Why You Should Book Your Holiday Party in the Summer (And How to Do It at Pickle & Chill)
It's July. The pool's open, the patio season is in full swing, and your company holiday party is probably the last thing on your mind.
That's exactly why now is the best time to book it.
Every year, the same thing happens: planners wait until October or November to start looking for a venue, only to find their top choices are already booked, their preferred dates are gone, and they're scrambling to make something work. Booking in summer flips that script entirely — and it comes with some real advantages beyond just "getting it over with."
The pros of booking your holiday party in summer
1. You get first pick of dates. Thanksgiving week, the weekends before and after Christmas, and New Year's Eve are the most requested dates of the entire year for any event venue. Booking in July or August means you're choosing from a wide-open calendar instead of fighting over what's left.
2. You avoid the fall planning crunch. October and November are when every event venue, caterer, and planner in town gets buried in requests at once. Booking now means you skip the bottleneck completely. No waiting on emails, no settling for a venue's second-choice date because someone else got there first.
3. Pricing and availability for add-ons are better. Popular extras, like a dedicated bartender, an event captain, or a tournament coordinator, get booked up fast for the holiday season. Reserving early means you actually get the add-ons you want, not whatever's left over.
4. It takes one thing off your plate before Q4 gets busy. For most companies, Q4 is already packed with year-end deadlines, budget closeouts, and planning for the year ahead. Locking in your holiday party now means one less thing to think about when things get hectic.
5. You can plan a better event, not just a faster one. When you're not rushing to book whatever's available, you actually have time to think through the details: catering, activities, headcount, add-ons. Instead of throwing something together at the last minute.
6. Your team appreciates the heads-up. Employees (and their families, if they're invited) get more excited about an event they've had on the calendar for months versus one they hear about two weeks before it happens. Early booking means earlier announcements, which means better attendance.
The bottom line
Booking a holiday party in July might feel like jumping the gun, but it's really just smart planning. You get better dates, better availability on the extras you want, and a lot less stress heading into the busiest season of the year.
Ready to get ahead of it? Submit an event request today!
