Paul Johns

I use Google Analytics with this blog to track the number of visitors and to see what people are searching for when they accidentally come here against their will.

One of the things I see pop up time and time again is how to throw an “80’s themed party” or “80’s themed party ideas” due to the fact that I wrote about the awesome 80’s party I went to last year.  I figured I would go ahead and give people what they want by sharing tips and ideas for throwing a kick ass 80’s party!

I’ve never actually thrown an 80’s themed party, but I did attend an awesome one almost exactly one year ago for my friend Mike’s 40th birthday.  Let me tell you: it kicked ass!  Fellow attendees and I still speak of its glory to this very day.

Me (dressed as Robert Smith fromThe Cure) and Amanda (as Jem, from Jem and the Holograms). In the back is Sean as Marty McFly from Back to the Future.

I will now explain exactly why this party kicked ass, and in doing so, I will hopefully be giving you tips on what to do to ensure that your own 80’s party is successful!

• Take people somewhere they’ve never been before. You could have the party at you or someone else’s house or apartment, but go the extra mile and rent out a hall instead.  It shows you put a lot of effort into the planning of the party and renting out a place for a party just seems like a bigger venue (i.e. more important) to your guests.  People like to feel like they’re ‘going out’ to a party every once in a while, not just going to their friend’s house.
• Have a professional bartender on duty and plenty of snacks. This would work for any party, but it’s a must for a “kick ass” party.  Have a wide variety of both alcohol and snacks to suit everyone’s tastes.  The bartender should be personable, funny, cool, sexy, handsome, laid back and an all around nice person.  Oh yeah, and they should also be a kick ass bartender!
• Have a great DJ spinning 80’s hits.  For greater 80’s impact, hire an actual 80’s icon to perform! Richard Blade was the DJ on duty at the party I went to.  This detail was extremely important and helpful in creating an authentic 80’s vibe.  Not only was Richard personable and friendly, allowing guests to take photos with him, but he was an authentic and well known 80’s DJ, as opposed to just hiring a random local DJ.  As a partygoer, I thought he did a great job and he was definitely one of the major highlights of the event.  In any case, have a wide variety of 80’s music playing including pop and rap, and if your guests are into it, some hair band music.
• Have your guests dress the part. Don’t just have a party where 80’s music will be played, and 80’s decorations will be used, have everyone come as their favorite icon of the 80’s.  Not only is playing dress up fun for everyone, it’s very disarming for those who are usually shy at parties.  It’s hard to walk up to someone and introduce yourself, but walking up to someone dressed up as a Ghostbuster and complimenting them on their outfit is a great icebreaker!
• Have wacky 80’s contests and giveaways. At the party I went to, they had a best costume contest.  The prize was a mint condition, possibly brand new Members Only jacket (I won, of course).  There were also other giveaways that my friends won for their costumes, but I can’t remember much about that because I was very, very drunk.  The contests definitely made the party more fun, since people like winning things and it was nice to have some kind of event happen other than just chatting, dancing and getting krunked up.
• Invite everyone! “The more, the merrier” definitely applies here.  When you throw a party, a percentage of people simply will not show up, so the more people you invite, the more you can offset this little rule.  Invite as many people as you can, even if you aren’t on great terms with them.  Inviting someone to your shin dig is a  nice way to bury the hatchet and have a good time.  Just don’t invite anyone who you believe will be disruptive or bring a “bad vibe”.  Have your friends bring along their friends.  You’ll definitely want people to RSVP though, so you don’t run out of party supplies, i.e. booze!

These are just a handful of ways to make an 80’s party great and/or kick ass.  If you are one of the ones who stumbled onto this site by searching for 80’s themed party ideas, I hope you find these tips helpful.  If you’d like to leave any tips of your own for other readers, please do so in the comments.

For more pics from the 80’s party that I attended, visit my wife’s Flickr account.

That's me with Richard Blade. He's probably saying something like, "Hey this guy's really drunk! Can someone get him off of me? Please?"