The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are almost upon us. The Oscars are a great reason to throw a party! Your party can be an intimate grouping of 5 to 10 or you may prefer a larger group. There are many themes as well as decorations, and food options available to help you plan how to throw an Oscars party.
Make it an event that your friends will never forget. Invite everyone you know and not necessarily just your regular friends circle. Ask people you work with, neighbors, acquaintances from church, anyone and everyone! In this post, we shall discuss what it takes to throw an Oscars party.
Party Size
If you’re planning a smaller, relaxed party with just close friends and family you can still have a great time. Go fancy dress code, some fun foods and glitzy decorations. Smaller get-togethers help you save on costs but there’s no limit on the fun.
If you decide to opt for a larger party, friends from different groups will make for interesting conversation and new connections. Of course, more people means more food but maybe have everyone bring a dish. Many people like the chance to contribute with their best culinary efforts. Enhance the fun by offering your own awards for
Dress Code for your Oscars Party
Design virtual invitations in the theme of your party. There are a number of sites where you can design your own invitations such as Canva, for example. When doing a casual party keep the invitations simple. Maybe even invite the guests to come in their pajamas! For a more formal dress theme make those invitations more glitzy and glittery.
Once you decide the size of your party it’s time to set the dress code. You can go with relaxed dress. Everyone can just hang around, enjoy each other’s company, the food and the show or you could opt to go dressier to keep in the spirit of the awards. Getting everyone dressed up for the night can be fun. Or make it as relaxed as possible with the pajama idea. Your guests should be comfortable as the Oscars run for several hours.
Decorate with Hollywood style
Don’t forget the decorations are a very important part of any Oscar party. You can go all out or, if that’s too much, go more low key with balloons, small decorations and streamers.
It’s easiest to pick a simple color scheme with your main colors black and gold, or red and gold but always gold for the Oscars. For a fancy look try to adding in glitter or sparkles wherever possible. Terrific Oscar party accents are the red/gold floral pattern for napkins or table accents.
Another fun idea if you have a red table runner or tablecloth is to lay it on the floor as your ed carpet’. Place it on the steps into the house, the hallway or entry or going into the TV room. Gold sparkles on your red carpet add a bit of glamour.
When you set up your food and drink stations cover them with tablecloths, maybe some flowers or balloons and glitter before placing your food and drinks. Some balloons and streamers or metallic fringe in the color theme of the party will give a great party feeling to the room.
Your plates and eating utensils should also match your color theme. If you’re going fancy use the china plates and silverware. Visit your local party store, dollar store or something similar for a variety of Oscar themed items.
You could get small plastic champagne glasses, streamers and balloons as well as plastic mini Oscar statues. Invite guests to come early to watch the pre-show red carpet and get into the spirit of the Oscars. Background music is not recommended as the focus is watching the Oscars.
Food and drinks to keep the party going
The Oscar ceremony can last for 3 hours or more so it’s important to have enough snacks to last the whole time and ensure your party is a success. Appetizers are always welcome snacks. There are a lot of Oscar type snacks. Deviled eggs, vegetable salad, fruit salad, chips and dip are all good.
If you plan on an entrée make it easy. Order or prepare it ahead or time. Cobb salad, pasta and lasagna are good choices.
Preparing food for a party can be a lot of work. It may be a good idea to ask each guest to bring a small dish to make it easier and most people enjoy a potluck kind of party. Your guests may also prefer to bring their own drinks rather than food.
For your part, you should still make sure that there is plenty of champagne and popcorn. Yes popcorn! After all it’s the Oscars isn’t it? The reason you’re there is to enjoy the show, the company and the food and what goes better at a movie than popcorn! Whether you decide on a pot luck or doing the food yourself, at the bottom of this article are a couple recipes you can make to impress those guests.
You can also go super simple if you are doing a pajama party and do a pizza party. Some appetizers will still work well and of course you still need champagne. The Oscars and champagne go hand in hand and it won’t be an Oscar party without champagne.
Bring on the sweets
Dessert should be easy and simple. Sweets such as small Danish or fruit with chocolate dipping sauce work well. You can melt chocolate beforehand, dip the fruit in it and put them on wax paper to dry. Pretzels, marshmallows, strawberries and other fruits also work well. Renting a chocolate fountain is also an option and the guests can dip for themselves the food of their choice.
You can also make Oscar cookies beforehand. These are very popular! Using a basic sugar cookie recipe, take an Oscar shaped cookie cutter and cut the sugar cookie dough into little Oscar statues. Frost in yellow or gold. They will be a hit with your guests! Be sure to supply plenty of champagne, or sparkling apple cider to quench your guests thirst. Also have a good sized bucket of ice as well as wine, beer, soda, juice and bottled water.
Enjoy the show
Now that your party is planned and ready, get ready to sit back and enjoy the spectacle of the red carpet and the glamour and sparkle of the Academy Awards! If you want to get an early start, you can watch some of the Best Picture nominees online.