7 Innovative Holiday Marketing Examples for Events and Catering
The holiday season—spanning from Thanksgiving through Christmas—is one of the most lucrative and festive times of the year for event venues and caterers. It’s also one of the most competitive. Standing out means going beyond traditional promotions and embracing creativity that sparks joy and inspires bookings. Whether it’s crafting limited-time experiences, hosting themed pop-ups, or using clever digital campaigns, innovative holiday marketing can transform a busy season into a record-breaking one.
In this post, we’re highlighting seven types of standout holiday marketing examples from 2025 that capture the spirit of the season while driving engagement and revenue. From heartwarming community initiatives to Instagram-worthy event packages, these ideas will help you inspire your customers and make your brand shine during the most wonderful time of the year.
1. Add Some Flavor to Your Holiday Marketing Beginning with Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to sprinkle a little holiday cheer into your promotions. It’s a season centered around gratitude, connection, and celebration—making it an ideal opportunity for businesses in hospitality, events, and dining to strengthen relationships with their guests and attract new ones.
From limited-time offers to themed menus, sit-down dinners, and meals-to-go, Thanksgiving promotions can showcase creativity while aligning your brand with the warmth of the season. Whether you’re highlighting family-style dining experiences, take-home meal kits, or special events, a thoughtful campaign can drive engagement and sales while reinforcing your brand’s personality.
Take inspiration from New York City’s own Chef Daniel Boulud, the visionary founder of The Dinex Group, one of the world’s premier hospitality brands. Each year, Chef Boulud and his team celebrate the season with elegant Thanksgiving offerings that blend tradition with culinary innovation. They’ve used their Tripleseat lead form to seamlessly capture inquiries and manage events with precision. Their approach reflects the power of aligning promotions with genuine guest experiences, offering value while creating memorable moments.
2. Offer a Gift Card to Drive Bookings
The holiday season is the most competitive time of year for restaurants and venues. Use the power of gift-giving and consider offering special promotions and discounts to attract more diners.
To stand out, Kaskaid Hospitality launched a targeted marketing campaign designed to drive early bookings and streamline its event management process using Tripleseat.
Kaskaid Hospitality’s marketing team crafted a compelling, time-sensitive offer to create urgency and add value:
“Planning the perfect holiday party? Book your event at any Kaskaid Hospitality restaurant by October 30th to receive a complimentary champagne toast plus a gift card! Explore our collection of elegant venues and make this holiday season unforgettable.”
3. Sweeten the Deal with a Perk
When thinking about a gift to drive bookings, think beyond the gift card. The Hangar & Camber is launching a festive holiday marketing campaign to entice guests with an exclusive bonus offer. This season, when customers book a holiday party at The Hangar or Camber, they’ll receive an exclusive early-bird perk:
Book by October 31 → 20% off your room rental fee
Book by November 15 → $100 gift card to The Hangar or Camber
Whether it’s a cocktail reception, an elegant seated dinner, or a full-company celebration, The Hanger & Camber is making holiday planning even sweeter by offering customers this added value. We love their marketing blast promoting the offer. This promotion not only drives early bookings but also keeps the restaurant top-of-mind for future dining experiences. Do you have a fun or creative perk idea for early bookings?
Cheers to this festive idea from Prince Alfred Rooftop & Bar! Their clever early booking promo is a win-win—guests lock in prime dates for their celebrations, while the venue fills its calendar early and enjoys higher bar tabs. By creating a sense of urgency and offering a small incentive (like a complimentary drink package or discounted deposit), they’ve tapped into one of the most effective strategies for maximizing holiday event revenue.
Think about how you can bring that same energy to your venue. Could you reward early birds with exclusive menu upgrades, bonus entertainment options, or a themed cocktail on arrival? Maybe a “Book Before Halloween” campaign or “12 Days of Holiday Bookings” countdown would get guests excited to reserve their spot.
The key is to make your offer feel special, time-sensitive, and aligned with your brand’s personality. When you blend festive creativity with smart marketing, you don’t just fill your calendar—you create memorable celebrations that turn one-time guests into repeat customers.
4. Show Your Venue’s Personality
Identify what makes your restaurant or venue stand out this holiday season. Is it your cozy ambiance, the creativity behind your menu, or the impeccable service that keeps guests coming back year after year? Now’s the time to showcase those strengths in every marketing touchpoint.
Take inspiration from Downtown Kindling Cookout & Cocktails—their marketing does more than promote a space; it tells a story. Through vibrant social media visuals, they capture the warmth, energy, and personality of their brand. Their posts highlight the laughter, glowing lights, and the little details that make each event feel personal. On top of that, their website removes friction from the booking process with a clear, easy-to-use inquiry form that encourages guests to take the next step without hesitation.
This seamless blend of personality and practicality is what wins bookings. When potential guests can both feel your venue’s charm and see how simple it is to book, you turn inspiration into action.
Think about how your digital presence can do the same—showcase your unique atmosphere through visuals and storytelling, and make it effortless for customers to say “yes” to celebrating with you this season.
5. Sell Your Slow Season During Your Busy Season.
While holiday events are likely top of mind for your venue, don’t forget about opportunities in the new year. We loved this clever marketing idea from Roam, who is promoting a 2026 Kickoff Meeting package for up to 20 people.
This approach works so well because it reaches corporate planners at the perfect time—right as they’re setting next year’s budgets. As they wrap up Q4 holiday parties, their focus naturally shifts to Q1 goals. By offering a ready-made package for a common need—the annual kickoff meeting—Roam positions itself as a proactive, solutions-oriented partner.
This forward-thinking strategy helps fill the post-holiday slump and keeps revenue steady year-round.
Try this idea yourself:
Create a “Q1 Kickstart Package” that includes meeting space, A/V setup, and coffee service to make planning easy. You can even build a Tripleseat lead form just for this offer to track results and keep these leads separate from your holiday bookings.
6. Is January The New December For Events?
While you are determined to fill your venues throughout the end of the year, consider reconsidering and thinking about January or February as the new trendy time to book. SAVOUR Hospitality Group recently shared their compelling list of “5 Reasons to Host Holiday Parties in January” with reasons ranging from better guest availability to cost savings. We love this quote from Malisse Sinito, President of SAVOUR Hospitality, “Avoid the stress and anxiety of trying to cram your holiday party into the first weeks of December before people have scheduled travel and offices are closed. Let’s face it, January in Cleveland can be depressing without something to look forward to.” So it’s definitely worth exploring options for January and February events as an alternative to the normally crazy November and December time period.
7. Share Your Lead Form Everywhere
We could go on and on, and you’ll probably hear from us again this holiday season to highlight more innovative holiday promotions we see. For now, we’ll leave you with one last thought that should be the FIRST thing you do when you create any promotional materials: share your lead form everywhere!
When it comes to holiday promotions, you’ll definitely want to make sure you’re creating a new holiday lead form so you can accurately track incoming leads and see which marketing efforts are working the best for you. Our favorite tip is to create a Linktree for your Instagram “Link in Bio” so you can link out to your website, private events page for each of your venues, and anything else you want to promote. Beatrix Restaurants does this perfectly in their Instagram account linktree.
Book your Holiday Event Calendar with Tripleseat
So don’t delay – get to creating those holiday promotions, and feel free to share your marketing examples for events with us! We’re always interested to hear what is working for you. To learn more about how Tripleseat can do way more than manage your private events, set up a demo today! Find out why 19,000 restaurants, hotels, and venues have chosen Tripleseat to empower all their events.
