Dinner party idea - a 60s theme

I'm always on the search for new dinner party ideas because occasionally it's great to do something different. And when it's different, it usually becomes memorable.

Have you ever thought of hosting a themed dinner party? That is, rather just the regular dinner party you can base your night around an era, a colour, a type of food or even a country.

I’ll give you an example – you could host your dinner around a 60s theme.

When I think of the 60s I think of hippies, beads, rose-colored glasses, peace signs, psychedelic lights and lava lamps.. you get the drift?

"Boring" was not a word that you could use to describe the 60's – in fact the saying goes that “if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there"!

But if you have a 60s theme for your dinner party, “boring” is not a word that your guests will use about this idea and I guarantee they will remember this night! Be certain to have a camera to capture some shots or hand some disposable cameras to your guests as they arrive and send them some photos afterwards as a memento! Just to make it really memorable!

When planning your night consider your friends and who would love to be invited – you tend to know straight off which friends would be open to a bit of fun while it’s just as easy to identify the other friends who wouldn’t like it as much. Who do you know that loves to dress up?

You may like to get hold of some swirly colourful sixties designs to use as background on your invite or you could send an image on your email invitation – like an Andy Warhol work. Alternatively, you could buy some Campbell’s soup cans, place an elastic band around each and attach an invite to the cans. Imagine that sitting in your letterbox!

Consider using some 60s slang in your invitation. They used a different lingo then - words like “groovy”, “baby”, it’s a gas, blast, cool cat, choice, don’t sweat it, dude, fab, flower power, hang loose, hip, neat, come to my pad, wicked, etc. You could ask your guests to come “decked out” for the occasion. Dig the idea?

When people think of the sixties they often think of hippies but there was much more to the 60s - like Martin Luther King Junior’s "I have a dream" speech, JFK’s assassination, the Vietnam War, and the first man to walk the moon AND psychedelic music! There are so many images that come to mind that you could use as invite backgrounds, props around your dining room or placed on your dinner table! Imagine a lava lamp in the middle, colored light bulbs creating atmosphere, etc,

If you have access to a laminator, you could even print off some Pop Art images, laminate them and use them as your place mats.

I’d suggest playing some 60s music during the night like The Velvet Underground, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Supremes, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Who. I could go on and on.

Films of the era that you might like to have silently playing in the background as your guests mingle include – Psycho, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Fair Lady, The Pink Panther, Dr Strangelove, Easy Rider, Doctor Zhivago, The Graduate.

Recipes from around the 60s era include:

Appetizer – Prawn Cocktail, Salmon Mousse, Sausage/cheese balls, Artichoke dip, Buffalo wings,

Main – Fondue, Steak Dianne, Beef Wellington, Swedish meatballs, Chicken Kiev, Macaroni Cheese, Quiche Lorraine, Trifle, Chicken Maryland, Ratatouille, Chilli Con Carne

Dessert – Baked Alaska, chocolate fondue, banana split.

Recipes are readily available for free on the net so when you know what you'll be serving a Google search will get you some quick results..

This could really be a fab night for you and your guests. It really is worth the effort.

So, there you have it – the basics of hosting a 60s themed dinner party. Visit my blog for other dinner party ideas if you’re interested. http://www.dinnerpartyideas.blogspot.com

You could even give your guests a gift on the evening - their own pair of rose- colored glasses. They'll continue to see the world differently as they leave your house with their momento of the evening!



Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess