80s Party Ideas

What’s not to love about the 1980s? Vibrant hues, daring attire, big hair, and loud party music, to name a few. This is a fantastic party theme to set up if you’re a lover of the era, whether you’re nostalgic for the good ol’ days or simply want to have the 80s experience! Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna’s time period is a fantastic throwback that everyone can participate in with little effort. Here are some helpful suggestions you can modify for your party with an 80s theme:

Invitations

Send out some invitations with creative and funky themes to get your guests pumped for the wonderful fun you have in store. In the invitation, mention wearing your best 80s gear.

You could DIY the invitation and include retro decorations like Pacman, cassette tapes, boom boxes, and neon colors. The colors you choose to make your invitation stand out are orange, brilliant green, blue, hot pink, and yellow. Either use digital decoration or go the more traditional method by using colored paper, cutouts, and glue.

By writing out party information on sticky labels and affixing them to cassette tapes, you may take it up a notch. If you still have old cassette tapes, that’s great, but you probably want to keep them for nostalgia reasons. Therefore, it’s ideal if you can purchase brand-new, empty cassette cassettes to utilize. You can just get an online fill-in invitation with an 80s theme to make it more straightforward.

Decorations

Decorations are crucial for an 80s-themed party. The concept needs to be established so that attendees will at least feel as though they are in the 1980s and see a variety of items that fit the theme. Following are some decorating advice:

  1. Raid your attic, borrow from your parents, or troll secondhand shops to find objects that represent the era. You can use VHS tapes to create a box and use them as risers for food trays, or you can utilize an old boom box as the focal point of your food table. Additionally, you may get novelty boom boxes built from real cardboard boxes.
  2. To create an 80s mood, decorate the walls with party cutouts featuring music players, cassette players, and vinyl records. You may further enhance the 80s party atmosphere by hanging a cassette tape banner.
  3. Use the boom box and phone balloons from this balloon decoration kit to set up a gold chain balloon as a banner on the wall.
  4. Keep the balloons in mind! Don’t skimp on the balloons because this party theme is vibrant and exciting. Pick ones with “I adore the 80s” or other 80s-themed printing if they are colorful. To complete the look, get a “Back to the 80s” balloon banner!
  5. Behind your buffet table, set up a dark backdrop and daub it with neon paint. For a strong and vibrant impact, hang large paper fans made of neon-colored paper or paper pom-poms in vibrant colors.
  6. Your ceiling can be easily decorated by hanging neon circle garlands from it. To go along with it, you could want to add some swirls with an 80s motif.
  7. For a greater impact, use vintage centerpiece sticks and arrange them in groups. Use honeycomb centerpieces for your tables if you like.

Outfits and Look

Retro outfit, Disco dancing outfit

Hosting or attending an 80s party is best when everyone is dressed appropriately. Shoulder pads, high tops, off-shoulders, oversized shirts, leg warmers, colorful tracksuits, leather pants and skirts, flannel shirts, baggy clothing, sequins, animal prints, ruffles, spandex, studded belts, fluorescent headbands, dark sunglasses, rubber bracelets, intense eyeshadow, funky wigs, perms, side ponytails, and big hairstyles are just a few fashion trends from the 80s.

For style inspiration, look to the decade’s most well-known celebrities. Make it a competition and offer some intriguing prizes to entice people to dress to impress. Choose the winners in several categories, such as the wackiest attire, the biggest hair, the loudest makeup, the most accessories, etc. Try to think of some of your own categories!

Music

Retro tape, Cassette tape

The music of the 1980s was its trademark. Be sure to have a killer throwback music in addition to the decorations and attire! For a genuinely spectacular party, mix in 80s dance music and biggest songs. Include popular songs from the decade’s most well-known musicians, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Air Supply, Aerosmith, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Donna Summer, Diana Ross, U2, The Police, Bon Jovi, R.E.M., and Tiffany.

Food and Drinks Ideas

A party with an 80s theme should serve some of the following foods and drinks:

1. Neon-frosted cupcakes

You can make cupcakes in any flavor you desire, and the frosting should be a vibrant neon hue. For the total 80s effect, use cupcake liners with zebra prints.

2. Sugar cookies

Simply create square or rectangle sugar cookies and decorate them with retro decorations like the MTV logo, roller skates, unicorns and rainbows, pixelated graphics, Rubik’s cube, Pac-Man, or even the Atari logo to keep with the 80s theme. Use colorful icing to bring these themes to life!

3. Microphone cake pops

The 1980s were a huge decade for music, and is considered to represent the peak of pop music. The decade produced many well-known and immensely successful singers and musicians; therefore, it only seems sense to symbolize it with microphones! Create balls out of Oreos and cream cheese, then arrange them on top of little ice cream cones to create cake pop microphones! Use candy melts as glue and a cake pop stick to keep them joined. It’s a sweet and tasty surprise for your 80s celebration!

4. Hamburger helper

Looking for a meal that will be quick, filling, and popular? Offer many flavors of Hamburger Helper. Both children and adults who are not searching for a gourmet lunch would like it.

5. Pizza rolls

In the 1980s, everyone stuffed their mouths with pizza rolls, so do it at your party! It’s just “human nature” to eat one tiny bite-sized pocket of hot cheese and sauce before going back for more.

6. 80s Candies

Children and teenagers who grew up during the 1980s remember it as a happy time. They are probably enjoying the popular candy at the time while they are putting on their Walkman headphones, watching MTV, and strutting through the streets on their skateboards and roller skates. Serve an assortment of vintage candies, such as Airheads, Nerds, Pop Rocks, Razzles, Hubba Bubba, Ring Pops, Skittles, Cow Tales, Runts, Laffy Taffy, Pixy Stix, and Big League Chew Bubble Gum.

