Tips on how to throw your friend a kick ass 80s theme party!
Do you love a theme party as much as I do? When my friend Erin asked me to help with her 40th birthday party, I was eager to jump in and do my part. Here are some of my tips on how to throw the most radical party on a small budget.
1.) Ask around for props! Do you have a friend that collects things or perhaps is an event planner with access to fun props? Ask around and you might just find people that can loan you props for the party. I was lucky to find a friend that had recently thrown a Miami Vice theme party and she loaned me some TVs that had VHS tape players built in, plus some great 80s games to display on various tables at the party. For VHS, we played Top Gun, clearly a classic.
2.) Get thrifty! Thrift shopping, an activity I enjoy, is a great place to look for costumes and decor to make any party a hit. I found an amazing FlashDance vinyl album that we used as a photo booth prop.
3.) Make the food cheap! It helped that the theme was 80s. We ordered Dominos pizzas and bought cheese puffs, ring pops, and Doritos. Does it get anymore 80s than that?
4.) DIY your photo booth! We ordered a fun 80s theme backdrop off Amazon with some fun props, like an inflatable boom box, and encouraged people to take pics on their iPhones.
5.) Have a box of old, blank computer CDs? Hang theme from the ceiling with fishing wire.
6.) Make a slideshow! Not only can you feature pictures of your guest of honor, you can also borrow lots of fun themed images from Google. Have them rotate on flatscreens around the party.
7.) Hire college age kids to be your bartenders. They work for cheap! (Aka usually the left over booze is payment enough)
8.) Not enough money for a DJ? We had one, because my good friend owns his own DJ company. But, you can always make a playlist of your fav jams to keep the party hoppin’.
9.) Encourage your guests to dress in theme. When over 50% of guests show up dressed in theme, you immediately are set for your entertainment for the night. Plus, costumes serve as great ice-breakers.
10.) Create a mini-costume bar with items that work with your theme. Some people aren’t going to dress up. That said, if you provide some easy costume accessories that these guests can put on upon arrival, it will help them feel at ease for not being in costume. In this case we had jelly bracelets, slap bracelets, candy necklaces, and colored hair spray.
11.) Have fun and don’t stress!
