Planning

Fiesta! = party with Mexican flair, colors and flavors!  You can get really authentic or have fun with Americanized party fun.  But no matter what you do, this Theme will result in vibrant colors, sexy hot tempos, and spicy food that makes the taste-buds jump!  Select tropical colors and plants and flowers, Spanish rhythms, Mexican food and tropical drinks to create this party.  Your result will be fun, sexy, sensual, and high energy.  Serious party mojo!  Ole!

What is your "Party Picture"?

A Fiesta should immediately bring thoughts of bright colors, ice cold drinks, spicy food and LOTS of energy.  This is not a "let's sit and have cerebral conversation" party!  But it also doesn't have to be a bunch of drunken people wearing sombreros either.  Determine what type of party you are looking for, then begin setting the stage.  Do you want dancing?  Is the key going to be the food?  The music?  The bar?  Are your guests adventurous or pretty tame?  How much do you want to spend?  Is there a great restaurant you can take your party to or do you want to turn your home into a Spanish getaway? 

• Inspiration for this Theme can be found in all things Mexican!  Sombreros, bright fun colors, maracas, Margaritas, piñatas, terra cotta tile and pots, chilies, cactus, bandanas, ponchos, paper flowers, the red white and green of the Mexican flag, and of course, spicy Mexican food served in brightly colored dishes! 

• This is a great party to work with food.  Your Theme comes with an entire array of ethnic food and drinks!  You can use a great Mexican restaurant to cater, you can use your own culinary skills, or you can make it a potluck ("Guest participation") and have everyone bring something Mexican!  Your bar can be based on your Theme as well with ice cold Mexican beer with limes, Margaritas and Tequila!  This is a simple party to put together successfully and a great "starter" party for those who are just getting their feet wet at hosting.
• When working with a theme, use ALL of your senses.  Here, don't forget to find some fun Mexican rhythms and music to spice up the background!
• Venue Note - If you don't want to do all of the work, check out some of the local Mexican restaurants.  You can either get them to cater (drop off or pick up), or can see if they have a room they can set aside for your guests.  You can set up your décor (they will already have the foundation, you're just adding the gravy) and the restaurant will provide the rest! 

 

 

Invitations

Communicating with your Guests

Depending on which angle you want to take with this party, you can have a lot of fun with invitations!  Once you've determined what you are expecting from your party, craft an invitation that will create the energy you want.   Is it the colors?  The food?  The Margaritas?  If you want more than the standard card, consider including dried chilies in a box with the invitation, or colorful tissue paper confetti that will sprinkle from your envelope.  Send a pair of Maracas with the party details written in Sharpie on them, or a paper cut out of a Sombrero with your Guest of Honor's picture under it. (follow up with a Party Reminder e-mail in case the kids make off with these!)  See some fun ideas below!

• Margaritas, Margaritas, Margaritas… Have the cover of your invitation be a picture of a Margarita, and inside give party details and ask guests for their favorite Margarita recipe.  You can send your e-mail party reminder and ask for them to include it so that you can create a book of Margarita recipes for the bar and as a party favor!   
• Salsa Lovers - Send a small box filled with tortilla chips and a note card with party details.  Let guests know to bring an appetite for the Salsa tasting, followed up with lots of Coronas to cool off!

Invitations	Thank You Notes
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Dress It Up

Decorations

There are many different cultures within Mexico that you can draw inspiration from.  You can have what American's know as a typical Mexican party with Pinatas and Sombreros, or you can take your guests on a culinary tour through Cabo with a gourmet buffet and palm tree centerpieces…  Or you can find somewhere in between;  Tropical colors, tropical plants and flowers, Sombreros, Delete "Sombreros so we can use it above" paper tissue flowers, Mexican blankets as tablecloths, Maracas hiding in your centerpiece - have fun with this.  You can also make this silly and fun - with Corona (or XX) buckets as centerpieces surrounded with plates of chips and salsa - really inexpensive (your refreshments become your tablescape!) but definitely fits the theme!

