Free planning guide
Montreal Corporate Holiday Party Planning Checklist
Written for HR managers, event coordinators and executive assistants who own the company party from first budget line to last song. Work through it in order and nothing lands on your desk the week of the event.
Greater Montreal, Laval, Rive-Sud, West Island and the Laurentians
1. Six to four months out — lock the fundamentals
December dates in Montreal go fast, and the best venues are gone by late summer. This is the stage that decides everything else.
- Confirm the budget envelope and who signs off on it.
- Set a headcount range rather than a firm number (it will move by 15–20%).
- Pick two candidate dates — a Thursday or Friday in early December is the sweet spot.
- Decide the format: seated dinner with speeches, cocktail reception, or gala with awards.
- Decide whether spouses, partners or clients are invited (it changes the room, the menu and the music).
- Shortlist three venues and ask each for a hold on your dates.
- Ask your DJ and production supplier to hold the date in writing before you sign the venue.
2. Questions to ask every venue before you sign
Montreal venues differ enormously on sound and power. These questions prevent the most expensive surprises.
- Is there a decibel limit or a noise curfew, and what time does music have to stop?
- What time can suppliers load in, and is there an elevator, loading dock or stairs?
- How many electrical circuits are available near the stage or DJ position?
- Is there a house sound system, and can outside equipment connect to it?
- Does the venue require a certificate of liability insurance from every supplier, and for what amount?
- Are there restrictions on rigging, uplighting, haze or fog machines?
- Who is the on-site contact the night of the event, and until what time are they there?
- What is the overtime rate if the party runs past the contracted end time?
3. Audio, lighting and AV requirements
Most corporate party complaints come down to two things: guests could not hear the speeches, and the room felt like a conference hall.
- Count the speeches and awards, then budget one wireless handheld mic per two presenters plus a spare.
- Add a lectern or lapel mic if the CEO reads from notes or moves while speaking.
- Confirm speech audio is heard evenly at the back tables, not just near the stage.
- Plan background music levels for cocktails and dinner separately from the dance set.
- Add venue uplighting to warm up a plain ballroom — it is the cheapest visual upgrade available.
- Confirm whether you need a screen and projector for a slideshow, video message or sponsor logos.
- Ask about a custom monogram or logo projection if the event is branded.
- Confirm cable management and a clean supplier setup — exposed wiring reads as unprofessional in photos.
- Ask who provides technical support if a laptop, mic or projector fails mid-speech.
4. Compliance, contracts and paperwork
This is the part that stalls approvals. Collect it early and it never becomes urgent.
- Certificate of liability insurance from each supplier, naming the venue where required.
- A signed contract with itemized deliverables, hours, arrival time and end time.
- Written confirmation of setup and teardown windows.
- Purchase order or invoicing details in the format your finance team accepts.
- A cancellation and postponement clause you can live with.
- Supplier contact list with mobile numbers for the day of the event.
- Alcohol service permits and security requirements confirmed by the venue.
5. Hosting, MCing and language
In Montreal a host who only works in one language quietly excludes part of your team. Bilingual hosting is not a nice-to-have.
- Confirm your host announces, transitions and interacts with guests in both French and English.
- Send the run of show: doors, welcome, dinner, speeches, awards, dance set, last call.
- Provide correct pronunciation and titles for everyone being introduced or receiving an award.
- Agree who cues the room to sit, to stand and to move to the dance floor.
- Decide how announcements are handled: full bilingual repetition, or alternating segments.
- Brief the host on anything sensitive: layoffs, retirements, a colleague who has passed, topics to avoid.
6. Music decisions your team should make, not your DJ
A corporate crowd spans several decades and departments. Direction from you is what keeps the floor full.
- Give a rough age and department mix so the set reads the room correctly.
- Supply a must-play list and, more importantly, a do-not-play list.
- Confirm clean or radio-edit versions only — explicit lyrics at a work event are a real risk.
- Choose the arrival and dinner mood: jazz, lounge, francophone classics, instrumental.
- Pick the moment the party turns: usually right after the last speech.
- Decide whether you want francophone and anglophone hits mixed throughout or in blocks.
- Name one person on your team who can approve a request in the moment.
7. Two weeks out and the day itself
Everything here is confirmation, not decision-making. If you are still deciding, something slipped.
- Reconfirm final headcount, table plan and stage position with the venue.
- Reconfirm arrival time, load-in access and soundcheck window with every supplier.
- Share the final run of show with the venue, the host and your leadership team.
- Confirm your own arrival time — before the suppliers, not with the guests.
- Walk the room at soundcheck and listen from the furthest table.
- Test every microphone with the actual presenter holding it.
- Assign someone to collect photos and video for internal communications afterward.
The short version
Book the date and the production before you finalize the details, get the insurance paperwork in early, budget properly for speech audio, and give your host real direction. Those four things separate a party people enjoy from one they endure.
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