Summer Party Tip – Themed party ideas

Over the years, the wife & I have been to dozens of Pat McCurdy shows. We’ve seen him at Oktoberfest, Wienerfest, Saturdays at the Alpine Inn….we’ve gone to the Dells to see Pat…driven to Minneapolis to see him play….even had him at our wedding.

And years ago, I thought it would be cool to add a “theme” to some of the shows for the group of friends we hung out with at these Pat shows.

Wasn’t trying to come up with anything groundbreaking, but just wanted to kick it up a notch with something fun & frivolous. We did the standard “Ugly Xmas Sweater Party” in December….had an “Adult Prom” in May or early June….even had a “Canadian Tuxedo Night”(everyone wears nothing but denim).

One of my favorite themed Pat shows was the Halloween party when we all decided to dress up like Pat songs. He’s literally got 100’s of songs to choose from, and I went with “Nude Party“…ordered a nude pajama suit off the internet, and it arrived with the beans above the franks.

But Pat shows aside, the wife & I have been discussing a theme for our annual Backyard BBQ in the next year or so, and I think we’re finally going to pull the trigger with an 80’s themed party!

Most of our friends & party attendees are a similar age, so the 80’s has a lot of nostalgia for them. It’s a decade with amazing music, fashion, movies, and more! So, choosing an outfit would be extremely easy & fun. And the party setlist would be filled with Poison, Firehouse, Madonna, Rick Astley & Michael Jackson.

Everyone who sings karaoke has to sing their favorite 80’s songs! We could show 80’s movies in the house all afternoon and maybe find some retro recipes for the food.

It got me thinking about other themed parties we could have in the future….and the easiest answer is any sort of decade party. The roaring 20’s, the 60’s or 70’s…even the 90’s(which are 30 years ago!)

You could have a Hawaiian Luau.

The food options alone would be fantastic! Items such as:

• Grilled Pineapple Meatball skewers
• Pineapple Upside-down cake
• Spam Musubi
• Hawaiian salsa
• Bacon-wrapped Pineapple bites
• Pig roast!!!

Then you add in specialty drinks, some funky Hawaiian shirts…costumes & decorations…leis….tiki torches….and you’ve got a pretty decent luau! And all these things are usually available at any party store.

I know some of my friends have recently been hosting “Murder Mystery” dinner parties at their house and our Backyard BBQ is usually a bit too drunk for that kind of critical thought, but if your friends aren’t heavy drinkers, it might be something to try.

As a guy who gets up REALLY early(even on the weekends), a brunch & mimosa party is definitely a theme I’d be okay with. I’m usually in bed by 7:30pm, so having a nice selection of breakfast foods, bottomless mimosas & a variety of bloody marys to choose from until about 1pm, with everyone leaving about an hour later, would be MOST excellent!

Dozens of types of Bacon to choose from, scrambled eggs, omelets, french toast, all the different juices to mix with your champagne….the possibilities for a brunch/mimosa party are literally endless! And again, more importantly, everyone is GONE by mid-afternoon.

The one party theme that is really popular right now that we’ll probably have to try in the near future is the “Dress Like My Spouse” party.

This is rather self-explanatory. You dress like your spouse and show up for good time. I’ve seen some videos of this particular theme where the couples don’t see each other until the actually arrive at the party. So it’s a great surprise to see what your spouse has done to mimic your outfits/look.

Thankfully, my wife doesn’t wear a dress very often…I just don’t have the body for it.

There’s a few suggestions that I’m looking at trying in the next couple of years, but there’s no end to the types of themed parties that you host/attend!