like cider hold up well either way, but plated food and delicate desserts fare better moved indoors if temperatures drop sharply. Confirm your rain plan with your caterer at the same time you confirm the menu, not the week of the party.

Plan your Chicago Halloween party

Ready to build out your menu and timeline? Start with our Thanksgiving and holiday catering hub if your Halloween party is the opening event in a longer fall and holiday season, or reach our team directly through the contact page to talk through your date, guest count, and menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

Thanksgiving is the single busiest day on our calendar, and every year we watch the same pattern play out. Families who order in the first two weeks of November get their first choice of pickup times and menu items. Families who wait until the week before Thanksgiving still get a great meal, but with fewer options and a tighter schedule. This guide walks through how our Thanksgiving catering works for 2026, from packages to timing, so you can plan with confidence either way.

For the full menu and hub page, start with our Thanksgiving catering page, which stays updated with the current season’s offerings.

Packages versus a la carte

Most of our Thanksgiving clients choose one of two approaches.

Complete dinner packages bundle turkey, a selection of sides, and pie into a single order sized for a set number of guests. These work well for hosts who want a straightforward count-and-order process without assembling the meal piece by piece. Packages typically include the classics: roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a vegetable side, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a pie course.

A la carte ordering works better for hosts who already have a plan for the main course, or who want to fill in specific gaps, such as adding extra pies for a large gathering, or picking up a few sides to round out a smaller home-cooked meal. This is also the more common route for hosts who are combining a store-bought or home-cooked turkey with catered sides.

Both approaches are built from the current Thanksgiving catering menu, which lists everything available this season along with package sizing guidance.

Delivery or pickup, which fits your Thanksgiving

Both formats are available, and the right choice usually comes down to your morning schedule.

Pickup works well if:

• You want more control over exact timing on Thanksgiving morning
• You are comfortable transporting the order yourself, including any hot items
• Your location is a straightforward drive from one of our kitchens

Delivery works well if:

• You would rather not add a pickup errand to an already busy morning
• You are hosting a larger group and want the order to arrive at a scheduled window
• You are coordinating multiple households or a larger gathering where timing needs to be precise

Either way, confirm your requested time window early. Thanksgiving morning is the tightest scheduling day of the year for any caterer, and early requests get first pick of both pickup slots and delivery windows.

Choosing the right package for your table

The right order comes down to three questions: how many people are you feeding, how much of the meal do you want handled, and how do you want the food to arrive. A complete dinner package covers the whole table for a set headcount, while a la carte ordering lets you supplement your own cooking with the dishes you would rather not make. If you are unsure which direction fits your gathering, our team can walk you through the options and build a custom proposal around your guest count and menu preferences. For a detailed look at how Thanksgiving catering is typically structured, see our Thanksgiving catering cost guide (publish as DRAFT-07 in this batch and link it here once live).

Order-by deadlines for 2026

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26 in 2026. Based on past seasons, here is how we recommend thinking about deadlines:

• Three to four weeks out (early November): Best window for full menu flexibility, including specific side dish requests and preferred pickup or delivery times
• Two weeks out (mid-November): Still a strong window, though some specific time slots may already be filling
• One week out: Orders are still accepted where capacity allows, but flexibility on specific times and menu customization narrows considerably
• The final few days before Thanksgiving: We do our best to accommodate late orders, but availability is not guaranteed, and packages may be limited to what is still in stock

For a deeper walkthrough of the 2026 timeline, including week-by-week milestones, see our dedicated Thanksgiving order timeline guide.

A note on the turkey itself

Even with a catered dinner, a lot of hosts still want to carve the bird themselves at the table, either because it is a family tradition or because it makes for a nicer presentation when guests are seated. If that is your plan, our guide on carving a turkey covers the basics so the moment goes smoothly instead of turning into a production.

Reheating and timing on the day

If you order ahead of Thanksgiving Day, whether for pickup the day before or delivery that morning, plan your reheating around your actual sit-down time, not the moment the food arrives. A general guideline: allow the turkey and hot sides roughly the same reheating window you would use for leftovers, using a covered oven at a moderate temperature rather than a fast blast of high heat, which can dry out the meat. If you are unsure about timing for your specific order, ask when you place it. Our team can walk you through exact reheating instructions based on the package you choose.

