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How to Throw a Kick-Ass Theme Party
By Meredith A MacDonald

Tired of throwing the same old dinner party? Bored with keggers, where everyone stands around taking bets on who will puke first? Looking for more exciting weekend plans? Then a theme party might be just your thing. They're fun, require dressing up and acting silly, and they break you out of your typical Saturday night rut. The idea is to pick a theme and plan your entire party accordingly. Meredith, a getcrafty regular, is an expert party thrower. Here are her tips for throwing the kickenest party on the planet!

Step One: Come Up with a Theme.
Themes should be easy, timely, and fresh. Dig through movies, current events, sports and politics to come up with possibilities. For one party, my roommates and I held a contest on Craigslist to get ideas for themes! Choose something easy because guests will get cranky if they have to go really far out of their way to partake. When we decided on throwing a pirate party, in honor of two or three pirate movies that had just come out, the first three people I invited commented that they already had a pirate costume.

Step Two. Make a Unique Invitation.
Creating your own invite is more fun than a mass e-mail and will motivate people to come and actually get dressed up. To create something really evocative, you can find images from either online sources or your current photo collection and create a digital collage invite that can be emailed. You can also hand-write and snail mail invites to get everyone really excited. Just make sure you clearly convey the theme and relevant info, like what you want everyone to wear and/or bring.

Step Three: Sound the Warning.
Since you already know your party will be hopping, let your neighbors know you're having a gathering a few days ahead. Give them your phone number so they can call you and let you know if the noise is a problem before they call the police.

Step Four: What shall you eat and drink?
Keep the menu simple, and choose one or two items to be over the top. For a glam party, I had 100 pieces of sushi, which dressed up the other basics like cheese and crackers, brownies, and chips that were on the table. For a summer solstice party, I made strawberry shortcake topped with fresh whipped cream and real edible flowers. Your party will go over-budget and cause you too much stress if you insist on going over-the-top with everything. Depending on your group, you may want to make little identifying cards for food, especially if you will have a lot of vegetarians there. On more than one occasion, I swooped through the dining room just in time to let someone know an unlikely dish had meat in it.

Also, know your crowd when buying food. If you do not have a gourmet crowd, then your money will be wasted on the best supplies when the supermarket brand will do. Consider how much and what kind of alcohol you want to offer. I actually have noticed that people drink less alcohol if I have a good selection of non-alcoholic beverages as well. A pitched of ice water with lemons, soda, and a sparkling juice are good options. I usually take a big bottle of a sweet mango juice and add two liters of club soda or ginger ale to make a refreshing punch.

Step Five: And What Shall We Do?
Plan at least one activity and one part of your décor to support your theme. For the pirate party, the best costume won a bottle of rum and we played "Pin the Penis on the Pirate" (see photo). We also had life-size cardboard cutouts of pirates that guests could pose with. People loved it. You also must fully commit to your theme. If you are throwing a Great Gatsby party, and you are wearing jeans to greet your guests, you will deflate the party as it begins.

Step Six: Hey Mister DJ!
Plan the music a week before to give you time to request CDs from friends and check out discs from the library. If your collection is not up-to-date, ask a good friend whose musical taste you enjoy to help you. Set up your play list, and set aside all of the discs you're planning on using. If possible, put the rest out of sight.

Step Seven: Hide the Silver!
Pre-party basics: if you are having anyone over besides your closest friends, put your jewelry box in the closet, and put away anything that could otherwise be tempting to sticky fingers. Likewise, any sentimental or breakable items should be removed from the party space, doors to areas that are off-limits should be closed and locked, and try to make it clear if you allow smoking in your house. If moving furniture is necessary, do it the day before.

Step Eight: Get Ready Early.
Prepare as much food in advance as possible. Arrange candles, lighting, and other touches well in advance. If you are lucky enough to have dimmer switches, use them, otherwise experiment with candles, unscrewed bulbs, and colored bulbs until you get the effect you want. My kitchen always only had harsh overhead lighting - so for parties, I strung Christmas lights around the cabinets and put a table lamp on top of the refrigerator.

Whatever else happens, have the lighting set and music already started when guests arrive. You should try to greet each guest individually, direct them to where they can put their coats and belongings, and give them a beverage.

Step Nine: Relax!
The big party secret is that as long as you appear to be having a good time, your guests will too. Now is not the time to apologize for imagined clutter or for anything else. If something is not "perfect" by party time, let it go. Take lots of pictures and if you can, post them in a private online gallery to email to your guests afterwards. Be brave: be the first one to say hello, the first to cut into a cake, the first to kick your shoes off and dance.

Text by Meredith A MacDonald
Photos by Lisa Ko
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