If you’re looking for party theme ideas for adults that want to dance the night away in style, you’ve come to the right place! Adding a theme to any party makes it 10 times better and paves way for unique decorations, food, drinks and fancy dress ideas. Toga parties, Hollywood glam and Mexican fiestas are just a sample of what you’ll find below. We’ve also included plenty of fancy dress ideas, party games and decorations suggestions for each theme.
Hawaiian
Slip on your grass skirt and flower lei garland to prepare for a Pacific island party like no other! ‘Hawaiian’ is a great party theme for adults that want to celebrate in the summer months. Throw a garden party and decorate it with as many flowers and Tiki wood furnishings that you can find, welcoming the guests with some laid-back beach music and a garland around their neck. Hawaiian is a cheap and easy fancy dress theme so encourage everyone to dress up too! Everyone has a wild floral shirt at the back of their wardrobe.
Hawaiian costume ideas:
- Bright coloured, floral shirts
- Grass skirts and coconut bra’s
- Flower hair-clips and lei garlands
Hawaiian party decoration and game ideas:
- Create your own tiki bar
- Host a game of limbo
- Prepare a traditional Hawaiian feast or Pacific islander inspired BBQ
Mexican
Say ‘Hola’ and throw a fiesta with your friends that the people of Mexico City would be jealous of. One of the best things about any Mexican themed party is the food! Cook up tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and all your other foodie favourites and proceed to eat more than you can handle. Tequila is the perfect accompaniment for afterwards. Don your sombrero and shake your maracas to dress up for the theme and get creative with party games.
Mexican costume ideas:
- Sombreros and ponchos
- Dress up as a Mexican food or drink items such as tacos or tequila
- Traditional Mexican Senourita dresses
- Day of the Dead make-up and costumes
Mexican party decoration and game ideas:
- Hang up a Pinata and fill it with treats
- Host a Mexican dance party with your favourite Latino music
- Challenge your friends to see who can handle the hottest pepper sauce
Hollywood movies
If you want a glamourous theme for a big birthday, Hollywood movies and movie stars makes a great adults party theme idea. Challenge guests to transform themselves into an actor, actress or film character and have everyone else guess who they’re supposed to be. Theme your venue like an Oscars after party or get some props and create a Hollywood Hills film set.
Hollywood movie costume ideas:
- Hollywood glitz and glam – sparkly dresses and tuxedo’s
- Famous actors and actresses from their most well-known roles
- Film crew and directors
Hollywood party decoration and game ideas:
- Create an ultimate movie trivia quiz with prizes
- Lay out a red carpet at the front of the venue
- Hire a photographer to capture glamourous photos of all the guests
ABC – Anything but clothes party
If you haven’t been to an ABC party, you’re missing out! Unlike standard fancy dress parties, you have to really get creative at an ‘anything but clothes’ party, meaning your usual wares simply aren’t allowed. Ditch your trousers, socks, shirt and anything else that’s considered clothes, swapping them for random items to cover your modesty. Caution tape, cardboard boxes, carrier bags, food items, traffic cones and bedsheets are all costumes that have been crafted for ABC parties and it’s entirely up to you what you wear.
ABC costume ideas:
- Cover your entire body in toilet paper and transform into a mummy
- Recycle old boxes to create a robot costume
- Show off that summer bod with carefully placed strips of tape that cover your bikini areas.
ABC party decoration and game ideas:
- Have a competition for the best homemade costume at the party
- Introduce a forfeit challenge for anyone that arrives at the party in normal clothes
Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland, or a fairy-tale world in general, make great party theme ideas for adults that like to let their imagination run wild. Birthday tea parties, extravagant corporate events and small parties at home all call for something whimsical and fun. Guests can dress as Alice in Wonderland characters such as the Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts or Alice herself, or you can expand the theme to include elves, fairies and other creatures of fairy-tales. Transform your party with woodland decorations, colourful mushrooms and props from the Alice in Wonderland world. Tea anyone?
Alice in Wonderland fairy-tale costume ideas:
- The Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, Alice, Mad Hatter, White Rabbit
- Elves, fairies and woodland creatures
Alice in Wonderland fairy-tale decoration and game ideas:
- Host a themed tea party in the garden with wonderland snacks, sandwiches and drinks
- Create your own weird and wonderful cocktails based on fairy-tale stories
- Decorate your house, venue or garden with fairy lights, prop trees, toadstools and cardboard animals
Your favourite era’s
The current trendiest and most popular party theme idea for adults is picking a decade in the 21st century and creating the entire party around it. You have the glamourous gangsters and Gatsby era showgirls of the 1920’s, Elvis and the pop-fashion trends of the 50’s or love and peace age of hippie style in the 1960’s. The 70’s, 80’s and 90’s then paved the way for some excellent music-inspired pop culture trends, iconic fashion and the surge of TV and film. Pick a decade party theme that’ll whisk everyone back to their younger days or relive an era that you couldn’t experience yourself. This is a party theme that’ll go down a storm every time!
Decade costume ideas:
- 1920’s – Pinstripe gangster suits, flapper dresses
- 1950’s – Elvis Presley, Grease movie characters, polka-dot fashion, American college outfits
- 1960’s – Hippie outfits, floral designs, The Beatles
- 1970’s – Rock stars, Super Troopers, hippie outfits
- 1980’s – Disco fever, Madonna, Rock bands, pop stars
- 1990’s – Characters from 90’s TV, musicians, pop-culture trends, toys
Decade party decoration and game ideas:
- Theme the room towards your chosen era and accessorise as much as you can!
