8 Awesome Fancy Dress Party Tips That Your Kids Will Love

Posted on Jun 28 2014 - 1:45am by Charlie

John & Lisa's Halloween Party October, 2010

image taken from Flickr

Kids love dressing up as their favourite superhero or fictional character, so to actually have a valid reason to do so at a party is paradise for them.

If you’re thinking about making your child’s next party fancy dress themed, the possibilities are seemingly endless. So to help you out, we’ve narrowed it down to eight fantastic tips.

1 – Decide on what sort of fancy dress party it is

The first thing you need to decide when thinking about hosting a fancy dress party is whether you are going to have a specific theme, or if you are throwing a ‘dress as whatever you like’ party – leaving the fancy dress open to little party goer’s imaginations.

While you may think it’s easier to leave the costume idea ‘free for all,’ having a theme is great because you can plan the whole party around it, from the design of your invites and decorations to the food you’ll serve on the party table.

A selected theme can also help mums and dads find a costume for their little one without scratching their heads and wondering, “What the heck am I going to dress them up as?”

2 – Most popular party theme ideas

The theme doesn’t have to be anything too imaginative. In fact, you can keep it easy, for example by throwing a pink party where everyone and everything at the party is dressed in pink, or go for something a little more specific, like a superhero party.

Your child may already have his heart set on a theme but if not, here are some ideas:

  • Garden party – bumble bees, garden fairies , butterflies and lady bugs

  • Pirate party – pirates , anything with skull and crossbones on it and other swashbuckling outfits

  • Harry Potter party – witches, wizards , Hogwarts students and dragons

  • Under the sea party – mermaids, mermen, Ariel and all creatures that live underwater

  • Fairy party – think tutus paired with wings, fairy costumes and Tinkerbell outfits

  • Horror party – Kids can recycle their Halloween costumes and dress up as their favourite monster

  • Princess party – fairytale princesses, queen outfits, tiaras and LOTS of glitter!

  • Superhero party – Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or basically any hero with amazing powers. It helps to be a little flexible, so why not allow people to dress at their favourite fictional character as well?

3 – Themed Invites

If you are going to have a themed fancy dress party, be sure you set the tone of the party with a cute invite in the style of your theme. For example, for a pirate party you might want to try tea-staining the invited to look like an old treasure map. The ‘X’ is where the venue is.

4 – Give plenty of warning

Fancy dress parties require more notice than ordinary birthday parties. You don’t want to be known as the parent who sprung a fancy dress party on all the other parents at the last minute, giving them zero time to throw together a costume, or even buy one online. Everyone knows, and especially kids, that it’s more than just a costume, it’s a statement of the arts! It has to be perfect.

5 – Food

Keep the fancy dress theme going with the food you serve. For example, jelly and ice cream boats are too-cute for a pirate party and flower fairy cupcakes and biscuit wands are perfect for a fairy or garden party.

6 – Decorations

You can really go all out when it comes to decorations for a dress up party, so don’t hold back! The only thing that may limit you is your imagination and budget. But even then you don’t have to break the bank with decorations.

Just stay true to your theme, and you’ll be surprised how many decorations you can actually make on a small budget. Head to discount shops and visit craft stores to make your own decorations and become super dad or super mum!

7 – Have a back-up costume

It’s a good idea to have a spare fancy dress outfit on hand if a child happens to show up at the party without one, or in the same one as your child. All it takes is for a mum to accidentally overlook the fancy dress component on the invite for a child to turn up in plain clothes at a princess party. Even if it’s just a spare tiara or a superhero cape, have something on hand for dress up emergencies.

8 – Fancy party favours

Keep your fancy dress theme going right through to the goodie bags you hand out at the end of the party with lollies that match your theme. You can also fill goodie bags with things other than sweets – cute rubbers, stamps, temporary tattoos or stickers. Or even decorate the actual lolly bags with themed stickers.

Leave A Response

You must be logged in to post a comment.