Themed parties are great fun for kids and adults alike, if they are properly planned. If you think you’d like to try hosting one, you may want to know how to plan a themed dinner party. There are general elements that all themed dinner parties have in common – the look, the decorations, the food, the music, and the drinks. If you can tie all those elements into your theme, you should have a very successful dinner party. http://www.gourmetspot.com/dinnerpartyfeature.htm

In this informative page, we’ll present several ideas for themes, then explain (once you have chosen one) how to create the complete effect through a series of steps.

First, some suggestions for themes: Mardi Gras, Western, Caribbean, Luau, Africa, Beach Party (without going to the beach), Patriotic, Disco, Sixties, Hollywood, Renaissance, Military, Fifties, Cinco de Mayo or Fiesta, Italian, St. Patrick’s Day, Star Wars, Casino, Around the World, Sports (specific sport), semi-formal Toga Party. http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/dinnerpartythe_ttri.htm

The more specific the concept, the easier it will be for you to find the right colors, activities, end the rest of the elements to bring it all together. Try to think in terms of a specific party theme that meets all the criteria before you get started, or you may be in the middle of party planning and run out of ideas and/or resources.

For the sake of this page, we will use Mardi Gras for our model. Once you know how to plan around this event, you can use the same techniques for your own themed dinner party. Everywhere on this page where you see the words “mardi gras,” substitute your theme word or words instead. http://www.party411.com/themes.html

There are three very specific colors for Mardi Gras: Green, Purple, Gold. There are also very specific images and items associated with Mardi Gras, such as masks, beads, crowns, jesters, doubloons, etc. So to start, decide whether you want to make your own invitations or buy them from the party store.

A really good first step in general it to take your theme and do an Internet search like this “mardi gras party supplies” in the search bar. What you want to see is a lot of results. Just substitute your theme name instead of Mardi Gras. Then you’ll know if this is going to be easy or hard! In a perfect world, within the big party supply list, you should see invitations. http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm?cat=14829&AID=808541&PID=2440770&SID=2081624 If not, you may have to shop a few locations. Take a look at the supplies. They will give you a lot of ideas, including what to use for your own invitation if you want to make it yourself. For instance, Mardi Gras supplies prominently feature the signature mask. Try this search: “mardi gras stickers.” You should have a variety of choices. http://www.zazzle.com/mardi+gras+stickers One idea is to buy green or purple paper, put a mardi gras sticker on it, and use a gold felt marker to write your information. On the sticker, you are likely to find images of masks, beads, and a jester hat, for example. These are elements you will use for your decorations as well.

After the date is set and the invitations sent out, start getting the items you’ll need, starting with decorations. Go back to “mardi gras party supplies” and you’ll find not only the party supplies you’ll need, but also several decorations as well. In some cases, you can buy complete party kits with most of the things you will need. Here are examples of the supplies you will need to buy either separately, or in a complete kit (these are based on Mardi Gras):

Luncheon napkins, dinner plates, cold cups, green plastic cutlery, purple and green latex balloons, purple plastic tablecover, gold metallic curling ribbon, a banner, purple star mylar balloon, green crepe streamer, purple crepe streamer.

To these, you can add mask wall decorations, fake doubloons for the table, beads (plain or fancy), and many more too numerous to list here. In other words, you’ve chosen a theme that will give you a lot of options. That’s what you are looking for. http://www.party411.com/jag-mardigras-beads.html

Take your theme and have all your food and beverages match, as closely as possible. For all theme parties, try to find appropriate food in these categories: appetizers, entrees, side dishes, desserts. If you do not choose to serve substantial theme cuisine at a sit-down affair, then it’s not really a dinner party – it’s just a party. That’s the significant difference! http://www.divinedinnerparty.com/ So, plan a dinner menu. Appetizers can be served first and be set up when the guests arrive. They can nibble appetizers with their drinks.

Again with Mardi Gras, there is a particular cuisine associated with it – Cajun. For a Mardi Gras theme dinner, you might start out with appetizers such as shrimp and cocktail sauce or grilled shrimp, or broiled andouille sausage bites with hot mustard on the side, oysters, crabcakes, or crawfish. Search “Cajun appetizers” for ideas. Crawfish are seasonal, so you may be out of luck unless you can find a source for frozen ones when you can’t find them fresh. http://www.lacrawfish.com/

Next, the main dish and side dishes. Again, with Cajun food, there are some very specific items people associate with the cuisine: gumbo, jambalaya, etoufée and more. Jambalaya can be made with crawfish, shrimp, chicken or sausage. So can gumbo. Etoufée (means smothered) is usually made with crawfish. Side dishes might include red beans and rice, or dirty rice, or shrimp salad.

Dessert. Now on Mardi Gras day itself, there is a very special cake called a King Cake. You might want to find one. http://www.tabasco.com/taste_tent/menu_planning/mardi_gras.cfm Other possibilities are Bananas Foster, Creole bread pudding, key lime pie, pecan pie, or pecan pralines.

Beverages: http://www.holiday-corners.com/mardi-gras/music.phpHurricane, Red Rooster, Jello Shooters, Mint Julep, Mojito

So, taking your party theme, start investigating the appropriate food as you see it done above. Just a couple of examples: with a Western theme dinner party, barbecue menus work well. Hollywood does not have a particular theme food, but you can serve food items shaped like stars by using a cookie cutter. Use your imagination but by all means, do your research first!

Music is key to any successful party, no matter what way you choose to provide it. Try to find CDs of music that match your theme. If you have a multiple-disk CD changer, that should last most of the evening. If not, ask someone to be in charge of changing disks so you don’t run out of background music. Budget permitting, hire a D.J. However, make certain he or she knows about your theme and can guarantee you a wide selection of your theme in their music collection, and have them suggest some other party music to intersperse. If you want to be completely authentic for Mardi Gras, the music of choice is Zydeco. http://www.louisianamusicfactory.com/ You can also look for more Mardi Gras music by searching “mardi gras music.” If you really want to blow it out, hire a band. To make it 100% authentic for Mardi Gras, hire a Zydeco band, and ask if they play other Mardi Gras music, like the Mardi Gras Mambo, etc. Make sure your guests will want to be entertained with live music and/or dancing.

If you have authentic drinks, authentic appetizers and authentic background music, this gives guests the opportunity to mingle. Have these elements ready at the start of your party.

Once everyone has arrived and been given ample time for drinks and finger food, serve dinner. Serve it yourself, or find a caterer who cooks in the style of your theme food. Dinner should be a sit-down affair, so hiring some help will keep the host and hostess at the table where they can talk with their guests instead of running back and forth to the kitchen. Continue with the background music, but keep it low enough so people can talk. Dinnertime should include the entrée(s) and side dishes. http://www.thedinnerpartyplanningsite.com/

Next, serve dessert. At this point, you can bring up the tempo of the music if you like (still in the background), to put people in more of a party frame of mind.

Dancing is a favored activity at a themed dinner party. So no matter how you provide the music for it or what style of dancing it is, make sure people are enthusiastic and provide enough space. You can rent a portable dance floor if you like.

Once dessert is over, if you are certain that people will not want to dance, and you have not hired a D.J. or a band, you may need to think of an actual activity, like a party game. Search “mardi gras party games” for ideas and game supplies if you need them. http://mardi-gras-fun.com/

Send guests home with some party favors that match your theme. Adults like party favors, too. With Mardi Gras, that’s pretty easy – beads. Be creative with your theme, and maybe you’ll soon be on the guest list for someone else’s themed dinner party!