15 Company Annual Dinner Theme Ideas

Wait, did we hear company annual dinner? Pretty clothes and free food, yay!

n annual dinner is a company event most employees look forward to since it is a day where colleagues dress up and get together for a big celebration with great food and company. A company annual dinner is also the best time to capture precious moments and memories with your colleagues, you will definitely need pretty backgrounds for that.

So rather than having a plain, boring setting at dinner, why not make your company annual dinner a themed incentive? Let us help you transform your function into a memorable evening with our 15 Company Annual Dinner Theme Ideas, carefully handpicked to bring you the awesome inspiration you need.

From masquerade and garden vibes to tropical paradise and ocean-like ambiance, you will be spoilt with too many annual dinner theme ideas to make a final decision on the theme!

1. The Great Gatsby

Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s popular novel, The Great Gatsby is a popular company annual dinner theme due to the fact that the black and gold color scheme or a backdrop that uses rich yet subtle colors like silver, beige and gray is classy and well-suited for such a formal event.

Decorate each table with metallic centrepieces and put up event decors that are gold- and silver-colored â€“ streamers, ribbons, table runners, candle holders, miscellaneous baubles. You can recommend your fellow colleagues to dress up in dapper suits and flapper dresses, plus silk scarves, pearls and feathers to keep up with the theme.

Also, consider playing some classical music to get some ballroom dancing going for the evening!

2. Casino Royale

Fancy James Bond and everything casino? You get to enjoy strong 007 vibes with this Casino Royale theme, centred around playing cards, gaming chips and dice, roulette with martinis, shaken not stirred, the signature drink style of our beloved secret agent.

This is a cool annual dinner theme idea where you can get creative with VIP dinner menus, invitation, table decors, photo booths and mystery games, including lucky draw coupons, ala casino and secret agent!

Incorporate casino-related motifs and mysterious designs at your dinner venue, and have everyone come in suits and black ties, elegant gowns and chic heels. This is the time they can reveal the inner spy within!

3. Hawaiian Luau

Get ready to celebrate your company annual dinner with a Hawaiian party theme in place! This annual dinner theme idea leans towards a casual function and serves as a refreshing change from working at the usual urban office space to dining at a tropical, nature-inspired setting.

Be sure to have the essential props or items that speak a Hawaiian luau: tropical fruits, inflatable floats, lei, rustic decors, skate boards, beach balls, traditional Hawaiian music, ukulele and drums.

Ask your colleagues to wear Hawaiian prints and grass skirts for the evening and just dance away the night!

4. Under the Sea

Under the sea, under the sea! As cheesy as this annual dinner theme idea can be since this is heavily influenced by Disney’s Little Mermaid, there is just something calm and enchanting about bluish oceanic set up.

As the theme implies, blue and white colors are must-haves with touches of gold and silver to complement those colors and make the event a grander affair. You can have tall candle holders with shells, artificial starfishes, seaweed streamers and pearls as your table centrepieces, and sand in tiny glass bottles as dinner favors.

Under the Sea is one of the popular company annual dinner theme ideas and you can never go wrong with it!

5. Secret Garden

Just when you thought your company annual dinner function could not get any more magical, this Secret Garden dinner theme idea is bound to make you fall in love with your company event.

Evoke the mystical atmosphere with plenty of hanging plants and fresh flowers. Place earthy or green toned table runners and drapes to go along with the garden theme and have either cut flowers with stalks in vases or potted plants as table centrepieces.

You could also enhance the Secret Garden setting with lit candles or LED lightbulbs to cast a dreamy glow to your overall dinner ambience.

6. Masquerade Party

A masquerade party is just what you need if being cool, sexy and mysterious is the agenda of the company dinner.

Have everyone wear their best outfit with a fancy, glittering mask on, because what’s a masquerade annual dinner theme without the biggest highlight of the theme and the masks?

This is also an annual dinner theme idea where everyone has the opportunity to disguise themselves and play pretend as some important figures or Greek goddesses, anything goes really. There are so many possibilities, so encourage your fellow office mates to be creative and look dashing for the night!

7. Movie Character Cosplay

Oh hey, it’s cosplay time and this is where the evening takes on an interesting twist as you see your colleagues turn up as superheroes or villains or drama characters for dinner!

This movie character cosplay theme calls for less focus on venue but places a lot of emphasis on guests themselves. Set movie cosplay as the dress code and you’ll be surprised to know the extent of your colleagues’ effort and creativity to pull off great likeness to popular movie characters!

Be sure to reward the best dressed and most creative cosplay costume and your colleagues truly deserve them!

8. Arabian Night

An Arabian Night is a night filled with colorful drapes and wonderfully vibrant setting, of carpets, magic lamps and cushions that combine to spell luxury. You don’t need to set up marquee tents to capture the Arabian Night essence (though that would be awesome of course) but be sure to splurge on plenty of flamboyant Moroccan decors to grace the space.

