Start by changing the question. The usual approach is to plan a drinking event and then work out what to offer the people who aren’t drinking, which is why so many staff parties leave a chunk of the team standing near the wall with a warm orange juice. Plan an event that works without alcohol, then put a bar at it. Nothing is lost — the people who want a drink still have one — and you stop building the evening around something a lot of your colleagues don’t take part in.
And it is a lot of them. Between health conditions, medication, pregnancy, religious observance, recovery, driving, cost, and simple preference, the proportion of any given workforce not drinking on a given night is much higher than most planners assume. Among younger employees it is higher still. If you have thirty people, you are not planning around two or three exceptions.
Here’s how to actually do it.
Work out what the evening is for
Most office parties fail at this stage rather than at the bar. “Drinks after work” isn’t a plan, it’s a default, and it hands the entire structure of the evening over to alcohol. Once the only activity is drinking, the people not drinking have nothing to do.
So decide what you want the evening to deliver. Thanking people at the end of a hard year is a different event from getting two teams who never speak to actually talk. A recognition evening wants seating, a running order and speeches. A mixing evening wants standing space, movement and something to talk about. A celebration wants music and a dance floor.
Any of those three work perfectly well sober. What doesn’t work sober is an unstructured evening in a room with nothing in it but a bar.
Feed people properly, and early
This is the single highest-impact decision you’ll make, and it’s routinely underestimated.
Substantial food, served reasonably early, changes the whole character of an evening. It gives everyone a shared activity that isn’t drinking. It slows the drinking of those who are. It gives people a reason to sit down and talk. And it means nobody is three hours in on an empty stomach.
Crisps and a bowl of chips at ten o’clock is not catering. Budget properly here, even if it means trimming elsewhere.
Ask for dietary requirements from everyone rather than waiting for people to volunteer them, give a firm deadline, and get allergies to the kitchen in writing. And make the non-meat and non-dairy options actual dishes, not an afterthought plate.
Take the soft drinks seriously
The gap between what venues stock for drinkers and non-drinkers is usually embarrassing. One side gets a full bar; the other gets cola, orange juice and lemonade.
Ask your venue specifically what they can offer beyond that. Alcohol-free beer and wine have improved enormously in the last few years. Decent mocktails made by someone who cares are genuinely good. Sparkling elderflower, proper lemonade, good coffee later in the evening — none of this is expensive or difficult, but it has to be requested in advance, because it won’t happen by default.
Two details that matter more than they should. Make sure the non-alcoholic options are visible on the bar rather than hidden under the counter, so nobody has to ask. And if there’s a welcome drink on arrival, have a non-alcoholic version handed out alongside the fizz — that first moment sets the tone for whether the evening is for everyone.
Watch the language
How you describe the event tells people whether they’re invited.
An invitation promising a “big night”, “drinks on the company” or “one to remember” is a clear signal to some of your colleagues that this is not their event. It’s rarely intended that way. It’s just habit.
Describe the evening instead: the food, the music, the venue, the time it starts and finishes. Mention that there’s a bar, because there is. Don’t make the bar the headline.
The same applies on the night. The person doing the speeches shouldn’t be joking about how much everyone’s had. And nobody should be asked why they aren’t drinking — least of all by a manager. That question is intrusive at the best of times and can force someone to disclose a health condition, a pregnancy or a recovery in front of colleagues. If you brief your senior people on one thing, make it this.
Structure the evening so it has an arc
An open-ended evening drifts towards the bar because there’s nothing else to do. Give it shape.
Arrival and drinks, food, any speeches or awards while people are still seated, then music. Speeches after the dancing has started never work. If you’re doing awards, keep them brisk and make sure they’re genuine — people can tell.
Consider what else fills the space between food and dancing. A photo booth, a quiz, a playlist people submitted to, live music. None of it needs to be elaborate. It just needs to give people who aren’t drinking a reason to still be there at half nine.
Give people a graceful exit
Not everyone wants to stay until the end, and that’s fine. Make it easy to leave without it being a thing.
Publish a finish time on the invitation so people can plan. Make sure the substantial part of the evening — the food, the thanks, the awards — happens early enough that someone leaving at ten hasn’t missed the point of it. Have taxi numbers to hand and check the last train times if people are travelling out of town.
A central venue hire in Luton near a station removes most of this problem. It’s a practical argument for staying in town rather than heading somewhere that requires everyone to drive or pre-book.
Choose a venue that can actually do it
When you’re viewing, ask these directly:
- What non-alcoholic options do you stock beyond the standard three?
- Can you make alcohol-free versions of the cocktails?
- What’s the catering like, and can we serve it early?
- Is there somewhere quieter to talk away from the music?
- What are the accessible facilities?
- What time does the music finish, and what time do we need to be out?
- Can we run a tab with a limit rather than an open bar?
That last one is worth thinking about. An unlimited free bar sends a message about what the evening is for, and it’s the arrangement most likely to end badly. A tab with a set limit, or drinks tokens plus a well-stocked soft drinks offer, is fairer to people who won’t use their share of a free bar anyway.
Frequently asked questions
Should we just make the party alcohol-free?
Usually not, unless your team specifically wants that. Removing the bar entirely can feel punitive and often gets read as a judgement. The aim is an evening where drinking is one option among several, not the organising principle.
What about a daytime or lunchtime event instead?
Worth considering, particularly for teams with caring responsibilities or long commutes. Daytime events are naturally less alcohol-centred and tend to be cheaper. The trade-off is that they can feel more like work.
How do we find out who doesn’t drink without singling people out?
Don’t ask. Ask about dietary requirements and preferences generally, offer good options to everyone, and let people choose without comment. Anyone who wants to explain will.
Won’t people just go to the pub afterwards?
Some will, and that’s their business. Your responsibility is the official event. What matters is that the part the company organised worked for everybody.
The whole thing comes down to one shift: build an evening people would enjoy without a drink, then serve drinks at it. Good food early, a clear structure, real options at the bar, an invitation that describes the event rather than the alcohol, and a venue that’s easy to get home from.
If you’re shortlisting somewhere in Bedfordshire, After Dark is a corporate event venue in Luton in the town centre, a short walk from the station, and the team can arrange a viewing so you can ask these questions in person.
Written by the team at After Dark Nightclub, a nightclub and private venue for hire on Upper George Street in central Luton, hosting office parties, corporate events and private celebrations.