Combining Thanksgiving with the rest of the holiday season

For many of our clients, Thanksgiving catering is the first of several orders across the season, from holiday office parties to Christmas meal packages. If you are already planning ahead, it is worth thinking about your full holiday calendar at the same time you place your Thanksgiving order, since the same scheduling pressure that hits Thanksgiving week tends to repeat in December.

Feeding a large multi-household gathering

If Thanksgiving at your house means combining two or three family groups into one meal, ordering as a single package instead of everyone bringing separate dishes tends to simplify the day considerably. A single coordinated order means one delivery or pickup window, one set of reheating instructions, and no last-minute scramble over who is bringing the stuffing. It also removes the awkward math of trying to guess how much food six different households will collectively bring. When you place a group order, give us your full headcount up front, including kids, so portion sizing accounts for the whole table rather than just the primary host’s guest count.

Special requests and dietary needs

Thanksgiving tables often include at least one guest with a specific dietary need, whether that is a vegetarian main, a gluten-free stuffing, or a dairy-free side. Let us know about these requests when you place your order rather than the week of the holiday, since substitutions often need their own preparation time and ingredient sourcing. Most dietary accommodations are easier to build into a package from the start than to add on short notice.

Plan your 2026 Thanksgiving order

Start with the current Thanksgiving catering menu to see this year’s packages and a la carte options, then visit our Thanksgiving catering hub for full details, or reach our team directly through the contact page to build a custom proposal around your guest count and date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Planning the office holiday party usually lands on someone who already has a full job. This checklist assumes exactly that. It breaks the work into eight weekly blocks, counting backward from a mid-December party date, so nothing gets missed and nothing gets crammed into the final week. If your event needs full staffing, bar service, or rentals, our team at the holiday party hub can take on as much or as little of this as you need.

Use this as a working document. Print it, drop it into a shared doc, or copy each week into your task manager. The goal is simple: by the week of the party, the only thing left to do is show up.

Week 8: Lock the basics

• Confirm your event date and backup date, if your calendar allows flexibility
• Get a headcount range from HR or department leads, including whether plus-ones are invited
• Decide on format: seated dinner, stations-style reception, or daytime lunch
• Set a rough internal spending range, even if it is not finalized yet
• Reach out to your catering team to check date availability

Week 7: Venue and space

• Confirm your venue, whether that is your own office, a private room at a restaurant, or an off-site event space
• Check the venue’s kitchen access, loading dock, and electrical capacity if you are bringing in outside catering
• Walk through the floor plan and decide where a bar, buffet, or dance floor will go
• Confirm the venue’s setup and breakdown windows against your catering team’s schedule

Week 6: Menu direction

• Review the current corporate holiday menu with your catering contact
• Choose a format: stations, buffet, or plated
• Flag any office favorites from past years worth repeating
• Start collecting dietary restrictions from your guest list, since corporate groups often have more requests than you expect

Week 5: Bar and beverage plan

• Decide between an open bar, limited selection, or beer and wine only
• Confirm whether your venue allows outside alcohol service or requires their in-house program
• Ask about a signature holiday cocktail if that fits your office culture
• Count how many bar stations you need based on headcount, since one bar for a large group creates long lines

Week 4: Rentals and staffing

• Finalize table, chair, and linen counts against your confirmed headcount
• Choose linen colors or a theme, if your office is decorating around a color scheme
• Confirm staff-to-guest ratios with your catering team based on your chosen format
• Order any AV equipment needed for speeches, awards, or music

Week 3: Dietary needs and final headcount push

• Send a final reminder for dietary restriction submissions
• Share the near-final headcount with your catering team so orders can be adjusted
• Confirm any special requests, such as a kids’ table for a family-inclusive event or a quiet room for nursing parents
• Finalize decor and signage plans if your office is handling those separately from catering

Week 2: Confirm every detail

• Lock final headcount with your catering team
• Confirm delivery, setup, and staff arrival times against the venue schedule
• Review the day-of timeline with anyone from your office who is coordinating on site
• Confirm payment and any final paperwork with your catering contact

Week 1: Final week

• Send a reminder to staff with the party date, time, and any dress code
• Confirm weather or building access contingencies if your event is off-site
• Do a final walkthrough of the floor plan with your catering team, either in person or by phone
• Assign one point person from your office to be on site during setup for last-minute questions

Party week: what to expect from your catering team

By the time the party arrives, your catering team should be handling setup, food and bar service, and breakdown without needing much from you. Your job at this point is mostly to enjoy the event and field a handful of quick questions if something changes last minute, like a guest headcount bump or a room change.

