Are you the one that has gotten the job of planning your company’s annual holiday party? This yearly celebration can be fun, but it becomes significantly more stressful if you’re the one in charge of putting it on. Even if you have additional help with a co-planner (that also happens to be a co-worker), your troubles may not be over.

There is a way to throw a great employee holiday party, even if you’ve never done it before. You just have to get a basic idea of what you need to do, make some choices, and then go out and do it!

You may have planned parties before or you may be wondering just where it is that you have to start. Maybe you’re doing this solo or have some help with it. Regardless, the plan for tackling it is the same. You may have volunteered to do this or are taking one for the team because someone needs to do it and you want everyone to have a good time.

Regardless of the situation, it’s important to realize that most people can plan a party and it can come out decent. If you are having food come or music and entertainment, keep in mind that the more reliable the vendors, the more smoothly everything will run. Try to do your research and get recommendations (that you can trust) or check them out online and get a general sense of what they’re about.

You’ll want to make a basic outline of what’s going on for the party and what you need to figure out. Sit down and make a physical list. You may already have been told a few things about the party– work out the details early so that you can lock down what you need in advance. Figure out how many people are invited and whether employees are allowed to bring a guest.

Once you have the guest list, you can send out invitations. Decide early– paper (by which we mean a physical invite) or digital! It could even be a company email, depending on where you work. You should also let them know whether there will be alcohol there (and also whether it’s a paid or free bar if it is). You do have to figure out the venue, date, and time as well as potentially theme if you’re going to send out invites, though.

Food and drink will also be another thing to figure out. You want to know what type of food or drink you’re going to have there and what the set up is. Do you need catering done or is there a kitchen where things can be prepared? These are things to figure out. Take into account any special dietary needs of people that may be attending, such as gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free options, no nuts, and more.

Figure out any events that you might want to have as well. These could be games, it could be the handing out of bonuses. If you’re having a limbo contest, plan for that. You get the idea. Block out time, whether it’s for serving dessert or having a dance off with your coworkers.

The first part of planning any event is figuring out what is necessary or what people want for that event. You have to visualize what is going to be key, from food to music to a large venue. You’ve got to figure out the details, and those might have to be flexible depending on what type of budget you have.

There’s definitely a lot to figure out when planning any company party. For the holiday season in particular, you may be feeling a lot of pressure to get everything right! As long as you can take care of planning the basics and then booking everything and inviting people, you will be all set.

It’s about making a plan and then getting out there and making it happen. It might seem tough, but planning the annual party can be done. Stay focused on being on top of everything and you are sure to throw a fantastic party that everyone can enjoy.