Holiday Parties Dos & Don'ts

Can you believe it's already that time of year again. I just had my first holiday party of the year and I figure I should do a post about the Dos and Don'ts of work place holiday parties.

I use to think that the Dos and Don'ts of work place holiday parties were pretty self evident. At least that's what I thought when I would see articles about how to behave at work place holiday parties pop up around this time of year.  I use to scoff at these articles, until I attended my first work place holiday party, I have seen things I can not un-see.

If this is your first work place holiday party and you're not sure how to navigate one, I highly recommend you to keep reading.


Since my work is in association with 2 different departments, I usually end up having about 3 holiday parties.  The first one, that takes place in a hall and involves a lot of dancing, then I have one that is a sit down dinner, usually in a 4-5 star restaurant, and of course, I can't forget about our pot luck.

• Do dress appropriately,  I have seen people show up in jeans and T's, but come on people it's a holiday work related party, put in a little effort. Remember you are representing your department, plus people will definitely notice what you're wearing. If you're not sure how dressy or causal these parties are, you can never go wrong with a LBD. In my opinion over dressing is way better than under dressing.
• Don't dress like you're going clubbing (i.e cleavage is out, tight dresses that end right under your butt, or showing too much skin). REMEMBER it's a work related party. You don't want to be that girl that every guy is gawking at. Unless that's what you want.
• Do wear appropriate foot wear. I can't say I follow this rule myself especially since my heels are always a little to high for a night of dancing. But people, please leave the stripper like heels at home.

Tip: Try on your outfit before the party, especially if you haven't worn the dress in a while and you don't remember how it fits.  I had in mind an outfit, but when I put everything together, it just didn't work. But since I tried it on a week before, I had plenty of time to figure out a alternate outfit.

• Keep the dancing PG-13. REMEMBER these are you co-workers and peers, not to mention your boss is most likely present.  You're not in the club, so leave any grinding, twerking, and thrusting moves out. To this day I can not walk past one of the lab techs without thinking about how he was thrusting a chair. Or how a ex-coworker decided to "pretend" whip the butt of hostess of the party with a glow stick. Rumor has it, someone has it on video!

Tip: stick to dancing with your group of friends, even though this reminds me so much of high school dances, where everyone pretty much just danced in a giant circle. But this is a great way to avoid the creepy guys that like to grind up on you. I've been pulled out of this situation multiple times by my co-workers!

• Do be careful of how much you drink. This should be a given, but I've noticed how easy it is to consume way to much alcohol at holiday parties, I've been to dinners where the waiter was basically topping off my glass each time I took a sip. Remember, it's ok to signal the waiter that you don't want any more wine.  You definitely don't want to be the one remembered as throwing up all over the place.
• Don't show up already drunk to the holiday party. At my old job, I remember asking a co-work how was the party and his response "Why, what did you hear?" Turns out his bday also landed on the same day as the party and his friends thought it would be nice to celebrate with him before the party. The not so nice thing they did, was dropping him off at the party completely drunk.
• Don't be the loud obnoxious one, making rude comments or banging on the table.  We had one at this holiday party, and basically everyone was thinking who is this guy and is he already drunk?
• Do have fun, holiday parties are just a small token of appreciation for all your hard work throughout the year!

Are there any other Dos and Don'ts? Feel free to comment below.

I'll try to post my holiday parties outfit. We're experiencing a mild Fall so far, so it may be possible.