- Build music playlists with hits from your chosen era
- Choose a party activity based on your decade. For example, a 90’s roller disco, 1920’s Gatsby ball or 50’s high school prom
Superheroes
‘Superheroes’ is a favourite party theme idea for adults time and time again. Everyone loves dressing up as their childhood comic hero and there’s so many to choose from! You could have a party with 50 guests and everyone could be a different character. Keep the theme nice and broad for a big party or narrow down the fancy dress guidelines to Batman heroes and villains or the Marvel Avengers if you’re entertaining a small group of friends. There’s always an occasion for a superhero costume! Decorate your venue with ass-kicking ‘Pow’ banners and balloons.
Superhero costume ideas:
- Marvel comic heroes such as Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk and Spiderman
- DC comic heroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman
- Make up your own superheroes! Beer-man anyone?
Superhero party decoration and game ideas:
- Build a mini sweet shop for the corner of the room. Nothing says circus like some delicious sweet treats!
- Pick a playlist of bold, eccentric music, throwing in plenty of songs from The Greatest Showman film
- Set up some party game challenges. Balloon darts, ring toss and card tricks are just a small sample of the many circus game ideas
Alphabet letter party
If you want a party theme for adults where you want to give them a challenge, look no further than the ‘alphabet theme’. Simply explained, you have to choose any letter of the alphabet and ask your guests to dress as something beginning with that letter. For example, with the letter S, your friends could dress as superheroes, a snake, samurai or Selena Gomez. The opportunities are endless! Pick a letter with lots of opportunities to make it easy or go for an X, Y or Z to give them a challenge. It’s fun seeing what idea everyone comes up with.
Alphabet letter costume ideas:
- Easy – Letter A, E, R S
- Difficult – Letter X, W, Z, Q
Alphabet letter decoration and game ideas:
- Ask your friends to bring food or drink themed with the same letter as their costume. It’ll be hilarious to see you have mostly the same food and drinks items!
- Host a competition for the most creative costume
- Have a forfeit challenge for party guests that dress the same
Circus
The success of The Greatest Showman movie really skyrocketed the popularity of circus fancy dress and wacky ‘Big Top’ themed parties. Circus is a party theme idea for adults that allows everyone to unleash their bold side to create a spectacle like no other. It’s no easy task though… Any top circus needs plenty of colourful decorations, bunting, banners and flair. Encourage your friends to dress as performers and make themed snacks such as popcorn buckets, hotdogs and candy floss.
Circus costume ideas:
- Ring Leader outfits for men and women
- Performers such as trapeze artists, acrobats, strongmen and gymnasts
- Colourful clown costumes
Circus party decoration and game ideas:
- Build a mini sweet shop for the corner of the room. Nothing says circus like some delicious sweet treats!
- Pick a playlist of bold, eccentric music, throwing in plenty of songs from The Greatest Showman film
- Set up some party game challenges. Balloon darts, ring toss and card tricks are just a small sample of the many circus game ideas
Around the World
Make your party an international affair by asking everyone to dress up as cultures, traditions and nationalities from around the world. It’s a cool adults party theme idea if you have friends or colleagues from different areas of the globe. It’s also excellent for celebrating an event such as the World Cup or Olympics. The ‘country’ themed outfits can be as simple as an accessory or you can go all out with full-blown traditional dress. Decoration-wise, try to theme your events venue in sections. One corner could be France, whilst another could sport charming Middle Eastern flair. The same goes for food!
Around the World costume ideas:
- French sailors, Moulin Rouge or a mime artist
- A British post box, beefeater guard, the Queen, Buckingham Palace Guard
- Middle Eastern belly dancer, Sheikh, Aladdin or Princess Jasmine
Around the World party decoration and game ideas:
- Play party games and make food inspired by different countries
- Guess what country each person is dressed as without asking them first
- Have a ‘drinks around the world’ bar, serving up famous beers, spirits and wines from different countries. Sample them all to see what you like the most
Roman / Greek toga party
Relive the ancient parties of Greece and Rome over 2000 years ago by hosting your very own toga party. It’s a very cool sight to behold, standing over the party and seeing all of your friends looking like emperors, goddesses and scholars. Toga’s are easy to create too! Buy an all-in-one themed toga costume or get ready on a budget by wrapping a bedsheet around you. Accessorise with a red sash and leaf headband and you’re ready to dance the night away! We recommend hosting the party in a garden if you can, accessorising with flame torches and grand Roman accessories.
Greek / Roman toga costume ideas:
- Roman emperors, scholars and royalty
- Spartan warriors & Greek gods and goddesses
- Simple white toga’s crafted from bed sheets
Greek / Roman toga party decoration and game ideas:
- Host a mini Olympic Games with prizes for winners of events
- Make mini canapes and drinks themed on ancient Rome or Greece
- Transform your venue into an ancient palace or have the party in the garden/back yard
Now you’ve stocked up on some of the best party theme ideas for adults, all that’s left to do is text your friends, start a Facebook event and let the good times roll in. The more time and effort you spend planning your party, the more memorable it’ll be! Go all out with fancy dress costumes, decorations, accessories and themed food and drinks, and don’t forget to share it with us on social media. 😊
Find fancy dress for all of the themes featured above in our shop area here.