Viva Las Vegas. Bring Vegas home and celebrate any occasion with friends with a Vegas theme. Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, wedding shower or just to get a few friends together, Vegas is the way to go.
DECORATIONS
The decorations are a little bit of a judgment call based on what the host wants. The Vegas theme can be “classic 40’s Vegas”, “cheap, loud, colorful Vegas” or anything in between.
Boxes of any size can be spray painted white with black dots to be stacked for dice decorations. Poster board can be cut and decorated as playing cards to be put on the walls. Shiny borders can be hung on the walls and can be bought at party supply stores. While decorating, think shiny, big, almost gaudy.
Put green felt, bought at craft stores, over tables as table cloths in the game room. Glitter on the tables would give everything some shimmer and can be purchased in shapes of poker chips, playing cards, etc.
If the host is feeling really into the Las Vegas spirit he or she might want to decorate different rooms, or the whole house, as one, or numerous, well-known casino themes. One room could be Egyptian themed for the Luxor, Italian themed for the Bellagio, and, of course, Ancient Greece themed for Caesar’s Palace.
The living room could be made into a gambling lounge with different sports games on television, all decorated in black with “score cards” on the tables.
If it’s a 40’s Vegas theme the host can decorate in black and red and white, have people wear gangster hats and come dressed for that era.
MUSIC
The music when people are arriving could be old Vegas artists like Frank Sinatra/Rat Pack music, Michael Buble and jazz. When the evening starts into the swing of things the music could transition into either dance music or themed Vegas artists; think Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Elton John, etc.
And, of course, don’t forget Elvis!
FOOD
In true Vegas style, a buffet is in order! The host can elect to buy/make everything themselves or can request different guests to bring a favorite Las Vegas buffet dish.
Either way the food could be different chicken breast dishes, pasta dishes, fancy little desserts including tarts or chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle.
Another idea for desserts is a chocolate fountain. The host could cut up pieces of fruits, chunks of cookies or anything else that can be dipped.
Or another way to go is to just have different appetizer tables. There could be little tables set up all over the house with different types of apps on them. Think tiny sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, veggie trays, etc.
Drinks should be catered to the particular guests coming. Are they beer or cocktail people? Do they prefer mixed drinks, martini’s, margaritas? Or would they rather have water and soda?
GAMES
The host could recruit family members or other friends to be the “help” at the party, either being waiters or blackjack dealers! Hopefully they’ll really get into character and wear the visors, black vests, etc.
The easiest games to play are going to be Blackjack and Poker but if the host is feeling adventurous then by all means, go all out!
At the beginning of the evening the host should hand out envelopes with fake money and poker chips in them to start off the gaming. Whoever has the most fake money at the end of the night should get a gift card to somewhere.