• The colors for this party are best selected by looking at a Mexican blanket or poncho that is filled with fun colors that you like.  Use that as a base.  Typically, you'll find fuscia, orange, yellow, purple, lime green, bright blue, white and black.  Or, you can choose to be inspired by the Mexican flag which is Green, white and red.
• Have fun with your lighting for this party.  It's easy to find brightly colored paper lanterns to string throughout your space, and chili lights.  Or, if you are up-scaling this, find some fun wrought iron candelabras and fill with candles!
• This party is all about the flowers!  Consider Birds of Paradise, Bougainvillea, hibiscus floating in glass bowls or even orchids.  If you are crafty, you can make your own tissue paper flowers as well.
• Mexican Tissue Paper Flowers:  Tissue Paper flowers are an inexpensive, colorful addition to your party décor.  And if you have children, this is a fun way to have them get involved as creating these flowers is an easy craft project.  Start with four - six sheets of crepe paper (tissue paper) in the colors you want.  (Note, the larger the square, the more pieces of tissue paper you should have in your stack).  Stack the tissue paper and fold the stack into an accordian (1" pleats).  Wrap a green pipe cleaner (if you want your "stem" to be stronger, twist a pipe cleaner together with flower wire) around the center of your accordian.  GENTLY separate each layer pulling upwards and towards the middle of the flower.  Adjust to make everything even and voila!  You can purchase kits, or get your own supplies.   

Tablescapes

• Mexican Blanket Inspiration - Get brightly colored Mexican blankets (if you've been to Mexico you probably have a few in your linen closet!) and use them as tablecloths.  Find fun, complementary colored dishes and mix and match to keep it vibrant.  Place cards are made of cardstock in the colors of the blanket (use every color!) and placed at each setting with a tropical flower at each place setting.  Centerpiece is a Sombrero filled with chips and three dishes of salsa and guacamole around the Sombrero.  Easy, colorful and fun!
• Tissue Paper Centerpiece - you can buy (or make if you are creative) tissue paper flowers in all the bright colors of Mexico.  This centerpiece is fun in winter when live flowers may be a budget buster. 
• Gerber Pom Poms:  Take a sphere of floral foam and soak it.  Then cut Gerber daisies to stems of 3" and insert into the floral foam.  Cover the entire sphere creating a pom pom and use these along your table!

Decorations	Tablescapes
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Food/Drink

This party is about the FOOD, and thankfully, a lot of the food can be made ahead of time and isn't that difficult.  This party also lends itself to TASTINGS.  Salsa and dip tasting, Margarita tasting, Mexican beer tasting… Your food can easily become part of your entertainment if you plan well.  You can even ask guests to get involved.  Ask guests to bring their favorite dip for Tortilla chips - you'll end up with traditional salsas, corn salsas, guacamole, and some fun cheese nacho sauces!  Toss in a couple of store bought to see if guests can tell the difference.  If you want to serve a meal, Mexican food lends itself well to a buffet or family style serving.  This way guests can take what they like or try a little of everything!  Have a few items that are familiar for guests with conservative taste buds, then have a few items that are new and different.  Note, if you don't cook, this Theme is PERFECT for catering.  Your favorite local Mexican Restaurant will work with you to provide catered food in buffet portions, usually at a pretty reasonable price!  You can pick it up right before the party, and then add in your salsa bar and it's a no fuss party!

 

Food	Beverages
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Cake

Cakes and Desserts

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Entertainment

Activities

• Spanish Swear Words:  We never really do grow up.  Even at 80 we'll all be chucking about the cuss we learned in Swahili - so have a little fun with it.  For the guests who aren't fluent in Spanish, have cards placed throughout the party space with a Spanish swear and a completely innocent word (like "strawberry") that sounds like it would be a swear word.  Have guests vote for which is the cuss, and what they think it is.  It will get your guests moving throughout the space and laughing together!

• Salsa Tasting:  Have several salsas or dips/sauces available for guests to try.   Toss in a few store bought alternatives and see if guests can guess which are home made and which are not.  Also, you have can have them select favorites for prizes!

• Piñata:  Nope, honestly, they ARE NOT just for kids.  Go to any kids party where one of these wonderfully colored surprise inside creations are hanging and watch how all of the guests look on with longing, wishing they could take just one whack…  We don't ever outgrow piñatas.  Buy one that is fun and whimsical, and fill it with candy, and silly items adults would enjoy, like glow sticks, Jolly Ranchers, temporary tattoos, candy limes to go with the Margaritas, etc.  Let everyone take a whack and see how much fun a "child's" entertainment is for the rest of us! 

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Prizes / Favors

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