Party Planning Ideas

There are enjoyable parties and there are those, which are just not worth remembering. To make a party stand out and be truly unique, fresh ideas are needed. Here are a few ideas to make the party click.

Theme Parties

Theme parties are back in popularity these days. There are themes ranging from Flapper or Roaring 20s to Murder Mystery, Slumber Party, Wine Tasting and many others.

Each of these requires a unique setup and ambience and the food should be in sync with the theme. For a Roaring 20's theme, gin mini bottles and a table filled with candy cigarettes work well to recreate the Prohibition environment.

The menu can include items like Yorkshire Pudding, salads etc. For a Slumber Party, the host can afford to go easy on the decorations but one requirement is that of space.

Hence, the furniture should be pushed back and plenty of sleeping bags should be thrown in! Good choices in terms of food would be Buffalo Chicken with Mac and Cheese, Cinnamon Blueberry muffins or a pizza with fruit toppings and cookie crust.

Type Of Occasion

The kind of party, ambience and food will depend on the occasion for, which the party is being hosted. For birthdays, balloons as well as streamers would do well for decorations.

Special themes could be used for birthday parties such as bowling, costume, karaoke or based on decades according to the age of the birthday person. Tiki parties, barbecues, beach and cocktail parties are some favourites when it comes to birthday party ideas.

In the case of housewarming ceremonies, candles, good party play lists, a guestbook and nice perching spots and corners for the guests are good décor ideas.

In terms of food, grilled beef, mushroom or shrimp, chicken skewers are excellent choices as are gingersnap crusts with lemon cheesecake, crudités with flavoured salts and olive oil.

Parties For Staying In

Sometimes, parties are hosted where guests are staying over. It could be to watch a match, for dinner, cocktail or poker. It could also be for a casino game, brunch, book club meet, garden party or an eco-friendly party.

In the case of a book club party, the décor would depend on the kind of books the host and the guests read. For gothic novels, plenty of candles and switching off the lamps should do the trick.

There could be plenty of discussion around a particular book in that genre or asking guests their opinion about the plot etc. Food should comprise finger foods as they are easier to eat and conversations happen freely. Salads, dips and vegetables make for good finger foods.

For an eco-friendly party, the décor could be made of recycled products in the home like doubling the cutting board into a cheese tray etc. Food should be as wholesome and close to nature as possible since that is the theme of the party.

Green salads, mixed fruits with lemon syrup or green pea soup are some good eco-friendly choices in the menu. Meats are not advisable in an eco-friendly themed party.