With 6,000 square feet of floor space to work with and 20-foot high ceilings, SKY Hangar offers a self-contained Christmas party room unlike any other for your holiday gathering.
Perhaps 2024 will be the year you add to the festive excitement by incorporating an innovative colour scheme, dramatic lighting, or eclectic performers and games to make the evening more merry and bright!
SKY Hangar is here to help.
Choosing the Right Theme
Attendees stepping out for a night of holiday cheer expect a good meal, a couple of cocktails, and some pleasing ambiance. That said, it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone will be so keen about singing Christmas carols all night.
Here are three safe bets if you’re looking for a theme to step up your company’s Christmas party plans. Each one has the potential to impress everyone from your company’s president to the office Grinch.
Classic Winter Wonderland
The Classic Winter Wonderland theme recreates the spectacle of a snowy winter’s landscape and the childlike awe it inspires. The goal is to include a variety of the season’s most familiar visual motifs. This can be achieved with the following items:
- Twinkling string lights
- Decorative white tulle and cotton batting
- Frosted Christmas trees
- Bare branches painted white and other earthy features
- Shiny ornaments
- Flameless candles
- Chilly-looking illumination in cool hues
- Projected stars, snowflakes
- Ice sculptures
- Snow globes
Rustic Charm
Nostalgia and throwbacks to Christmases past are popular tropes around the holiday season. These parties incorporate natural outdoor elements to recreate the feel of a cozy cottage or farmhouse on a cold winter’s night. These events often feature:
- Lots of greenery, wreaths, pine cones and garlands
- Antique furnishings
- Vintage Christmas decorations
- Scented candles
- Potpourri
- Lanterns and festoon lights
- Burlap and wicker
- Plaid textiles
- Cocktails served in mason jars
Glamorous Holiday Soiree
The more generic your holiday theme, the more freedom you’ll have, which is why you can’t go wrong by branding your Christmas party as a “glamorous” event. This type of party will encourage everyone to dress to the nines. Some of the familiar elements found at these types of soirees include:
- Metallic balloons and streamers
- Dramatic lighting with neon accents
- LED Christmas trees
- Illuminated curtain lights
- Specialty cocktails
- Photo booths
- Lightboxes
- Bold, vibrant colours or contrasting tones
- Disco mirror balls, sparkly decorations
- A DJ spinning tunes
- Custom vinyl floor wraps
Decorating Sky Hangar
Our hangar is your blank canvas. We only ask that you refrain from damaging any surface during your decorating. We are transparent about our policies and happy to give you a rundown of the do’s and don’ts of our location.
With written permission from our manager, we can arrange a scissor lift for hanging banners, drapery, and other decorations along our venue’s suspended lighting truss.
Other decorative add-ons on-site include our black panelling and white chiffon drapes to cover the back of the stage and main hangar door.
FYI. Between November and January, our building has a lot of Christmassy decor already set up. Get in touch to learn more about what is (and isn’t) included with your rental package.
Entrance Decor
You have multiple opportunities at SKY Hangar to create that much sought-after wow factor. Upon your initial walk up to our building, you will enter a foyer where guests can sign in or receive special instructions for the evening.
From there, you enter through double doors to the main hangar. This is where you can unleash your imagination and treat your guests to something spectacular upon their entrance, be it a holiday-themed archway, winter floral arrangements, rows of glowing LED balloons, or anything you wish. It’s your party, go wild!
Lighting
In addition to our venue’s house lights, we have dedicated stage lights to highlight key presenters or pre-determined sections of the room. Upon request, SKY Hangar will adorn your celebrations with the ever-popular Edison String Lights we bring out for special occasions.
If your plans call for extensive use of laser light projectors, fairy lights, LED tubes, or any other rented lighting setups, please double-check with us for the go-ahead first. We’re pretty accommodating to most requests.
Candles are permitted on tables but must be enclosed in a holder/container. No open flames are allowed as per local fire codes.
Table Settings
Our vendor list offers a host of caterers and rental companies that supply everything necessary to feed your guests in style. We provide tables and chairs for all Christmas bookings. Our all-inclusive holiday package includes table linens, charger plates, centrepieces, and linen napkins. SKY Hangar can put you in touch with other vendors to supply everything else you need to enhance your holiday dining.
Photo Booth Area
Anytime you get a group of friends and colleagues together, you can trust someone will want to take pictures. SKY Hangar happens to be very photogenic with our bold white floors, walls, and contemporary industrial aesthetic. Our venue makes a lovely backdrop for social media posts.
In our experience, commercial photo booth vendors are always a big draw for guests. These service providers ensure nobody is left out of the shot and offer a range of fun and engaging ways to document your holiday gathering. Capture lasting memories with sophisticated 360 video booths, runway cams, digital guestbooks, and more.
Interactive Elements
If you want to distinguish your Christmas Party from others, consider interactive party elements for entertaining your guests. If you want to impress your staff, why not give them something to discuss the following Monday? Here are some ideas that will add a little spice to the proceedings.
- Roaming performers such as living statues, dancers, or magicians
- Holiday Feud (like the TV game show)
- Christmas comedy roasts
- Carnival activities
- Arcade machines
- Duelling pianos
- Circus shows
- Make it-yourself food and drink stations
Catering Options
SKY Hangar is proud to recommend the many local caterers, food trucks, and bar service companies found on our Recommended Vendors page.
