1950s Theme Party Ideas

Get your Guests Gabbing

Send out your party invitations and get your guests talking about your 50’s party that they will be dying to go to! The first impressions people will get about your party will be derived from your invitations so make sure they are fabulous and exciting! Keep them congruent with the color scheme you are using to decorate your party. Fill your invites with poodle skirts, records, milkshakes, jukeboxes, and any other popular iconic 1950’s items. Get you guests excited, letting them know it’s a costume party. Guys can be 50’s bad boys wearing leather, slicked back hair, and white T's with a cigarette pack rolled up in their sleeve or they could be a classic jock dressed in a letter-man jacket and tight cuffed blue jeans. Girls can be preppy wearing poodle skirts, cardigans, pony tails, bobbie socks, and saddles shoes or they can be rebels clothed in capri pants and tight sweaters. Make sure you get your invitations out early so your guests can have enough time to pick out and rent or buy their costumes. Your guests will be counting down the days in anticipation for your party after receiving their invitations!

Twisting, Hand Jiving, and Jitterbugging the Night Away

The 50’s were all about rock and roll! Get your guest’s hips swaying with a live band. A doo wop group, motown group, a cappella singing group, oldies band, or a party band are perfect way to transfer the party back in time. Event DJ’s are also a great way to get your party moving and grooving. Try creating an even more authentic 50’s feel and hire an impersonator that impersonates Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lewis, Buddy Holly, or Dean Martin. In between or during the dancing, have some fun games people can play. Hula hoops were extremely popular in the 50’s so have a contest seeing who can keep it circling the longest. Also, have your own American Bandstand contest and give prizes to the best couples. Another fun activity is having karaoke with a big selection of old tunes that were hits during this delightful decade. With all this 1950’s era entertainment your guests are going to be having the time of their lives twisting, hand jiving, and jitterbugging the night away.

Turn Back Time

Transform your room into a sock hop or soda shop with party decor that will turn back time, making your guests feel like it really is the 1950’s. An easy and pretty standard color scheme of the era was light blue, light pink, light yellow, white, and black. Use balloons to make archways at the entrance, float them to the ceiling, and gather them in groupings on tables. Another easy and fun idea is to hang records to the ceilings, walls, or placing them on tables. Also, jukeboxes were all the rage during this time, so try to rent or buy one. Cardboard cutouts of classic 1950’s cars, singing icons, and musical instruments are fun and can be great picture opportunities for your guests to pose by. Add fun touches like; changing the bathroom signs to "Guys" and "Dolls" like they did in the 50’s and make a sign that says, for example, "Jen and Rob’s Burg-O-Rama" where your dining area is.

Diner Delights

Food during the 50’s was simple and all American. Make it easy on yourself and serve fries, burgers, and milkshakes at your own makeshift diner. Besides milkshakes for desserts, go with pink and blue iced cookies, cake, and cupcakes with black or white poodles, records, and music notes topping them. If you want to make gourmet dinners like the housewives of the 50’s did every night, go for it, and don’t shy away from hiring a caterer to do your cooking for you. For drinks, do it like they did it back then and serve bottles of coke out of a large ice bucket and have the root-beer floats flowing. Offer pink and blue cool aid or cocktails topped with cherries and whipped cream. Hire a bartender that can make delicious drinks while sticking to your color scheme. Your guests will love having food and drinks with a 50’s feel to them!

Throwing a Fabulous 50’s party can be a great deal of work so do not hesitate to hire an event planner. They will work side by side with you, turning your vision into a reality. Weather you choose to hire an event planner or do it yourself, GigSalad is here to help and guide you through the planning process, making sure your party is perfect!