4 Outrageously Expensive and Lavish Company Holiday Parties

It’s officially holiday office party season and we all want to do something that makes a splash! Though lavish holiday parties went out of style when the economy took a dive, the industry is bouncing back and companies are eager to show off their bottom line and perk their employees and investors by throwing bashes that make headlines. Here are three examples of companies that threw some memorable bashes.

GoDaddy.com

Held at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ home of Chase Field, GoDaddy.com’s bash featured bumper-cars, a Ferris wheel, and staff could try to win a part of the $1 million in cash giveaways. George Thorogood, Jewel, as well as ZZ Top all performed. It makes that top-shelf open bar you had seem a bit lame, right? They had good reason to hold a celebration because of a 25% year-over-year boost in sales, and employees are still talking about the party to this day.

Bacardi

In the past, Bacardi welcomed 1,800 of its brand ambassadors out to Central Park’s Wollman Skating Rink for its year end gratitude party. Attendees were welcomed by Santa Claus in one of a couple of ways — either within the form of Bacardi girls clad in red-colored suits or the plumper version of Santa complete with elves. (With both, photo ops were encouraged.) Their party favor was, pretty fittingly, a personally-engraved cocktail shaker. And of course, the spirits were Bacardi.

MTV Networks

New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom hosted legends such as Jay-Z and Dave Matthews Band, and it’s also the place in which MTV Networks gave their 2007 Christmas party — the bash rumored to have been priced at around $1 million and had staff members talking all year long. Nothing exudes the yuletide spirit more than models involved in Twister inside snow globes (they had them on hand). However, while the decorations were over the top, there was no food offered, according to sources, and an overabundance of clear liquids left most guests drunk. Also available was deejay Cassidy who spun tunes from the ‘80s and kept guests dancing all night long.

UBS

Banking giant UBS outdid itself in 2007 and held its holiday celebrations underneath the enormous whale inside the Hall of Ocean Life in the Museum of Natural History. Around 5,000 people were in attendance at the soirée that had a budget of $1.5 million, according to a person who worked on the event. That means cost averaged $300/ person! I hope the liquor they served was top-shelf, and the guests returned for seconds, because the next year they passed on celebrations and instead made a donation of $100,000 to charity.

Though it’s unlikely you’ll be able to match any of the above over-the-top celebrations, it’s still important to show your employees you care this year. Consider a less expensive and lavish version of these escapades to help your team ring in the new year!