UncategorizedDay Two: Choosing Theme June 29, 2012Happy Friday, y’all! Today, we’re talking about choosing the perfect party theme. Choosing the right theme adds so much to a party. It can seem daunting to pick a theme for your occasion, but there are several things I usually think through when planning a party that I want to share with y’all today. There are usually two reasons to have a party: to celebrate a holiday or to celebrate someone. Holiday Parties I’m going to start by talking about holiday party themes. 1.) What about the holiday can inspire the decor and theme? For a holiday party, you want the party theme to reflect the holiday. For example, with our Memorial Day Party, I knew that I wanted something that “fit” the holiday. But since it is a patriotic holiday, the normal decor would be red, white, and blue and lots of American flags. There is no problem with this, but I knew I wanted something a little different than the expected. I branched off from the usual patriotic and gave it a country vibe. I used the traditional colors, but in a different way. We used the red and white gingham, blue floral, and hydrangea centerpiece. This brings me to the next idea… 2.) Add a twist – once you know where you’re headed with the holiday theme, change up the traditional. Find a fresh and unique way to represent that holiday with your theme. Going beyond the typical holiday decor will make the party shine and be more memorable to your guests. Celebrating Someone When throwing a party for someone, you want to think about the party in a couple of ways: 1.) Why are you throwing a party to celebrate them? For example, if you are throwing a graduation party in honor of someone, that is the theme. Granted, you still want to add a twist or a fresh approach and make their party personalized and special for them, but it would be a graduation themed party. If you are throwing a more generic party like a birthday or anniversary, you have some more leeway with the theme. That brings us to the next point… 2.) What are their interests or passions and can that create a personalized theme? For example, if you are throwing a birthday party for a child and they have a favorite character, sport, or activity, use that as a theme. Find ways to make it different than every other “sport” or “princess” party by going beyond the usual, store-bought decor. 3.) Use an object to inspire the theme. If you’ve gone through everything above and still aren’t coming up with a strong theme to celebrate someone, see if there is an object of that person’s or an object you’re going to use at the party that will inspire the whole theme. For example, my dad loves fishing and the nautical party really fit him. But we didn’t initially think of using a nautical theme. As I said in the Nautical Party post, my mom wanted to use one of his favorite pictures from when he was a little boy for the cake. Here my dad is holding the first fish he ever caught. Using this picture is what inspired his nautical theme party and he loved it! The nautical theme really fits his interests, but as I said, it wasn’t our initial thought. This one item gave us the idea for the theme and led us to this… So, that’s what I think through in developing a party theme. You’ll notice that I used the words twist, personalized, and unique over and over again. I really think that is the key to a successful party. Regardless of what theme you choose, taking a fresh approach and bringing in something personal is what will delight your guest of honor and the other guests. Remember this picture? This was my dad’s reaction to seeing his personalized cake. He lit up! It’s those personalized details and unique approach that creates the WOW factor and makes your guests remember your event as something they’d never experienced before. Hopefully, this has helped you guys in discovering your perfect party theme! I hope you all have a wonderful, fun summery weekend. I’ll be back Monday with some tips on how to carry out the theme in your decor. Thanks for joining my series!
Kelly @ Talk of the House says July 1, 2012 at 9:39 am This is so smart! And I LOVE your dad’s reaction to the cake! too funny. Reply
Ashley says July 2, 2012 at 10:21 am I love this series you are doing! It’s cool to see you put into words what we’ve done for years of party planning! 🙂 Love you sister Reply