No matter what party theme you choose when you’re planning a birthday party, your party will need decorations. Decorations range from basic colorful party decor to extravagant themed decorations. If you’re planning a party with no theme, you’re sure to find party supplies in abundance at your local party stores or supermarket. When organizing a birthday party, you will want to consider a variety of decorations as well as essential supplies such as plates and cups (see list below). You can create some of your decors if you’re planning a party on a budget. Youtube would be a great place to learn some great DIY decorations.

Essential Birthday Party Decorations

It’s a great idea to start with stocking up on the party essentials leading up to the party. Colorful or themed papers (that you can use for cupcake toppers, banners), plates, napkins, and cutleries can be found at a plethora of different stores. There are also many themed options available as well, although sometimes for themed supplies it may be easier to find them at online stores such as Etsy or Amazon. Paper plates and cups not only add to the overall decor of the party, they also make for easy clean up at the end of the party. Instead of spending hours washing dishes, you can simply recycle or throw your paper party supplies away.

List of Essential Party Supplies

• Cups & straws
• Plates
• Cutleries
• Napkins
• Table/s
• Chairs
• Bowls and serving trays
• Party bags/favors
• Balloons
• Banners
• Games (Pinata) & prizes

Any party will require some decor to make it a truly special event. There are many different decorative birthday cutouts available on the market. Many can even be customized for a specific age. Cutouts are a great way to easily transform plain walls into part of the party. They can also be used as table centerpieces by placing the cutouts with flowers in a vase. Balloons are also an essential party decoration. Many balloons can be bought in packages of varying colors and sizes. You might also wish to purchase decorative birthday balloons, which can be found at most party stores. You can create your own balloon arch using tutorial videos.

Birthday Banner & Streamer

Don’t forget about a banner! There are tons of happy birthday banners available in a variety of different colors and themes! A banner is a great way to decorate the front of the dessert table. If you’re feeling crafty, use colorful or patterned or themed construction paper and string to make your very personalized banner. You might find it’s not easy to find themed papers at your local stores. You can search for themed digital papers from handmade online ETSY store. You’ll be able to find pretty much any theme you are after. Download the file and print them using home printer.

Colorful streamers are also a great way to transform any space into a party room. Hang streamers across the ceiling or archways. You can also use streamers to decorate railings and posts throughout your home.

Party Noise Makers

Give each party guest a noise maker upon arrival. There are tons of multi-packs available that include an assortment of clappers, whistles, and horns. Young party guests will love exploring the different noises and making noise to celebrate the birthday boy or girl. You might also consider giving each guest a party hat. Party hats Party hats are available in many different patterns and some even include adorable pom poms on the top.

Party Favors

Make sure to send your guests home with fun party favors. If you’re throwing a party for a child, consider buying a large assortment of party toys and splitting them into colorful containers for guests to take home. Slime, card games, and bouncy balls are some of the many popular toy options. For older guests, chapsticks will make great party favors that guests will use. Many chapsticks for parties can be customized with the name of the birthday girl or boy.

Party Food

Of course, food is a must-have for every party! Chicken nuggets, Pies, Hot dogs, vegetable cups (carrots, celeries, and cucumbers), Mini pizzas are some great ideas that is perfect with or without a theme to the party. For a birthday cake, you could opt for a classic confetti cake that can be made at home or specially designed. Don’t forget to top the cake with colorful candles. Candles are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. You can even purchase candles to spell out “Happy Birthday.” If you’re having a larger party a sheet cake or multi-tiered cake might be needed. Cupcakes are a classic birthday party treat. Consider taking your cupcakes to the next level by making them with a variety of toppings such as m&ms, sprinkles, or nuts. There are also many different cupcake toppers available to instantly transform your plain cupcakes into adorable desserts. Other great snack choices are fruit platter, pretzels, and bowls of trail mix.

Party Drink

Beverages are a must! Fruit punch and soda are often the beverages of choice. To add a fun twist, serve the beverages in mason jars with colorful straws. Some guests might prefer water. You can dress up your plain plastic water bottles with personalized wrappers. You may need to also consider how you will keep the drinks cold with ice cooler.

Party Entertainment

It’s essential to keep your party guests entertained. There are many classic party games that can be transformed to fit your party. A colorful pinata is a great way to get everyone involved. Fill the pinata with small candy and treats for a fun reward when it finally opens. Pin the Tail on the Donkey is a great game that can be created at home. You can even use bandanas or headbands for blindfolds.

If the weather is nice and you have a clothesline outside, you can tie doughnuts at varying lengths to your clothesline and watch as guests have hours of fun and laughter trying to eat the doughnuts with no hands. For warmer weather, a water balloon toss is a fun game and a great way to cool off.

A photo booth is also a great way to keep both young and old guests occupied. There are many different photo props for birthday parties such as glasses, mustaches, party hats, and balloons. You might wish to purchase a backdrop, however, you can also create your own with colored butcher paper and tape.

Centerpiece Ideas

Centerpieces are the mecca of creativity when planning an amazing birthday party. While centerpieces are obviously a great way to spice up sitting and eating tables for your guests, they work for so much more! Centerpieces can be placed on any table, mantle, countertop, etc. that is a main part of any room at a birthday party. If you are figuring out centerpieces last minute, a sure solution is the Burst centerpiece. These are weights wrapped in shiny colored paper with a burst bouquet of confetti flowering out. You can find these at any dollar store and they are made to go with any theme.