If your office also handles smaller celebrations throughout December, such as a department lunch or a client gifting moment, our corporate delivery option can round those out without a full staffed event.

A note on timing this checklist

This checklist assumes an eight-week runway, which fits most December office parties booked in October. If you are starting later than that, do not panic. Compress weeks rather than skipping them, and lean on your catering team to flag which decisions truly cannot wait. The one thing worth protecting no matter how compressed your timeline gets is an accurate headcount, since almost everything else, from rentals to bar stations to staffing, is built around that number.

Common mistakes this checklist helps you avoid

Every season, a handful of avoidable problems show up in office holiday party planning. Building your timeline around this checklist sidesteps most of them, but it helps to know what they look like:

• Booking a venue before confirming headcount, then discovering the room is either too small or awkwardly large for the final guest list
• Waiting until the final two weeks to ask about dietary restrictions, which leaves the kitchen little time to build proper alternatives
• Treating bar service as a last-minute add-on, which often means fewer staffing and rental options are still available
• Underestimating how many people will actually attend a hybrid or partly remote office event, which throws off both catering counts and room layout
• Skipping a single point of contact on the day of the event, which leaves no one able to answer a vendor’s question when something changes at the last minute

If you catch yourself behind on any of these, flag it with your catering team as early as you notice. Most timing problems are solvable with enough advance notice, and much harder to fix once you are inside the final week.

Adjusting the checklist for different office sizes

A small office of twenty or thirty people can often move faster than this checklist suggests, especially on venue and menu decisions, since there are fewer approvals and fewer conflicting calendars to manage. A larger company with multiple departments, a formal spending approval process, and leadership sign-off on the guest list should treat the eight-week window as a minimum rather than generous padding. If your office falls into that second category, consider starting closer to ten or twelve weeks out so approvals do not eat into the weeks meant for menu and rental decisions.

For companies planning across multiple locations, whether that means separate parties in different offices or a single event for staff who commute in from various suburbs, build in extra time during weeks seven and six to confirm which office or venue is hosting and how attendance is likely to split.

Getting your office holiday party started

If you are ready to start planning, browse our full-service holiday party page to see how we build corporate events across Chicago and the North Shore, or reach out through the contact page with your date and headcount range to get the conversation started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Every October, the same question comes up in our kitchen: what are the best Halloween food ideas that actually hold up on a buffet table, travel in an office kitchen, or ship out as a gift without turning into a sticky mess by 3 p.m.? Our answer, every year, starts with the same thing: gourmet taffy apples.

Taffy apples are one of our most requested seasonal items, and for good reason. They photograph well, they read as a genuine treat instead of a bowl of candy, and they work across three very different use cases at once, home parties, office celebrations, and client or employee gifting. If you are planning Halloween food this year, here is how we think about building a lineup around them, plus a few other ideas worth putting on the table.

Why taffy apples work for almost every Halloween occasion

A good taffy apple starts with the fruit. We use crisp, tart apples that can stand up to a thick layer of house-made taffy without turning soft or mealy by the time they reach your table. From there, the toppings do the talking: crushed nuts, chocolate drizzle, toffee bits, sea salt, and seasonal sprinkles all give guests a reason to pick their favorite.

They also solve a real logistics problem. Unlike a tray of cut fruit or a bowl of candy corn, taffy apples are individually portioned, easy to hand out, and simple to display without a lot of extra serving equipment. That makes them a strong fit whether you are hosting twelve people in your living room or two hundred in a corporate lobby.

Building a Halloween spread around taffy apples

Think of taffy apples as your anchor item, then build out from there depending on who is coming.