The items below may be open to discussion. However, most food and beverage professionals can tell you what will work best for your event.
Seasonal Dishes
When the crew at SKY Hangar thinks about “holiday cuisine,” we imagine honey-glazed ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, Christmas prime rib, and roasted turkey. When it comes to satisfying people’s appetites (and the ultimate success of your party), we say give the people what they want.
Many of our recommended vendors cater to more exotic global tastes.
Buffet vs Plated Service
People automatically assume buffets are the cheaper option based on the reduced number of wait staff required. However, the cost of food may go up based on the number of items available and the catering company’s accounting for people taking extra portions. Check with your selected catering vendor for the wisest use of your Christmas party budget.
Dessert Stations
The holidays are synonymous with baked goods, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little creative in your distribution of desserts.
Hot cocoa, hot apple cider, and eggnog stations will surely be popular throughout the evening.
In addition to the anticipated pastries, why not throw in some good old-fashioned candy options you might find in a stocking to appease people’s inner child?
Custom-designed cookies (with your company’s logo), ice cream sundae buffets, or rootbeer float stations are just some of the left-field add-ons you can throw in to mix things up.
And don’t forget about fresh fruit for those thinking healthy.
Beverage Selection
You can’t go wrong with having a good selection of cold beer, wines, and bottled waters. However, bringing in specialty providers with champagnes, martinis, whiskey cocktails, dessert coffees, and other libations is a popular way to make any holiday party feel even more celebratory and festive.
Dietary Restrictions
Vegan options and nut allergies are commonly acknowledged in public settings. But did you know there are more than 160 food items that can trigger allergic reactions? The key to prevention is in your event’s open and transparent communication.
Prompt people to express any allergy concerns when they RSVP
- Provide invitees with menu information ahead of time
- Discuss any special dining requests with the caterer before the date
- Clearly label and identify any problem ingredients for your guests
Entertainment Ideas
Many guests will be stoked to savour the holiday atmosphere after the meal and mandatory presentations are done. As a party planner (or the person in charge of making the arrangements), it’s up to you to amuse those in attendance. Fortunately for residents in the Greater Vancouver area, there is no shortage of terrific options.
If you’re looking for something different, you could hire Impressions Live Art and have a commemorative painting of your event carried out before your very eyes. Blue Crane Productions (acrobats, contortionists) offer elegant, memorable performances to complement your evening’s other activities.
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Live Music or DJ
Getting everyone to agree on a specific genre of music can be challenging. If you can’t decide on a local band, how about a multifaceted group or duelling pianos that offer a range of songs for all your attendees’ enjoyment. Of course, many will be looking to cut loose on the dance floor. SKY Hangar knows quite a few DJs and MCs who are talented at keeping the party going.
- ACDJ Vancouver
- Aftershock Roadshow
- Audio Edge Entertainment
- DJ Kemistry
- Decibel Entertainment Ltd.
- i-DJ Services
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Games & Activities
When a Secret Santa gift exchange isn’t enough to stimulate your team, you could always consider some of the more intriguing options listed below.
- Fraser Valley Party Rentals (snowball fight, slapshot hockey, games of skill, etc.)
- Houle Games (air hockey tables, electronic dart boards, etc.)
- Let’s Bounce Inflatables Ltd. (bouncy castles, table rentals, etc.)
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Guest Speakers
Just because it’s a holiday party, it doesn’t mean you can’t take the opportunity to motivate the troops while everyone is in the same room. A quick search online will bring up any number of local speakers or comedians who can entertain your party with positive messaging. Only you will know which one makes the most sense for your business.
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Dance Floor
At a certain point in the evening, people will want to dance. Our advice? Ensure you always have a designated space for those looking to bust a move.
Logistics & Planning
If you’re in charge of the party planning and would like to book at SKY Hangar, check out our Policies, FAQs, & Recommended Vendors guide. Which covers all of the following:
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Timeline
How much time do you need? How much time do you have left? SKY Hangar is here to help keep your event on schedule.
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Budget
What are the costs of retaining SKY Hangar as your holiday party venue? What are the expenses you want to avoid? We outline it all here.
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Vendor Coordination
As a seasoned venue operator, SKY Hangar will steer you toward the companies we know and respect in the industry.
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Event Day Management
Although you don’t necessarily need a designated coordinator to make your Christmas party a success, it sure does help. We can put you in touch with some of the Lower Mainland’s very best.
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Accessibility Considerations
SKY Hangar provides two wheelchair-accessible bathrooms on our main floor, designated parking stalls, and an entrance ramp.
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Safety Measures
Your booking at SKY Hangar includes at least one security guard to ensure the guests’ safety. Depending on the number of attendees, additional staff could be added at our venue’s discretion.
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Post-Event Follow-Up
The success of your Christmas party or holiday event is important to us. We encourage your honest feedback.
Conclusion
The winter wonderland you seek is available right now! Book your in-person tour and discover why so many Vancouver businesses have utilized our space for corporate presentations, fundraising initiatives, and Christmas party celebrations. We look forward to hearing what you have planned.