Once you have chosen workplace catering for your Christmas celebration, settle who the occasion is for before sending invitations. A staff-only gathering can be designed around colleagues spending time together. Inviting adult plus-ones means planning a welcome for people who may know nobody except the colleague bringing them. That is a different hosting brief, not simply a larger food order.
For an office in Canning Town, the Royal Docks or Canary Wharf, start with three decisions: the social experience you want, what your employer approves and whom your building permits you to admit.
GOV.UK lists Christmas Day as Friday 25 December 2026. Treat that as the seasonal occasion, not your catering date: give suppliers your actual celebration date, which may be earlier in December.
Compare the two experiences
| Decision | Staff-only | Staff with adult plus-ones |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Choose this for colleague conversation, team appreciation and catching up beyond everyday tasks. | Choose this if you want to welcome guests into the celebration, rather than centre everything on work. |
| Hosting approach | Help colleagues mix beyond their usual teams. | Plan introductions and activities that do not depend on knowing office stories. |
| Invitation promise | Make clear that the invitation is for staff only. | Define one optional adult guest, who qualifies and whether guests attend the whole occasion. |
| Catering scope | Describe the staff gathering and its agreed food-service window. | Explain whether staff and guests eat together or whether guest arrivals create a separate food requirement. |
Choose staff-only if your priority is time between colleagues and you do not want the organiser or team members to take on a guest-hosting role. Do not present it as a lesser celebration: explain its colleague-focused purpose.
Choose adult plus-ones if welcoming people from outside work is part of the purpose and you can support that welcome. Keep bringing a guest optional, and design the occasion so colleagues attending alone are equally included.
As a hypothetical example, a team planning departmental thank-yous and conversations about the year might choose staff-only. A team planning a largely social gathering might include adult guests and keep work-specific speeches brief. Neither format is automatically more generous or more sociable.
Get employer approval for the guest policy
Ask the person authorising the celebration to approve a clear proposal, rather than an ambiguous request for “partners welcome”. Resolve these questions before invitations:
- Is this intended as a staff thank-you or a celebration that includes outside guests?
- If guests are included, does “plus-one” mean a partner only, or any adult guest chosen by the colleague?
- Is the same invitation rule being offered consistently across the intended staff group?
- Does approval cover catering for guests as well as employees?
- Who will welcome guests and make introductions without leaving colleagues attending alone on the sidelines?
Record the agreed wording. For example, a proposed invitation could say: “You are welcome to bring one adult guest; coming on your own is equally welcome. Please confirm whether you will bring someone when replying.” Use this only after the guest policy is approved.
Check guest access separately from employer approval
Do not treat approval from your employer as confirmation of building access. Ask your building manager or workplace facilities contact whether external social guests may enter the proposed space on the actual date and during the proposed hours.
Ask whether guests need advance registration, identification, a staff escort or a named host. Confirm which rooms and facilities they may use, whether the combined group is permitted in the chosen space, and any accessibility arrangements that need discussing. These are questions to resolve, not assumptions about your building.
If permission remains uncertain, hold back the plus-one invitation. A provisional guest policy should not become a promise that you later need to withdraw.
Explain the additional catering scope
Keep staff and guest estimates separate in your enquiry, but explain the experience behind those figures. Will everybody share one eating period? Will guests arrive after a staff-only welcome? Are you asking for one shared food selection, or do individual requests need discussion?
For a hypothetical staff-first celebration, ask whether the proposed catering can accommodate the later guest arrival; do not assume food ordered for the earlier gathering covers it. Ask the supplier to identify any change in quantities, service arrangements or equipment requirements, and distinguish what they could provide from what your office would organise.
Zzetta is an independent stone-oven pizzeria, established in 2018. Halal, Vegan and Gluten-Free options are available from one shared flame-fired kitchen. Discuss specific ingredients and individual suitability with staff; those options are not a promise of allergen-safe preparation or suitability for coeliac disease. Use the menu as a starting point for questions, not as confirmation of a Christmas catering selection.
Send one clear enquiry
Once the guest policy and access position are settled, adapt this proposed message:
“We are planning a workplace Christmas celebration with [staff only / staff and optional adult plus-ones]. Our actual date is [date], at [workplace address and postcode]. We estimate [number] staff and [number] adult guests. Employer approval and guest-access permission are [status]. We plan [one shared eating period / staff first, guests joining later], with food wanted at [time]. Individual dietary requests are [details, or requests still being collected]. Please confirm whether you can accommodate this enquiry and explain the proposed catering scope, what our office would need to arrange and what remains to be confirmed.”
Visit the Catering Hub and choose Get a Quote, or enquire by WhatsApp or phone. These are enquiry routes, not confirmation of festive availability.
Zzetta – Soul Fired Pizza · 110 Barking Road, Canning Town, London E16 1EN · 020 3904 7074 · WhatsApp +44 7852 272312 · ciao@zzetta.co.uk