For a family or neighborhood party:

• A taffy apple bar with two or three topping styles, set out so kids and adults can each pick their favorite
• Warm apple cider alongside, served in a slow cooker or beverage dispenser
• A savory counterpoint like mini pulled pork sliders or a chili station, since a table of all sweets gets old fast
• Individually wrapped treats for kids to take home, which also cuts down on lingering sugar-fueled chaos in your kitchen

For an office or client-facing event:

• Pre-wrapped taffy apples set out in a break room or reception area, which travel cleanly and do not require plates or utensils
• A note card or small sign identifying the flavors, since offices tend to have more dietary questions than a house party
• Pairing with a light savory tray, such as cheese and charcuterie, so the spread reads as an event rather than a candy dish

For gifting:

• Individually boxed or wrapped taffy apples for clients, referral partners, or staff, which travel well by hand delivery or courier
• A short handwritten note, since a gourmet treat lands very differently than a mass-produced gift basket
• Ordering ahead of the last week of October, since taffy apple orders climb fast once Halloween parties start landing on calendars

Other Halloween food ideas worth considering

Taffy apples are not the only thing worth putting on the table this season. A few other ideas we regularly build into Halloween menus:

• A “creepy crudite” table using ordinary vegetables and dips, arranged with a spooky garnish instead of relying on gimmicky food dye
• Caramel corn or kettle corn in bulk, which holds up well at both kid-focused and adult parties
• A cider donut station for a morning or early-afternoon office event
• Individually plated appetizers for an adult Halloween party, since not every guest wants to eat standing over a candy bowl

If you want a full sense of what is available this year, view the current taffy apple menu before you finalize your order. It covers current flavor and topping options along with order-ahead guidance for the season.

Ordering timeline for Halloween treats

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, which means office parties tend to land the Thursday or Friday before, while home parties spread across the final two weekends of October. A few timing notes:

• Place office and gift orders at least one to two weeks out, since large batches need lead time for wrapping and delivery scheduling
• Home party orders can typically be placed with a shorter runway, but the final week of October fills quickly
• If you are combining taffy apples with a broader delivery order, browse the full delivery menus so everything can be scheduled together

Where taffy apples fit into a broader fall catering plan

Many of our clients treat Halloween as the opening act of a longer fall and holiday catering season that runs through Thanksgiving and into the winter holidays. If you already have a Thanksgiving date on the calendar, it is worth looking at the current seasonal offerings together rather than ordering piecemeal. For a broader autumn spread beyond just treats, our team can also point you toward complementary delivery options for the season.

If your event is closer to a full party than a treat table, whether that is an office Halloween celebration with staffing and setup or a themed social event, our full-service holiday party team can help build that out separately from a delivery order.

A note on planning around allergies and dietary needs

Nut allergies come up often with taffy apple orders, especially for office and school-adjacent events. If you know your guest list includes people with nut allergies, ask about a nut-free topping option when you place your order, and consider labeling each variety clearly on the table. The same goes for any guests who prefer a lighter topping, such as plain caramel without add-ins. A quick note in your order request lets the kitchen build a batch that fits your crowd instead of a one-size-fits-all box.

How much to order for a group

A rough rule of thumb: plan on one taffy apple per adult guest for a party where other desserts are also on the table, and closer to one and a half per person if taffy apples are the only sweet option. For offices, count on somewhat lower uptake since not everyone in a building will stop by the break room, but it is better to order slightly over than to run out by midafternoon. If you are unsure how a specific headcount translates to an order size, our team can help you land on the right number based on similar past events.

Ready to order or plan ahead

If you are ready to lock in taffy apples for a party, office celebration, or gift order, start with the current menu or browse our full delivery menus for everything available this fall. Have questions about quantities, timing, or a custom gift order, reach our team through the contact page and we will help you plan it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have been handed the corporate holiday party this year, you already know the job is bigger than picking a menu. A good office party is really four projects stacked on top of each other: a venue that can hold your headcount comfortably, a food and bar plan that fits your culture, a staffing and rentals plan that makes the room function, and a timeline that keeps all three from colliding in early December. Our full-service holiday party team builds parties across Chicago and the North Shore every season, and this guide walks through the same milestones we use with our own clients.

Whether you are hosting forty people in your own office or three hundred at an off-site venue, the sequence below holds. Work through it roughly in order, and you will avoid the two most common problems we see: a venue booked before the headcount is settled, and a bar plan added as an afterthought once spending is already committed elsewhere.