 

Centerpiece Ideas for Kid’s Party

For a kids birthday party, the best way to do your centerpieces is without a doubt incorporating candy. There is nothing kids love more than candy and creating centerpieces including sweet treats is extremely easy. Candy can become the main point of any centerpiece decoration, as it comes in a variety of colors, shapes, and styles. Fill a glass vase with skittles or jelly beans and put a bouquet of flowers in the middle, and voila! You have a perfect and extremely fun birthday party centerpiece! Another way to incorporate candy into a child’s birthday party centerpiece is to cut letters from foam (say, the first letter of the birthday boy or girl’s first name) and glue candy pieces to the letter. Or, you can fill up glass jars with candy and they serve as not only centerpieces but also as favors for the kids to grab a handful!

Centerpiece Ideas for Teen Party 

A teenager’s birthday party can also have candy utilized in the centerpieces, no matter what the theme of the party. Apothecary jars are a great centerpiece that you can fill with candy, noisemakers, or even party favors for your guests. A colorful weight with helium-filled balloons is a popular centerpiece idea as well, along with photo centerpieces. Photo centerpieces work especially well for milestone teen birthdays such as a sweet 16. Simply put your photos into the picture display stands using the wired clips and you instantly have a nostalgic centerpiece that also makes a great conversation starter for the guests. Don’t forget a centerpiece that doubles as serving ware, with a themed cupcake or cookie tiered stand!

Centerpiece Ideas for Adult Birthday

For an adult birthday party, more fragile items can be used when making a centerpiece, as the party is typically more low-key. Think candle or candelabra-type centerpieces that not only provide décor but also ambiance for the birthday party. For themed parties, you can do just about anything with centerpieces, including using them as games! Bingo, checkers, word searches, etc. can be placed with a cup full of markers as centerpieces that your guests can grab and get competitive. Tabletop books or magazines are also ideas that the guest immediately wants to look at and admire over, which can in turn provide an icebreaker for your guests to start conversations with one another.

 

Bouquets of flowers make a classic centerpiece, of course, and depending on your party’s theme, you can get as creative as you want! For instance, a holiday party might include mistletoe or poinsettias or figurines of snowmen on the table, while a milestone 50th birthday might contain over the hill accents as your centerpieces. Snowglobes also make really unique and beautiful options for centerpieces and again, these can go with any time of year or theme of your party.

In general, centerpieces can truly make or break the mood of your birthday party. They can take a themed party to the next level, or serve a dual purpose in so many different ways, whether it’s incorporating your favors or helping you to creatively present party food and treats. Centerpieces can spark conversation and awe within your birthday party for your guests that you never thought possible, so creating masterful centerpieces is a must for any and every party!

Birthday parties can be a highly fun event full of happy and positive energy. They can be a delightful time to take a break from everyday life and enjoy company of loved ones. But whether you are the guest or the host, birthday parties can also be somewhat exhausting. No matter the age of the guests at the party, or what part you play in the process (i.e. the parent of a child guest, the host of your teenager’s birthday party, or an adult party attendee), birthday party etiquette is a definite must during the event. Birthday parties serve as a happy occasion and having the right etiquette ensures it stays that way and in turn becomes a pleasant memory for everyone involved.

Basic Etiquette

First, let’s talk about basic etiquette that should be shown at every birthday party you attend—no matter what the age of the party guests.

Follow these rules and you’ll be the perfect guest or host for any birthday party:

Always RSVP

You were extended the warm invite to the party and the least you can do is respect the host enough to let them know if you are attending.

Don’t Come Empty-Handed

Never come to a birthday party empty-handed. Even if the host requests you not bring gifts, you can still be gracious and bring something simple such as flowers, cheese plate, bottle of wine, etc.

Always have Food and Drink

As the host, no matter what time the party is, always have food and drink available for your guests.

Send a Thank You Note

Send a thank you note to the host no more than a week after the birthday party. It’s a lot of work hosting a party—make sure the host knows how gracious and thankful you are to them for doing it.

As the host, send a thank you note to all your guests that came no more than a week after the birthday party. They came and supported your event that you worked so hard on.

Etiquette Tips

Apart from the basic etiquette for any birthday party, there are a couple of etiquette tips that pertain to the three age groups of birthday parties.  A child’s birthday party, a teenager’s birthday party, and an adult’s birthday party have slightly different additions to etiquette.

Kid’s Party

A child’s birthday party covers ages from toddler to 13, and the biggest question of graciousness might be, do you drop your kids off at the birthday party or do you stay? As a busy parent, dropping your child off might be beneficial to giving you much needed time to check off some things on your busy to-do list. Both options are acceptable, but to figure what is the most appropriate, you have to take a few things into account: the age of your child, the temperament of your child, and your relationship/trust with the parents throwing the birthday party.

Teenager Party

A teenager’s birthday party covers ages 13 through 19 and this etiquette tip might be an unexpected one. Technically, a teenager is still a “kid” and even if their etiquette is not perfect, as an adult host, yours can be. As soon as the teenagers enter your home, greet them immediately and use a polite and open way to establish your adult presence. Greeting them and welcoming them into your home normally serves to be enough to do this. The reason for this is to ensure respect in your household the best you can while the party is going on, as usually the parents of the guests do not stay.

Adult Party

For an adult birthday party, there are two important etiquette rules to remember. First, don’t show up early. The host will be running around trying to make sure everything is good to go and you don’t want to add to that stress. Secondly, keep your cellphone use to a minimum. Smartphones make it simple and tempting to take a sneak peek at our cells every few minutes, but the age old rule stands—it’s rude. Take the time to enjoy the birthday party the host has worked so hard to create.

With the upper hand on great etiquette, you are sure to be a guest or host that your loved ones will want to share the experience of a birthday party over and over again.