Restaurant Christmas marketing ideas: a week-by-week plan for UK venues (2026)

Short answer: The best restaurant marketing ideas for Christmas start in October, not December. Lock in party bookings early with clear set menus and deposits. Take pre-orders for the busy nights. Sell gift vouchers that bring people back in January. Then tell everyone your festive opening hours, on Google, WhatsApp and your door, at least three weeks before Christmas.

This guide gives you 30 Christmas marketing ideas for UK restaurants, pubs, cafés and takeaways. They are set out as a week-by-week plan for 2026, with ready-to-use messages and the UK rules you need to follow.

Written for UK food businesses. Updated October 2026.

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The 2026 festive calendar at a glance

Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. So Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. New Year's Eve is a Thursday. Plan your staffing and offers around that.

Bank holiday dates are from GOV.UK. Small Business Saturday is from the campaign's own site.

Phase 1: October (book the parties)

Office managers and group organisers book Christmas parties early. If your menu isn't out by late October, they'll book somewhere that is.

1. Publish a festive set menu now. Two or three courses at a fixed price per head. Keep it short, with one vegetarian and one vegan main. Start from our free Christmas menu templates.

2. Offer two or three party packages. For example: "Festive lunch", "Christmas dinner" and "Dinner plus a welcome drink". Clear tiers help groups decide fast. Keep alcohol offers responsible (see the rules section below).

3. Take a deposit and set a clear cancellation policy. A per-head deposit cuts no-shows. Say when the deposit becomes non-refundable and when final numbers are due. Keep the terms fair and in plain English. If your booking system doesn't take deposits, send the organiser a payment link (for example from Stripe).

4. Pre-order dishes for big groups. Ask each guest to choose their dishes a week ahead. Your kitchen preps the right amounts, and you can collect allergen needs at the same time. A simple online form or pre-order link is easier than chasing emails.

5. Go to the offices near you. Drop a printed menu at local offices, schools, GP surgeries and gyms. Add a QR code that goes straight to your party menu. Ask who organises the Christmas do.

6. Contact last year's party bookers. If they booked with you before and agreed to hear from you, send a short "Want the same table this year?" message in October.

7. Add an early-booking reward. "Book by 15 November and get a free table for your next team lunch in January." It fills January as well as December.

Phase 2: November (launch and sell vouchers)

8. Put your festive menu everywhere. Your Google Business Profile, Instagram bio, WhatsApp profile, website and table cards. One link, used everywhere.

9. Sell gift vouchers before Black Friday. Vouchers bring in cash now and new customers later. Put them on the counter, your website and your social posts. State the expiry date and what the voucher can be used for.

10. Use a "bonus voucher" instead of a discount. "Buy £50 of vouchers, get a £10 voucher for January." You keep your December prices, and the bonus fills your quietest month. Set the bonus to start in January and end in February.

11. Run Black Friday your way. Big discounts in late November hurt your margin just as you get busy. A voucher deal or a free festive dessert with a booking works better.

12. Join Small Business Saturday (5 December). Post about it, thank your regulars, and offer something small, like a free mince pie with any coffee.

13. Launch your takeaway Christmas specials. Takeaways do well with festive one-offs: a "Christmas dinner" pizza, a turkey and stuffing kebab, a festive curry box. Name it, photograph it and post it.

14. Add festive drinks for cafés. A seasonal drinks board (spiced latte, hot chocolate with marshmallows) gives regulars a reason to visit more often. Pair it with your loyalty stamp card.

15. Take pre-orders for festive bakes. Bakeries and cafés can take orders for mince pies, Christmas cakes and yule logs, with a collection date. Close orders when you hit capacity.

Phase 3: 1–20 December (peak weeks)

16. Set your Christmas opening hours on Google. Use "special hours" on your Google Business Profile for 24 December to 4 January. Customers trust Google first. Our Google Business Profile guide shows how.

17. Post an opening-hours graphic everywhere. One clear image with every date from Christmas Eve to the first week of January. Pin it on Instagram and put it on the door. Make one with the closed sign maker.

18. Run a 12 days of Christmas series. Twelve posts, one dish or drink a day. It's easy content, and it keeps you top of mind. Need words? See our restaurant Instagram captions.

19. Send one WhatsApp message a week, not one a day. Weekly is enough in December. Use the templates below, and only message people who agreed to hear from you.

20. Put a festive QR card on every table. Diners can order drinks and add desserts from their phone. QR codes are on Menuthere's Free plan.

21. Limit the menu on peak nights. On office-party Fridays, offer the set menu only. Fewer dishes mean faster tickets, fewer mistakes and better reviews.

22. Be a drop-off point for a food bank. Put a collection box by the door and tell your followers. Ask the food bank first, and share their post. It's good for your town and your name.

Phase 4: Christmas week to New Year

23. Sell Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as "a night off cooking". Takeaways get busy when people are tired of cooking. Open pre-orders a week ahead and fill the slots early.

24. Use timed collection slots on New Year's Eve. Limit how many orders you take per 15 minutes. You'll serve everyone on time instead of running an hour late. Scheduled orders are on Menuthere Lite and above.

