Color plays a huge role in parties. Having a wide range of vibrant colors in your decorations and activities can bring the energy up, make things more exciting, and provide awesome photo opportunities. Colors have become such a big part of party planning that many people are opting for color to be their party’s theme.
A “color party” describes an event where color plays a major role. Everyone does it a little differently, but it could involve focusing on a certain color scheme or assigning a specific color to each guest. Since color is such a broad theme, it can work for all types of parties, including everything from classroom parties in elementary school to bachelorette parties. No matter the age group and interests, a color party can be fun for everyone.
Here are some creative party planning tips to help you get started with your first color-themed party.
1. Provide Snacks of All Colors
At a color party, color should be considered in every aspect, including the food. When setting up the table, organize the food options by color to create a rainbow of foods. For example, put the fruits in rainbow order on the platter. With desserts, put everything chocolate on one platter and everything red and pink on another. Little details like that can make your food setup look even more appealing.
To make organizing the food colors easier, consider creating a build-your-own meal station. For example, if you have sandwiches, separate all the ingredients and organize them by color, allowing guests to choose which food items they want from a colorful selection. Another idea could be setting up a cookie decorating station with a rainbow of sugary toppings.
2. Assign a Different Color to Each Guest
You don’t have to take on all the responsibilities for this party. To make the theme more fun and organized, consider having every guest choose one color for themselves. The guests can dress in their color and bring items of the color along, such as snacks, drinks, decorations, and activities.
By setting it up this way, there will be an even amount of each color. Plus, with everyone wearing a different color, it will look great in photos, especially if you stand in rainbow order. If you plan on inviting a lot of guests, you may need to assign a few colors more than once. Just try to keep it even so everyone doesn’t show up in blue while no one wears orange.
3. Set Up Colorful Backdrops for Photos
If color is your party theme, guests will definitely want to take photos. So, don’t forget to gather some decorations and backdrops for everyone to pose next to. This could include a thick layer of rainbow streamers, a colorful archway, or bunches of rainbow balloons (or all of the above).
If you and your guests love to be creative, you could even decorate a colorful backdrop as one of your party activities for everyone to take pictures of.
4. Play Color-Themed Games
If your group loves games, you might as well stay on theme when choosing what to play. This could include board games that focus on colors in their gameplay, like Hues and Cues, Uno, or Twister. Otherwise, you could get creative by coming up with your own game ideas. If this is an adult-only party, you could come up with drinking games to play throughout the night. For example, if everyone is wearing a different color, you could have all the colors written down in a hat and draw one every hour. Whoever’s color you draw has to take a shot.
Even if you decide to play games that aren’t color-themed, you can find ways to add color to them. Based on the colors people are wearing, you could divide everyone into teams of color categories, such as warm vs cool colors.
5. Get Colorful With DIY Crafts
Crafts can be fun party activities for creative individuals. Luckily, most crafts involve lots of colors. Whether you’re painting, sculpting, or making bracelets, you’ll likely have a wide range of colors to decorate your project with. Some other ideas could include making candles or flower arrangements.
Overall, choose some DIY projects that are fun and easy to make, allowing guests to continue socializing while working on them.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Get Messy With Colors
When it comes to crafts and games, there are plenty of activities that could get messy. You could create tie-dye shirts or throw paint bombs outside. For adventurous individuals, you could consider taking the group to a paintball place. These types of activities are sure to get colors everywhere, which is a great way for everyone to unwind and express themselves.
While messy activities can be great for a color party, if you include them, make sure everyone is aware of the agenda. That way, guests will know to dress appropriately and not wear expensive clothing.
7. Plan a Color-Themed Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts can be awesome for all ages. It’s a perfect excuse to keep your guests entertained as they work together. Like with games, you can create teams by pairing people wearing certain colors together. Then, the scavenger hunt can require each team to find items of certain hues.
The scavenger hunt could be as simple as locating items that match specific colors, or you could hide particular items for guests to find. If you want to take the scavenger hunt further from your home, you could have groups explore outside and take photos of certain colorful things. No matter how you set it up, a scavenger hunt will be a memorable part of your color party that will keep everyone engaged.
8. Put Together a Color Trivia Quiz
It’s hard to go wrong with trivia. There’s something fun about getting competitive while answering trivia questions. Since color is such a broad category, there are all types of questions you can include. Animals, interior design, fashion, events, history, and pop culture are all topics that could have color-related questions. Include lots of variety in your quiz so everyone has a chance at winning.
If the questions are tricky, make the game multiple-choice or have people play as teams. Make sure the rules of the game are clear and have color-themed prizes for whoever wins to make the stakes higher.
9. Incorporate Color Into All the Little Details
A color party is the perfect excuse to go all out with vibrant hues. It’s one of the only times you can go crazy with colors without worrying about them being too overwhelming, so don’t hold back. Thus, even the little details of your party should be colorful. This includes plates, cups, and napkins of every color.
Don’t forget about the tablecloths, towels, and wall hangings. Every bit of color you add to your home will make your party even more exciting.
10. Fill Your Playlist With Color-Themed Songs
Every good party needs music. So, when setting up a playlist, focus on songs about color. “Mr. Blue Sky,” “Purple Rain,” and “Yellow Submarine” are just a few popular examples. However, try to cater your playlist to the guests’ music tastes if possible. Having songs with colors in the title can be fun, but the playlist should still be full of songs people can enjoy and dance to.
If you’re having trouble building your own playlist, there are plenty of color-themed playlists already out there. You can use them for inspiration or just play one of them at the party. Using a pre-made playlist isn’t an easy way out because it saves you time so you can focus more on the colorful decorations and activities.
11. Consider Colored Lighting
Colorful lights make everything more interesting. Replace some of your light bulbs with bright colors, or buy colorful lights to shine on walls and decorations. Handing out light-up accessories can also make the lighting more colorful and fun.
Yet, as charming as colorful lighting can be, you should still have some normal lights in your party space. Otherwise, it may be difficult for guests to see what they’re doing. So, have regular white lights shine on areas with food, crafts, and games to ensure people can easily see the details of the objects in front of them.
12. Have a Bonfire
As it gets darker later in the night, you can start enjoying outdoor activities. Being outside when it’s dark out is the perfect time to wear light-up accessories in a variety of colors.
If you have a bonfire to gather around, consider impressing guests by changing the colors of the flames. Make sure you research what to put into the fire and how to do it beforehand to ensure it’s safe.
13. End With a Colorful Film
Colors play a huge role in movies, evoking certain emotions or portraying different symbolism. Some movies use many colors, making them exciting for a color-themed party. Choose a movie that utilizes color uniquely, such as Avatar, La La Land, or The Grand Budapest Hotel. Or choose a movie with a color in the title, such as The Green Mile or Pretty in Pink.
Before settling on a movie to watch, make sure it fits the party vibes and the guests’ preferences. When in doubt, ask guests for suggestions or do a poll to determine which movie most of your friends want to see.