Make Arabian costumes the dress code for your company annual dinner to match the overall Arabian atmosphere you have there. To complement your event theme, consider having belly dance performances as part of the dinner highlights.

9. Winter Wonderland

You don’t have to wait for Christmas to experience a Winter Wonderland. Recreate the winter setting with blue, white and silver color scheme at your dinner venue and scatter props like cardboard snowflakes, snowmen and snow globes across tables, photo booths and entrances.

You could also place pine trees on stage and entrances, and bask the whole venue in blue and yellow lights for a more magical winter effect. Guests can take back favors in the form of chocolates, candies or desserts wrapped in winter-related packaging.

10. Jungle Safari

Go wild with this jungle related annual dinner theme idea! Like the name goes, the Jungle Safari theme allows your colleagues to get in touch with their tribal yet nature-loving side. This is also the moment where animal prints and earthy-toned wear are appreciated and highly encouraged.

Set up some palm trees as decor to enhance the jungle feel and play catchy songs for a fun safari night. Wild animal figurines can act as really cute table centrepieces, and you can also provide animal plushies for cuddling. It may not be a norm for company annual dinners but it definitely sets for a relaxing evening!

11. Retro Disco

If you are keen on reminiscing the good old times, head back to the 1960s and 1970s by throwing a retro disco night annual dinner for your company then!

This annual dinner theme idea is simple to execute and requires little effort to pull off a successful event. So long as you have a colourful backdrop, a good-sized dance space and some vintage props like old telephones and vintage records to decorate photo booths and dinner tables plus flashing disco lights, you are good to go!

Keep your guests dancing to disco beats more than eating and drinking during your company annual dinner. Play popular songs like Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive and Village People’s YMCA and these disco party songs will definitely get your colleagues body and feet moving!

12. Harry Potter

Fans of Harry Potter, rejoice! Embrace a magical witch and wizard setting as prompted by the famous Harry Potter book series by JK Rowlings during your company annual dinner, complete with magician’s cloak and even witch or wizard hat!

Props for the theme include broomsticks, fake owls, thick vintage tomes, potions and candles to make the wizarding world more surreal. Use vintage looking fonts on invitations, backdrops and menus to match this magic-filled annual dinner theme idea.

Simple yet stylish, this Harry Potter theme will keep your colleagues mesmerized throughout the evening. Consider grouping your guests according to the four Houses of Hogwarts and throw in some team building games to spark some activity!

13. Pirates and Princesses

Ahoy, me hearties! Play as pirates and princesses in this entertaining annual dinner theme featuring one-eyed patches, swords and damsels in (dinner) distress.

There are plenty of ways to organize this theme depending on the scale and budget you have in mind. You could have a simple set up using white cloths as sails and thick ropes to represent a pirate’s ship, or you could enlist the help of an event management company to place a decorated pirate ship as the main attraction if fancy decor is what you envision!

By the way, do put on some Pirates of the Caribbean theme songs in between, matey!

14. Ancient Egyptian

Perhaps you are looking to host an elegant, classy yet mystical annual dinner this round? Go for the Ancient Egyptian theme then!

Exuding exotic and sophisticated vibes, the Ancient Egyptian theme idea is simply beautiful in overall design. Drape gold and purple cloths and ribbons around the venue, tables and chairs, and have some palm trees and pyramids in place to manifest that Egyptian aura.

It would also be cool to incorporate glyph-like motifs in your cards, menus, stage backdrop and photo booths. Encourage your colleagues to dress according to theme and it’s the only chance for pharaohs, Egyptian princesses and mummies to rule the evening!

15. Bollywood

Hide behind pillars and pop out dramatically, then sing and dance. Unleash the inner diva with this annual dinner theme idea Bollywood!

Furnish your dinner venue with all things Indian or items related to the Indian movie industry, such as famous Indian movie star posters, rodeo wheels, oil lamps, garlands, colorful paper crepes and fabric. Create invitations and menus whereby the fonts resemble Indian writings.

Treat your colleagues to Bollywood music and organize a Bollywood dance competition as entertainment for the night. Do ask your guests to come garbed in traditional Indian attires like sarees and dhotis for a full Bollywood experience!

Employees are the very foundation of each company because without them, businesses will find it difficult to progress and expand. Hosting a company annual dinner with attractive themes help to make employees feel more appreciated, seeing the amount of effort involved to make the event an enjoyable, joyous occasion for them all.

Add some excellent company annual dinner games, and you will have your colleagues remember the annual dinner as one of the best moments in life!

We hope these 15 Company Annual Dinner Theme Ideas provide some insight in your annual dinner planning. It is entirely up to you to go simple or elaborate with your chosen theme, as long as you and your work buddies share a good time together!

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