Welcome to my 10-part series “Planning the perfect Spanish theme party”. I’m covering party planning, food, drink, entertainment, activities, music, decorations, birthday parties, dance parties, and invitations and favours.
This is part 7: Decorations for your Spanish theme party.
How to decorate a Spanish theme party
Often party decorations feature a lot of single-use plastic and items that are thrown onto landfill after just one party. I’ve come up with some ideas that are adaptable according to your budget, possible to do by yourself and more sustainable than most off-the-shelf party decorations.
You can have a go yourself or professional craft artists can support you with realising these ideas. Check out my post about party planning for advice on this and other factors to consider in the run up to your party. But now, let’s get creative!
Colours
The Spanish flag is red and yellow, beautiful summery colours that can build the foundation of your party. They look gorgeous, are easy to come by and adaptable to all sorts of ideas.
In addition you can chose dark accents for elegant or late night events, and light accents for outdoor, summer and children’s parties.
Flowers and ribbons
Depending on your budget and DIY skills, you can craft fresh, dried or artificial flowers in a variety of arrangements from minimalist elegant displays to refreshing and playful or luscious and exuberant displays. Of course, a professional florist can support with this, but some ideas are surprisingly easy to do yourself if it gives you pleasure. To increase texture and volume, add ribbons to your displays.
- Create a flower wall or archway
- Decorate windows and doorways
- Sprinkle flowers across tables
- Place one flower each in many small glass flasks
- Offer your guests flower hairpins and boutonnières upon arrival
After the party, dried and artificial flowers as well as ribbons can be used as decorations around your hourse or form part of future presents and gift wrapping for your friends and family. Fresh flowers will of course wilt, but you can compost them.
Plants
A very outside-the-box ideas for indoor parties of a smaller size is to bring all your plants into the party space. Depending on how many you have, they could build a remarkable table centre piece or be part of a DIY photobooth.
Accessories and posters
Display vintage posters, fans, castanets, Dalí moustaches, a torero cape and jacket and a Cordovan hat (Cordobés) if you have them. If you haven’t got them, these items can be ordered online. You could use accessories and clothing again at fancy dress parties, donate them to a school as costuming or sell them on. The posters you could keep to decorate your home or give away as a unique party favour.
Paper
Paper is an affordable and versatile material that can work wonderfully for fresh, light and colourful party decorations. It’s particularly suitable for craft lovers and for families as it may be quite a lot of work to do by yourself. Buy high-quality red and yellow paper and try yourself at bunting, party streamers and paper rosettes. Paper is recyclable and any string you use will surely come in handy around the house again too. You could even have a go at recycling your paper yourself if you like crafts.
Food and candles
This is quite an out-there idea. But bear with me. Food is atmospheric and luscious. Using at as decorations creates lots of texture and is certainly out of the ordinary. Of course, you’ll have to have a very good plan for how to use it all up in the coming weeks, as I would never promote food waste. These are some ideas to inspire you:
- Get your neighbours and community involved by asking them collect bottles in the run up to the party
- Offer a little hamper of fresh fruit and vegetables alongside two of your favourite recipes to use them in to take home as your party favour
- Work with fresh fruit and canned and bottled food and drink
- Use store cupboard essentials such as chopped tomatoes that will keep
- Choose tins and bottles with evocative Spanish labels such as olive oil cans
- Display wine and sherry bottles as candleholders
To keep it manageable, build one or a few impressive displays rather than placing individual items around the room, although that could work too if done with an eye for the unusual. Using bottles as candleholders is very effective and romantic, but make sure any fire is far away from flamable items and that you have a fire extinguisher. Don’t use candles outdoors in extremely dry weather.
I hope this post has given you new and unexpected yet feasible and beautiful ideas you’d like to give a go! Next week, I will write about invitations and favours. Check out the whole series for ideas on party planning, food and drinks, entertainment, music and party activities, and let me know which ideas you’ll try in the comments.
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