Christmas Party Venues Canberra

The end of the year is the busy stretch for work functions in the ACT, so the rooms that suit a team party get claimed early. Decide on lunch or evening first, since a weekday cellar-door lunch out at Murrumbateman and a Friday night in a Braddon bar are different bookings with different budgets.

Per-head packages on these listings run from $20 per person for canapés at a Braddon pub to $88 per person at a Civic restaurant with six function spaces. Large departments can stay in the suburbs too, with a club ballroom in Woden and an upper-floor event centre in Belconnen.

What a December booking needs to cover:

• Heat: summer afternoons can be hot, so shade, air conditioning or an indoor fallback matters for a garden or terrace party.
• Format: a seated set menu suits speeches and thank-yous to the team, while a stand-up canapé party mixes people who rarely work together.
• Location for a spread-out team: a room in Civic or Barton keeps the trip fair for staff from Belconnen, Gungahlin, Woden and Tuggeranong.
• Drinks: ask whether the package includes a bar tab, a set drinks list or a minimum spend, such as a $2,000 minimum spend to take over a Braddon cocktail bar.
• Getting home: for a wine district lunch, book a party bus or wine tour operator rather than leaving it to staff.

For the whole planning picture, read the Christmas party and corporate event guides, or add a team building activity before dinner. A Murrumbateman winery with a function centre for up to 120 suits a whole team out of town.