Start with headcount and format, not the menu

Before you call a single venue, get a realistic headcount range and decide on format. A seated dinner, a cocktail-style reception, and a lunch buffet all require different room sizes, different staff-to-guest ratios, and different rental lists. Ask yourself:

• Is this a full-company event or a department-level gathering?
• Are spouses, partners, or clients invited, since that can change headcount by 30 to 50 percent?
• Does leadership want speeches or an awards moment, which affects room layout and AV needs?
• Is this a daytime lunch, an after-work reception, or an evening dinner?

Once you have a range and a format, venue and menu conversations move much faster.

Choosing a venue that actually works for catering

Not every attractive venue is set up to support a full-service catering team. Before you sign a contract, confirm:

• Kitchen or staging access for our culinary team, even if it is a small prep area rather than a full kitchen
• Loading dock or service entrance access, especially for downtown high-rise venues
• Electrical capacity for chafing equipment, bars, and lighting
• Floor plan flexibility for a bar, buffet lines, or seated rounds
• Any in-house catering exclusivity clauses that could conflict with bringing in outside catering

Corporate clients frequently choose hotel ballrooms, private clubs, and unique event spaces across the city and North Shore, including venues in Northbrook, Highland Park, and Lake Forest. If your venue search is still open, our team can point you toward locations we already know how to service well.

Building the menu around your culture, not a template

A corporate holiday party menu should reflect how your company actually eats and drinks the rest of the year. A stations-based format with a carving station, a pasta bar, and a few passed appetizers works well for a mingling crowd. A plated dinner suits a more formal leadership event. A lunch buffet with lighter fare fits a midday celebration where people are heading back to desks afterward.

A few menu planning notes worth keeping in mind:

• Build in at least one vegetarian and one gluten-free option per course, since corporate guest lists tend to have more dietary requests than family events
• Ask your team about religious and cultural dietary needs early, not the week of the party
• If your office already has favorite dishes from past events, tell your catering contact. Repeat requests are common and easy to build around
• Consider a lighter dessert table if the party follows a heavy lunch culture, or a bigger dessert moment for an evening event

For groups planning a full holiday season menu, it is worth reviewing the current corporate holiday menu before finalizing selections, since seasonal items and stations rotate each year.

Bar service: the detail that gets decided too late

Bar service is one of the most underplanned parts of a corporate holiday party, and it is also one of the pieces most likely to need a rental order, licensed bartenders, and glassware. Decide early on:

• Open bar, limited selection, or beer and wine only
• Whether a signature holiday cocktail fits your event
• How many bar stations you need for your headcount, since a single bar for 150 guests creates long lines
• Whether the venue allows outside alcohol service or requires working through their in-house program

Bar decisions affect staffing counts and rental orders, so settle this alongside the menu rather than after.

Rentals, staffing, and the details guests notice

Full-service catering includes far more than food. Tables, linens, chairs, glassware, a bar setup, and event staff all need to be planned against your venue and guest count. A few areas worth confirming with your catering team:

• Table and chair counts based on final headcount, plus a buffer for last-minute additions
• Linen colors and styling that match your company’s holiday theme, if there is one
• Staff-to-guest ratios for the format you have chosen, since a plated dinner needs more service staff than a stations event
• Setup and breakdown timing against the venue’s own schedule, particularly for shared or rented spaces

Timeline: when to lock each milestone

Corporate holiday parties in Chicago tend to cluster in the first three weeks of December, which means venues, staff, and rental inventory book up fast. For a fuller week-by-week breakdown, see our booking milestones guide. At a high level:

• Ten to twelve weeks out: confirm headcount range, format, and venue
• Eight weeks out: finalize menu direction and bar plan
• Four to six weeks out: lock rentals, staffing counts, and dietary accommodations
• Two weeks out: confirm final headcount and any last details with your catering team

If your office needs a lighter-lift option instead of a full event, our corporate delivery team handles drop-off catering for smaller gatherings or daytime celebrations that do not need a full staffed setup.

Ready to plan your corporate holiday party

A great corporate holiday party comes down to sequencing: headcount and format first, venue and menu next, bar and rentals locked well before the event, and a timeline that respects how fast December books up. Start with our full-service holiday party page to see how we approach corporate events across Chicago and the North Shore, or reach our team directly through the contact page to start a proposal for your date.

Frequently Asked Questions