THEMED PARTIES

Giving your party a theme will make the evening memorable and it is a good ice-breaker to get the event underway, especially if it involves dressing up. There are hundreds of ideas, from slightly wacky to completely off-the-wall – all you need is a little imagination. And it need not be expensive: you can create an atmosphere with just a few of the right sort of decorations. Of course 101 Events can help with that too!

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking....


ALFRESCO
Decorate the venue with chequered tablecloths, colourful disposable tableware and pretty lanterns. If it really is outside, thread Christmas lights through the trees and use hurricane lamps. Grilled food is best, and have citronella candles or insect repellent handy. Alternatively, create an outdoor look indoors with lots of tall plants, and bunches of floor-standing green balloons.

ARABIAN NIGHTS
Women could come as belly dancers. Decorate the room like a harem with lots of cushions and inexpensive net curtains. Glittering sequins strewn on the tables and soft coloured candles help create an exotic atmosphere.

BEACH BLANKET BINGO
You can hold this party inside or out. Instruct guests to dress for the beach. Everyone is given a bingo card. Prizes can be suitably silly or forfeits. Drinks can be fluorescent with paper umbrellas. Add steel drum music or suitable beach songs.

BLUES BROTHERS
Suits and shades with lots of soul music. Burgers and hotdogs for food. Hire a Blues Brothers tribute band.

CARIBBEAN NIGHT
Hire a steel band or play Bob Marley CDs. A limbo stick will provide endless laughs. Serve colourful cocktails, Caribbean-style food, and lots of fresh fruit. Serve snacks in coconut shells.

CHILDREN’S PARTY (FOR ADULTS)
Everyone dresses in kiddie clothes (baby, naughty schoolgirls, etc). Serve kiddie foods with an adult twist (e.g. vodka jellies), egg sarnies, midget gems, twiglets, sausages on sticks and cake. Have cartoons playing on the video. Play games such as spin the bottle, truth or dare and Twister.

COUNTRY AND WESTERN
Dust off the cowboy hats, checked shirts and snakeskin boots. Hire a hall and play old Country and Western favourites and add a band and caller for some square dancing. Invitations can come in the form of a WANTED poster. Hotdogs and steak provide a perfect hoedown snack.

DEL AND RODNEY EVENING
Set a naff bar in one room. Serve cocktails in horrid glasses, sausages on sticks/jellied eels or cook a fry-up. You can set up a casino in another room. Winner gets a prize. Get everyone to bring along three items from a £1 shop and have an auction with the casino money. Get people to come in Del/Rodney/Raquel/Albert/Boycey/Trigger outfits.

FIFTIES/ ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
Send out invitations shaped like old 45s. Women should dress in poodle skirts and bobby socks, men in tight cuffed jeans and white T-shirts. Serve cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes (with added alcohol) or Manhattans, Grasshoppers and Martinis. Play games such as a lip sync contest to all your favourite Elvis numbers, a rock 'n' roll dance competition, a hula hoop contest or a bubble blowing competition.

LUAU

Guests wear grass skirts, leis, coconut bikinis, silk flowers. Decorate the venue with shells, sand, pink flamingos and palm trees. Serve tropical drinks and fish, sweet potatoes, pineapples, rice etc. Have Hawaiian music playing in the background.

MAGICAL PARTY
Decorate the room with magical balloons, stars, suns and moons. Entertainment can come in the form of a caricaturist, a tarot card reader, a palm reader, a fortuneteller, or a strolling magician. The food should be buffet-style to keep everyone moving.

MARDI GRAS
Guests should dress to fit in with the New Orleans theme. 101 Events can supply a wide range of decorations with a mardi gras theme. Dixieland jazz music will get the guests in the carnival spirit. Food can include jambalaya, potato chips, crab claws and boiled shrimp.

NEW YORK NEW YORK
Hot dogs, pretzels and Lindy's cheesecake give a perfect New York feast. Black and silver glitter makes a perfect colour theme with Manhatten cocktails to drink. Alternatively, a subway theme could include different station names with a different ethnic delicacy served at each stop.

OLYMPICS
Invite people to you very own Olympic village, decorated with the nations' flags. Divide people into teams. Games can include: Extreme torch sprint - light a candle, the team reaching to finish line with the candle still lit wins, sudden death dance competition, track, balloon blow up competition, pass the sand, dress-up relay, mummy wrap with toilet paper... any silly game you can think of. Winners receive bronze, silver and gold medals.

SALSA NIGHT
Decorate with palm trees, strings of lights and colourful balloons. Serve salsa and crisps. Play Latin American music and encourage everyone to mambo, samba and tango the night away.


SCHOOL DISCO
Dress up in your best naughty schoolgirl outfits. Short shorts for the boys! Play music from the relevant era, dependent on when you were at school

70s FLASHBACK
Dress in hot pants, flares and psychedelic clothing, or you could go for the white-suited Saturday Night Fever look. Dance to Gloria Gaynor, Bee Gees and the Village People. Lava lamps and disco balls make great decorations. A perfect 70s meal is a fondue. Play charades, guess the 70s personality or hire a 70s karaoke machine. Have a best costume contest.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER FIESTA
Dress up in sombreros and ponchos and decorate the room with chilli pepper wreaths, cacti, and red, green and yellow streamers. The menu can include fajitas, tortillas, chilli and guacamole. Entertainment can take the form of competitions to find the best Macarena or Mexican Hat dancers, and a limbo stick always gets things going.


WINE OR BEER TASTING
Cover up the labels and get people to match the bottles with the names. You don't need to know much but if everyone swallows, the party will get going in no time!