It’s officially everyone’s favorite party season, summer! Summer is the perfect time to get together to celebrate milestones, family reunions, birthdays, graduations, and so much more! The weather is hot, the schedules are cleared, and everyone is ready to get together and have a great time! If you’re hosting a birthday party, pool party, baby shower, or big family get together, and don’t know where to start, we have you covered! We have put together a list of fabulous party themes that are customizable to any special moment you’re celebrating, along with ideas for entertainment, food, outdoor games and so much more!
Let’s Fiesta!
Let’s kick things off with a fiesta! Host your summer get togethers in style with this bright, colorful, and fun party theme! Fiesta décor can go along with any type of event, whether you’re hosting a birthday party, pool party, baby shower, or just a simple family event. This colorful mini balloon garland creates the perfect backdrop for your event and adds gorgeous bright colors to your photos and memories!
This Fiesta Party Kit includes everything needed to assemble this vibrant mini balloon garland, along with a large foil cactus balloon, gold glitter "Fiesta" banner as well as a bright glitter cactus banner! Our glitter banners can also be customized to say something more personal, really allowing you to create something unique for your special event!
Add Some Festive Food!
When it comes to food, it’s always fun to stick with the theme all the way through! One awesome food idea for a fiesta is to create a “make your own taco” bar, adding all the pieces and toppings to a table and allowing your guests to help themselves to food. Getting something catered from your favorite local restaurant is another great option that will also eliminate a lot of prep time! Then you can top things off with a delicious, themed cocktail that your guests can enjoy, along with some unique themed cookies or another themed dessert, offering your guests tons of options to enjoy at your party! Choose colorful fruit, vegetables, and other delicious treats on top of a colorful tablecloth, and all that's left to do is add your guests!
Another unique food option is to add in a fun spin on a taco bar where guests each receive their own individual bags of chips, instead of having to dig through a big bag! Small, customized touches like this can really bring your theme to life and make your guests feel special!
If a Fiesta theme doesn’t specifically work for your event, but you love the colorful balloons, you can always order the colorful balloon garland on its own and add in tons of different accents to go with this colorful collection. Add a sparkling “Happy Birthday” glitter banner for a colorful birthday party! Customize the glitter banner to spell out the words “Summer”, “Congratulations”, or any other line that suits your needs and create a beautiful and bright party theme for anything you might be celebrating!
Make a Splash!
Ocean, under the sea, or beach themed events are always a hit in the summer months! If you’re hosting and water themed event, a fun pool party, or a celebration by the beach, Swanky Party Box has even more great themes for you! This new, blue mini balloon garland can be used alone, or paired with any of our fun summer character balloons, creating the perfect backdrop for a water themed birthday party, baby shower, or a backyard BBQ! This blue mini garland adds a cool summer feel that will convey the feeling of water, while acting as such a fun backdrop for your food display, dessert table, or just a photo op!
When hosting a beach themed party, the possibilities are endless! Blow up pool floaties and use them as photo props or decorate with seashells and beach balls. Grab a crab, starfish, puffer fish, or shark balloon to create a fun accent to your balloon garland and add an additional element of fun. These oceanic touches bring together a beach theme seamlessly!
We’re taking on the work with this party kit that is a great idea for a kids birthday or pool party. The Shark Party Kit is one of our newest birthday party kits that includes everything you need to assemble this beautiful backdrop while creating a fun theme that children will love!
Let’s Add Some Games!
The next step in planning an awesome summer bash is to add in some fun outdoor games! Games are such a great way to create lots of laughs, friendly competition, and comradery, making memories that will last for years to come! If you don’t have a pool, or any built-in entertainment, try adding in any of these fun summer entertainment ideas to keep the energy going at your event, and keep people active and entertained throughout the day!
First up, fun water-balloon themed games! In the heat of summer, there is nothing more refreshing than having a great time with water! Grab your buckets and fill up some water balloons. We recommend buying self-sealing water balloons, as this prevents you from having to tie tedious knots in every single balloon. For a fun twist on baseball, try replacing the baseball with a water balloon! Or create rings out of pool noodles and place them on the ground in different spots. Use the rings as targets for your balloon toss! Alternatively, place some hula hoops on the ground instead of pool noodles. This gives you a wider base for a target, making this game especially inclusive of children! If you have a lot of guests at your party, divide them up into pairs of two. Give each pair a towel. Participants will take turns “throwing” the water balloon from one towel into the other towel, back and forth until the water balloon breaks. This is a great way to build suspense, add in a water element, and give guests a fun way to interact and possibly cool down.
For some additional outdoor options, you could grab a foam core board, and take different lids and plates and trace some circles into the board. Cut out holes where you traced the circles. Decorate the board and label each hole with point values. Fill up some water balloons and throw them through the circles! This is especially helpful for the little ones in the family, who can be afraid of having water balloons thrown directly at them. This allows them to play with water balloons without the fear of getting hit by the balloon, while still maintaining lots of fun!
Stay Dry - Have Fun!
If you don’t want to add in water, you can utilize your backyard space to create these outdoor summer activities as well. Using grass-safe washable paint, you can spray on classic board games, such as Twister, directly onto the grass, and play them outdoors! For some luminous fun at night, set up a ring toss. Instead of regular rings, use different color glow stick, and let the light guide your throw! For a nice, chilled activity to keep the kids entertained, freeze some children’s toys in a giant block of ice. Give the children spoons and allow them to break the ice block apart, in order to find new prizes! An added benefit is being kept nice and cool on a summer day.
Flamingo ring toss is an easy game that everyone can be a part of! Without needing too many supplies, this game is something that can be played by guests of any age, and it can be played throughout the entire event! All you need are some plastic flamingo lawn ornaments and some hoops. Throw the hoops and try to make them land around the flamingo’s neck!
