Tis the season! As you prepare for your holiday office parties, or parties spent with family and friends, it’s always fun to focus on a theme. And is there a better season than the holidays for fun themed parties? Here are just a few we like:
A Christmas Story
Perhaps the best holiday movie (are we biased?!), this movie lends itself perfectly to a 1940s theme party. You can easily place traditionally decorated Christmas trees throughout the venue and as an added bonus, make sure to include a leg lamp! Guests will love taking photos with that unique prop. Once the party begins, make sure to light your Christmas trees and string lights to immediately set the mood.
For the menu, we recommend choosing items from early times. You can feature favorites from the movie like duck and turkey, along with holiday favorites like cranberries and potatoes. Serve Coca-Cola straight from glass bottles and for an added treat, you might consider having a station where someone is serving root beer floats and milkshakes to guests.
Your sweet table can include popular candies from the 40s, such as black licorice, Dots, Bit-O-Honey and Bazooka Bubble Gum.
Masquerade
This theme will take your party to the next level! On your invitations, make sure you let guests know that is a masquerade party, and encourage them to wear masks. For guests that don’t have masks, or forget them at home, ensure you have a variety on hand! For your décor, you will want to focus on dark colors like maroon, ivory and black. If you can have candle wax dripped candelabras on each table, that will surely give off the right mood as soon as your guests enter.
For the menu, you can incorporate traditional cuisine: roast turkey, root vegetables, salads and soups.
If you have a live band or DJ at the party, ask them to play haunting holiday music, the more ominous sounding the better!
The party that gives back
The holidays are a great time to tie into your favorite charities. Make the theme of your party “giving back” and ask guests to bring an unwrapped toy (good for a boy or girl) to your event. At the end of the party, all gifts will be donated to a local toy drive.
Your menu can include any items you’d like with this theme. Perhaps you’d like to include cookie decorating stations for your guests to make, as the elves in Santa’s workshop. You can decorate the venue traditionally for the holidays, with a large Christmas tree as your focal point, so as your guests arrive, they can place their presents underneath the tree.
White Christmas
The décor for this party will be all white, and most of your menu should be too! Incorporate white linens, white Christmas trees with sparkly white ornaments and ribbons and a lot of angels and snowflakes throughout your venue. Don’t forget to encourage your guests to wear white on the invitations!
While you don’t have to serve ALL white food, you will want to keep the menu filled with light colored foods – turkey, white chocolate, mashed potatoes…. Your bar can offer white Russians, eggnog and white Cosmos.
Casino Party
Just because it’s the holiday season, that doesn’t mean your favorite themes won’t work. Casino parties are fun for everyone and get everyone involved as they play each game. Decorations for casino parties are easy: playing cards, dice, neon lights, and anything red and black.
For your menu, we recommend items like prime rib, shrimp cocktails, and finger foods – just like you would find at a Las Vegas buffet! Whether you opt for a casino-style buffet or trays of finger food, prime rib—the king of casino dining—can be the centerpiece of your casino party menu. Thick slices can be kept warm in buffet chafing dishes, or you can cut cooked prime rib into chunks and spear with a toothpick and garnish.
When planning out your casino party menu, you can’t forget the drinks! Themed cocktails can include a Lady Luck (blue curacao, dry gin, orange juice), Poker Face (tequila, pineapple juice, triple sec, twist of lemon), Snake Eyes (apple martini), Wild Card (kamikaze shots), and Face Card (Malibu and pineapple juice).
Have you ever been to a fun holiday themed party? Tell us about it in the comments!