7. 80s Snacks

Make sure you have bowls full of vintage snacks like Cool Ranch Doritos, Cheddar Cheese Combos, Cheese Balls, and (if you can find some) Dixies Snack Crackers.

8. Kool-Aid Station

After snack time, children in the 1980s were raised drinking Kool-Aid. At your party, serve Kool-Aid in a variety of tastes and make sure there are enough multicolored tumblers for everyone.

9. Themed dinner plates

Make sure your guests are eating from themed dinner plates no matter what you serve for dinner, whether it be sandwiches, casseroles, bread and noodles, or whatever you feel like providing. You can simplify your life by purchasing an 80s party plate set bundle that includes dinner plates, napkins, and silverware.

You might select these black dinner plates and napkins if your 80s party has a stronger arcade game influence. These square dinner and dessert plates are available with matching neon-colored napkins if you’d want something a little brighter than that. You can always choose a disposable party set in a bright color if you think printed plates are visually overdone.

10. Floppy disk coasters

Want to avoid having water stains on your table? Give visitors some amusing floppy disc coasters to use. This disk drive is a terrific discussion starter at any party because it was popular in the 1980s. The colorful tables can also be enhanced by the bold hues.

Accessories

Make your party fun and exciting with these activities:

1. 80s Accessory Bar

Ask your guests to wear their best 80s attire, but it helps if you also supply the accessories so they can accessorize with the era’s most popular styles. The whole accessories set for the females, including some jelly bracelets, fish wrist gloves, and lace headbands, should be on show at a dressing station for the men. Adding glow bracelets is a great addition. Leg warmers, wacky hairstyles, and new wave sunglasses can all add to their sense of style. Let them keep it as a party favor at home!

2. Photo Booth

Purchase an 80s party backdrop or a black backdrop with neon-colored paint splatters. Make sure you give visitors the chance to take lots of pictures of their throwback attire because it’s not every day that you get to dress up as a reference to the illustrious decade. Prepare some props.

3. Boom Box Piñata

For the kids to attempt to open, set up a piñata in the form of a boom box. This piñata is easy to fill and has a lovely rectangular form that can accommodate a lot of fillers.

4. Contests

Holding contests at your party will allow your guests to demonstrate their expertise and knowledge of the 1980s. Lip-synching competitions, air guitar competitions, break dancing competitions, moonwalking competitions, Rubik’s cube competitions, pop culture trivia competitions, and 80s Guess the Song are a few entertaining suggestions.

5. 80s Karaoke

You can sing the tunes from the era on a lovely karaoke system you can rent or buy for your home. Make sure everyone chooses nostalgic tunes from the 1980s or even later for this party! All songs from the 1990s to the present are prohibited for the day, giving everyone the impression that they have traveled back in time.

6. Twister

Play the wistful game of Twister with your buddies as you twist your way through time. Try it out and see what happens next while attempting to keep your hands and feet on the mat.

7. Charades

Prepare strips of paper and jot down as many references to 80s popular culture as you can. Anything that will bring back memories of the decade is acceptable, including names of films, TV shows, fictitious characters, clothing items, song titles, celebrities, and technology. Your pals will have a joy acting out themes and attempting to guess who or what the other players are.

8. Kissing Games

Do you still play the traditional teen kissing games from that era? Play well-known party games like Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare, and Seven Minutes in Heaven to get to know your guests better. Before the party begins, make sure the game has clear rules.

9. Classic 80s Movie Marathon

An old-school movie marathon would be more appropriate if your audience is more laid-back. Organize a crowd and show some memorable movies from this era for your visitors? Ghostbusters, 16 Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Flashdance, The Breakfast Club, and E.T., Say Anything, Big, Heathers, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, Police Academy, Revenge of the Nerds, Indiana Jones, Top Gun, and The Karate Kid are a few examples to think about.

Party Favors

In addition to the aforementioned 80s items, here are some party goodies you can give your guests before taking off and going back to the present time.

1. Rubik’s cube

What a wonderful era it was when the Rubik’s cube first appeared on the scene in the 1980s. This bright puzzle toy was all the rage, and you can see a Rubik’s cube in every child’s palm. It’s the ideal option for a party favor during your 80s celebration. You can distribute them in conventional, tiny, and keychain sizes.

2. Retro badges

Send them home with these vintage pins that are reminiscent of the 1980s.

3. Brick game keychains

After Tetris and other puzzle games were successful in the 1980s, Brick Game gained popularity. It began in the 1980s, even though it gained popularity in the 1990s, so it makes a fun party favor for your 80s bash. Give miniature brick game keychains to your visitors so they may experience the nostalgia as well!

4. Hershey’s Chocolate

Give your visitors a delicious send-off with some Hershey’s chocolates packaged in vintage packaging. You might wish to provide each visitor with a Hershey’s chocolate bar that is wrapped in paper that resembles a cassette tape. Offer Hershey’s Kisses and Miniature bars with 80s-themed wrappers and stickers if you want them to indulge in more sweets. They may enjoy them at home if you put them in vintage favor boxes!

Conclusion

These 80s party ideas will help you get started if you want to organize a party that will scream! An 80s theme party is a fantastic way to celebrate the Gen Xer in your life or just to remember a period in time when anything was conceivable! Your famous 80s party will definitely take your guests back in time to a special and nostalgic period; they might not even want to go back in time!