Balloon darts is another great game for a slightly older age group! Grab a backboard, inflate some balloons, grab some darts, and let your guests get competitive while enjoying time outdoors! If you want, you can even have some prizes ready to boost engagement with your guests!
Haven't seen something you love yet? Don't worry, there are so many more themes to feature, and we have even more ideas for celebrating different occasions this summer.
Anchors Away!
Take to the seas with a classic and fun nautical themed party! We love this theme as it’s still related to water, and offers a great setting for a summer event. It also creates a different, more mature spin on the classic beach theme. Use this theme if you are hosting a more mature audience, as it offers a more classic tone. Try using boats, anchors, and other sailing décor to solidify your theme throughout the event! This anchor balloon is a great addition to any nautical decor! You can also use our nautical banners to create a personalized message and bring your whole event together!
Another way to get into the summer spirit is using a playful fruit theme! Everyone loves juicy, fresh fruit in the summertime. From watermelon to fresh-squeezed lemonade, fruit is a fantastic, colorful theme for any occasion. Check out this treasure trove of lemon themed party decorations. Your guests will be impressed with the bold yellow color!
You can also try this adorable Tutti Frutti first birthday theme, and other fun colorful fruit balloons to add into you event! Use one fruit and go crazy with the theme, or bring them all together or a colorful medley of freshness and fun.
Let’s Fire Up the Grill!
If fruit, color and fish aren’t your style, it’s time we find a theme for you! One of the best parts of summer is outdoor grilling! A BBQ is usually a laid-back event, but that doesn’t mean you can’t set the scene with some easy, fun décor pieces! When preparing for your BBQ, a simple way to make your backyard set up feel more inviting is by hanging a decorative banner to make your guests feel welcome. We love this Pig Out banner as it really sets the tone what kind of party you’re hosting! Your guest will see this banner and know they are here to enjoy some good food and have a great time!
When prepping for an outdoor BBQ or dinner party, it’s always a good idea to provide your guests with some classic food options that everyone will enjoy, while also surprising them with a few new dishes! Summer is the perfect time to create refreshing, bold dishes, such as watermelon, feta, and mint salad, or grilled chicken skewers and vegetable kebabs. During the summer, many vegetables and fruits are available locally for the season, so try to take advantage of those special seasonal treats and make the most of your menu. Don’t forget to add some sweet treats and ice-cold beverages to go along with your delicious BBQ food! We love this table scape that shows tons of great food options and serves as a bright and colorful display for your event!
Another simple touch that can make a big impact on a successful summer party is customized invitations and water bottle labels. Instead of just plain plastic water bottles, create a unique twist on the smaller elements of your event with some customization! These labels come in a variety of colors and designs, making it easy to customize them to fit with your theme.
It’s important to invest in quality invitations because it creates a sense of excitement when guests receive them in the mail. A high quality, unique and customized invitation leaves your guests feeling attended to and loved as soon as they receive the invite. Presenting an attractive invitation is also your guests first impression of your event. It sets the tone for what to expect and will likely attract more RSVP’s and attendees.
Don't Forget Entertainment!
Now that we have food and some décor for your backyard BBQ, it’s time to turn your attention to entertainment! What’s a backyard BBQ without some classic outdoor games for guests to enjoy? Keep your guests entertained with beloved games like cornhole, jumbo Jenga, and more! Cornhole involves throwing bean bags into one of two boards positioned away from each other. You can make this game competitive by forming teams and creating a tournament that can be played throughout the afternoon!
Jumbo Jenga is a newer trend that has become an awesome outdoor game! Ditch your regular-size Jenga blocks and invest in some huge wooden blocks for a jumbo version of lawn Jenga! If Jenga isn’t your type of game, you can head to your local hardware store and find some wood tiles. On each tile, stencil a letter, and in each corner, assign a point value. In no time at all, you have a giant version of scrabble to use on your lawn! This game will be something that you can reuse time and time again! Another game idea is to try buying lots of bucket lids at your local hardware store and painting them black and red. Now you have created an instant game of giant checkers for your lawn! The outdoor opportunities are endless!
For another fun activity, take a tarp and use bright tape to section it off into 9 squares. Buy some plastic frisbees and throw them from a distance to see where they land! If they land in a certain square, they get a predetermined number of points. This game is a hit with every age group.
Save up your cardboard boxes leading up to your event and use it to cut out some giant cactus shapes. Paint your cardboard cacti and set them up for a cute ring toss! As a bonus, when you are done with your summer games, the cactus cut outs can become a part of your home decor. Speaking of decor, place a stencil of your choice on your lawn. Lightly dampen the grass and sift flour over the stencil. This will create an environmentally friendly decoration that you can wash away with the hose or wait for the next big rain.
For another classic game, try this enlarged outdoor twist on Tic Tac Toe! Use rope to create a Tic Tac Toe grid on your deck or lawn. Using big wooden letters, or a fun inflatable set, this easy game is sure to entertain everyone at your BBQ.
The summer season is so versatile, that any type of event, theme, décor, food, or game idea will go off without a hitch! Summer is such a special time to make lasting memories, and we hope that we can have a small hand in creating and designing events that your friends and families will love!
No matter what kind of party you throw, or how you choose to host and decorate, remember to just have fun! Summertime is a time of reconnection, bliss, playfulness and all around joy. Take some time to enjoy the weather, the company and make some precious memories that you, your friends and family will never forget! Now, get out there, host a party, and enjoy yourself!
SOURCES USED:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SwankyPartyBox?ref=shop_sugg&search_query=bbq
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/985231160697314/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SwankyBurlap?ref=shop_sugg&search_query=bbq
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SwankyPartyBox?ref=shop_sugg&search_query=lemon