Are drinks included in a London shared Christmas party?
The five structures you will meet
1. All-inclusive in the ticket
Unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks for a defined window, usually 8pm to 12:30am, included in the ticket price. Used by the Tower Hill and St Paul's ballroom parties, Skyball, Motown Extravaganza and The Imposters. See them all.
2. All-inclusive Plus
The same, plus six tokens per person each redeemable for a spirit or a glass of Prosecco. Typically £160–£180 + VAT. The uplift over Standard is £31–£35 per person for six drinks, which is roughly bar price — so it makes sense only if most of your group drinks spirits.
3. Unlimited wristbands
Bought separately at £45–£55 + VAT per person. Masquerade and Carnivale from £49 + VAT; Cirque and The Christmas Lodge at £46 + VAT (or £54 with Prosecco); Urban Funfair from £49 ex VAT. At every one of these, the wristband has to be bought for the whole party.
4. Partial inclusion
Wonder Nights and Disco Nights include drinks until 21:30, then sell Gold (£25 + VAT) or Platinum (£50 + VAT) wristbands for the rest of the night, or run a cash bar. This is the best-value structure in the market if your party is going to be a relatively early night.
5. Table packages, buckets and vouchers
Wine by the bottle to the table (from £105), beer buckets (from £52.50 for ten), drinks vouchers (from £6.50 each). Useful for topping up a cash-bar evening without committing the whole party to a wristband.
The whole-party rule
This is the thing to understand before you budget anything. At almost every venue, an unlimited drinks package must be bought for every guest in your booking — not just the ones who want it.
So a team of 30 where 20 will drink properly still pays 30 × £49 + VAT, not 20. That changes the maths considerably, and it is the reason all-inclusive tickets often work out cheaper than they look for mixed-drinking teams.
Which structure to choose
- Your team drinks, and you want no bar tab → an all-inclusive ticket. One number, no admin, no surprises.
- Mixed group, some don't drink → a partial-inclusion party like Wonder Nights, or a cash bar with table wine. Do not buy wristbands for a party where a third of the room is on soft drinks.
- Tight budget, early finish → a sub-£100 ticket with a cash bar. Be clear with your guests in advance.
- Spirits matter → price the Plus upgrade against the cash bar. Six spirits at £31 + VAT is roughly break-even; below six, the cash bar wins.
Tell your guests which it is
The single most common Christmas party complaint is not the food or the music — it is guests arriving expecting a free bar and finding a card machine. Whatever you book, put the drinks arrangement on the invitation in one plain sentence. It costs nothing and it prevents the only real complaint most organisers ever get.
Frequently asked questions
- Are spirits included in a Christmas party drinks package?
- Rarely. Standard all-inclusive packages cover beer, wine and soft drinks only. Spirits come via an All Inclusive Plus upgrade (six tokens per person, £160–£180 + VAT total ticket), a spirit add-on voucher (£24–£28 + VAT for four to five measures) or the cash bar.
- Do we have to buy a drinks package for everyone?
- At almost every London shared Christmas party venue, yes. Unlimited wristbands and all-inclusive packages must be bought for the whole booking. Budget on your full headcount, not on the number of drinkers.
- How long does an all-inclusive bar run for?
- Typically 4.5 hours — 8pm when dinner starts until the bar closes at 12:30am. The welcome Prosecco on arrival at 7:30pm sits outside that window.