4 Tips for Throwing a 1920s-Style Party
The prohibition era gave birth to speakeasies and a rather wild party scene known as the Roaring Twenties. It was immortalized by the Great Gatsby movie. Even if you don’t like the story of that movie, you can’t argue that the parties were spectacular. To throw a one like this today, you will need to work some magic with the décor and entertainment ideas. Your guests will contribute a great deal to the atmosphere with their costumes, so be sure to provide them with some helpful tips as well.
Settle on the theme and level of historic accuracy
Let’s be frank, the 1920s were very different from the luxury and glamour of Great Gatsby and fantastic parties depicted in similar movies. The majority of romanticized speakeasies were dank, dark and rather unpleasant smelling. However, even those places can be recreated with some charm and at a lower cost than the places where the rich and famous used to hold their “roaring” parties.
Therefore, the first thing you should do is to settle on the exact level of historic accuracy you want to have at your party. Setting a narrow theme will also help a great deal. The 1920s era offers a great variety of those, like:
- Great Gatsby
- Jazz bar
- Gangsters
- Silent movie
- Speakeasy bar
- Fedora party
- Orientalism
- Art deco
- Aviation
Make the setting with furniture
While small details of the decor are important, you shouldn’t forget that it is the big things that can make or break your 1920s atmosphere. Therefore, when organizing this kind of party, you will need to research magazines of old. Jeff Ranford, who works for a furniture rental NYC service advises stocking up on cushy armchairs and small, low, round tables. Add some draperies and heavy tablecloths, and you will create a wonderful 1920s setting with ease.
Small decorations of the 1920s are actually harder to come by because the era was rather eclectic due to the major black hole that sucked in the economy. You should be able to find some small theme-related pieces. But the majority of the atmosphere will need to come from furniture, costumes and posters.
Help your guests dress the part
It is the people that make a 1920s party, so be sure to provide your guests with tips on how to dress up, like the ones offered by Alison Bryant to AllWomensTalk. Bear in mind that women’s fashion of the era was rather limited to a thin boyish body type. Therefore, demanding that ladies come wearing flapper dresses is a bad decision. Instead, focus on accessories, like feathers and long strings of pearl beads. Fedora hats for the gents will help set the atmosphere you want even without people wearing full period costumes.
Depending on the kind of party, you might provide these accessories at the entrance to complement regular cocktail attire. This will be a fantastic choice if you want to keep the theme a surprise until the last moment.
Serve all the cocktails and any food you wish
Food-wise, the 1920s-themed party will be rather easy. Your main focus should be cocktails because it was basically the era when the majority of them were invented. Champagne cocktails, in particular, were “hot” at the time.
Avoid serving a large meal because those weren’t a common thing for parties of the period. Instead, provide your guests with a multitude of canapes and appetizers. The more exotic, the better as people at that time were looking to enjoy any luxury they could get a hold of.
All in all, a 1920s party will be a success if you set the mood right. Partying like every moment is your last might as well have been the motto of the era, so be sure to go all out at an accompaniment of 20s jazz tunes.
Article written by Jane Koval
This article was written by the guest author listed at the end of the article.