How To Plan the Perfect Company Picnic

1.) Decide who’s invited.

• Determine if this is going to be an employee-only or family-friendly event.
• Meeting families gives your team insight into each other’s lives; having employees only encourages more conversations between co-workers.

2.) Pick a day and time.

• From our informal research, most people appreciate a team building activity scheduled during work hours. We recommend a late lunch activity. For example, plan the picnic from 11 am – 3 pm and then give people the rest of the afternoon off.
• If including families, weekends probably work best and we’ve found Sunday mornings are well attended. We recommend 10 am – 2 pm.
• Regardless of the time, the ideal picnic length is 3-4 hours. We don’t recommend anything longer.

3.) Pick an easily accessible outdoor venue.

• In San Diego, we have multiple options including public parks, beaches, and even grassy areas connected to restaurants and event venues.
• We recommend visiting the location at the same day of the week and time as your picnic to gauge crowds and general vibe.
• Please note public spaces might require a reservation or permit. Call your local Parks and Recreation department for more information. They can also advise if there’s another event planned for the same day and time as yours.
• For events with less than 25 people, reservations or permits might not be required; in this case, we recommend reserving space for your event first thing in the morning to guarantee a spot.
• We recommend selecting a venue close to your office since your team is already used to making that commute.
• If you’re flying in a remote team, select a venue at or close to the hotel where your team is staying.
• Make sure your venue has easily accessible parking, waste disposal, and bathrooms available.

4.) Order F&B (food and beverages).

• Generally speaking, food and drinks will be the most expensive item, and there are lots of options.
• Hire someone – we recommend a mobile taco stand, food truck, or caterer. If your picnic is at a public place, make sure your vendor knows the rules and regulations for the venue.
• DIY – you can order food and pick it up from Costco, Whole Foods, or other grocery vendors or restaurants that can accommodate large groups.
• Take-out restaurants and deli’s can be a great source for casual catering options.
• Make sure you have coolers on hand to keep beverages cold.
• Look up the rules about adult beverages; in many public spaces, for example, alcohol is not permitted.

5.) Select entertainment.

• Music is a must! At the very least, make sure you have a big Bluetooth speaker and music playlist ready to go; if you want to go big and budget allows, consider hiring a DJ or live band.
• If families are invited, consider hiring a balloon animal artist, face painter, or magician.
• We do NOT recommend inflatables such as bounce houses or giant inflatable slides – while these are great for kids’ parties, they tend to be noisy and take up a lot of space.
• Provide interactive leisure games like cornhole, bocce ball, ladder ball or more active games like spike ball and volleyball, or a mix of both.
• Other friendly competition options include giant games like Giant Jenga and Giant Connect 4.
• If you want to maximize interactions between your team, hire a team building company that can host the games and get everyone involved.

6.) Determine the setup.

• DIY option – If you’re a local company, you might ask people to bring their own canopies, tables, chairs, and/or blankets.
• Many venues have existing picnic tables or gazebos, and a good old-fashioned blanket on the grass is also a great option.
• For bigger groups or if you’re coming from out of town, consider hiring a company to set up canopies, tables, and chairs for you. It’s worth the cost and up levels the presentation of your picnic.
• With either professional catering/set up or DIY, we recommend spending some money on your decor, such as linen tablecloths (not plastic), nicer serving ware (consider compostable options).
• Incorporate company logos and colors in your theme to make your team and brand stand out in the outdoors.