25. Sell New Year's Eve as a ticketed dinner. A fixed price, paid in advance, for a set menu. You know your numbers, and no-shows don't cost you.

26. Check your licence for late hours. If your premises licence doesn't cover the late finish you want on New Year's Eve, apply for a Temporary Event Notice in good time (details in the rules section).

Phase 5: January (bring them back)

27. Send a thank-you message. A short "thank you for a great Christmas" in the first week of January, with your new opening hours.

28. Remind people to use their vouchers. Bonus vouchers and gift vouchers bring people in during the quietest weeks of the year.

29. Plan for Veganuary and Dry January. Add two plant-based dishes and a short alcohol-free drinks list. Tell people about them.

30. Ask your Christmas guests for reviews. Party season brings lots of new faces. Ask every guest for a Google review, and never offer a reward for a review.

Christmas pre-orders, coupon codes and scheduled collection slots all run from one ordering page with 0% commission. Coupons and scheduled orders are on Lite and above.

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Christmas ideas by type of business

Ready-to-use Christmas WhatsApp messages

Send these only to customers who opted in. Keep each one short, with one link and a way to opt out. See how to take WhatsApp orders for a special menu.

Early November (party bookings):

Late November (vouchers):

Mid-December (Boxing Day pre-orders):

Early January (thank you):

With Menuthere Pro, you can send WhatsApp broadcasts from your own number on the official WhatsApp Business Platform. Meta charges for each marketing message separately. Read more about WhatsApp Business for restaurants.

Worked example: what early party bookings are worth

This is an illustration, not a forecast. Use your own numbers.

If half of those vouchers come back in January, and each table spends £45 on top of the voucher, that's 20 × £45 = £900 of sales in your quietest month. You only gave away £10 of food per table.

The rules: Christmas marketing in the UK

This isn't legal advice, but it covers the points that most often catch out venues.

Marketing messages need permission. Under PECR, you need consent to send marketing texts, emails or similar messages to individuals. The "soft opt-in" lets you message existing customers about similar products, if you offered an opt-out when you took their details and in every message. Never buy a contact list. Read our UK GDPR and PECR guide for WhatsApp marketing.

Show the full price. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans drip pricing. If a service charge or booking fee is compulsory, it should be in the headline price of your set menu, not added at the end. The CMA's price transparency guidance lists a mandatory cover or service charge at a restaurant as a charge that belongs in the total price.

Keep deposit terms fair. Say clearly, at the time of booking, that a deposit is needed, when it becomes non-refundable, and the deadline for final numbers. The CMA's unfair terms guidance says a deposit you keep in full should normally be a small part of the price, and the cases where you keep it should be clear and narrow. A bigger prepayment you won't refund is more likely to be unfair.

No irresponsible drinks promotions. In England and Wales, the mandatory licensing conditions ban irresponsible promotions, such as unlimited drinks for a fixed price. Scotland's rules are stricter, including a ban on "buy one, get one free" style drinks offers on licensed premises.

Extending hours on New Year's Eve. In England and Wales, a Temporary Event Notice costs £21. It covers fewer than 500 people for up to 168 hours. Give the council at least 10 clear working days' notice (a "late" TEN needs 5 to 9). Check your premises licence first, as it may already cover New Year's Eve.

Allergens on your festive menu. New dishes need full allergen information for the 14 allergens, before people order. That includes online menus and pre-order forms. On Menuthere, you tag the allergens and calories on each festive dish, on every plan including Free, and customers see them when they open the dish. Keep an allergen chart for staff too. See our 14 allergens guide.

Reviews and influencers. Fake reviews and hidden paid-for reviews have been banned since 6 April 2025. If you give a local food influencer a free festive meal, their post should be labelled as an ad.

Prize draws. "Win a Christmas dinner for four" is fine if entry is free, or there's a free entry route. State the closing date, prize and how you'll pick a winner, as the CAP Code requires.

Christmas music. If you play music to customers or staff, you usually need TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS.

How Menuthere helps at Christmas

• Festive menu online in minutes. Import your menu from a photo or PDF. Mark a dish as sold out when it runs out.
• Allergens and calories on every dish (all plans, including Free). Tag the 14 allergens, kcal and halal, and customers see them when they open a dish.
• Pre-orders and scheduled collection slots for Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve (Lite and above).
• Coupon codes for your January bounce-back offer (Lite and above).
• Table QR codes for festive menus and drinks (Free plan).
• Table booking for festive lunches and dinners, with dish pre-orders if you want them (Lite and above: from US$17 a month, 7-day free trial; a card is needed to start, but nothing is charged until the trial ends). It doesn't take deposits, so use a payment link for those.
• WhatsApp broadcasts and automatic order updates from your own number (Pro). Meta's message charges are separate.
• 0% commission on every order. The Free plan covers up to 50 orders a month. Lite is US$17 a month (billed in US dollars; your bank converts it).

For year-round ideas, read our 48 restaurant marketing ideas and how to increase takeaway sales.

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