Low Budget Themed Party Ideas: Black and White Bash

I love parties! I love going to them, hosting them and planning them! I have been planning parties for a few years now for my friends and family and I’ve come across some great tips for a memorable gathering. I plan to write several articles regarding themed parties that I’ve hosted and the ideas I’ve gotten for or from each of them. First on the list is a Black and White Bash. I call it a bash because ours was much more casual. If it’s fancy, call it a Ball or Gala. But for now, we’ll stick with Bash.

I threw this bash for my younger brother when he turned 21. As a sign of adulthood, we had a grown-up theme with lots of fun and games for the young adult crowd.

First of all, I was on a strict budget. This party was my gift to my brother, and Christmas was just three weeks later, so I wasn’t working with a whole lot of cash at the time. So I started small. I counted my guests. The guest list was 35, but only 28 were able to attend. I looked at my venue. We hosted the party at the home of a friend of ours and she had lots of space to spread out. So far I knew I was not paying to rent a space and therefore could spend a little more on food for 30 people.

For the menu I chose food that complimented the guests and guest of honor. This was a chip and dip kinda crowd, so we had several different chip and dip combinations (an easy one that is always popular are tortilla chips and salsa!). We had cheese and crackers. Then came the more expensive food. A crock-pot full of meatballs, a pan of sausage and peppers and a large pizza cut into small squares. These dishes make large amounts for not a lot of money and they serve more people. They can be found at warehouse discount stores or made at home ahead of time to cut down on prep work and time. To top it off, they’re easy to make – a few hours simmering on low heat and you’ve got dinner.

I asked one of the guests if they would provide two cheesecakes (one vanilla and one chocolate) for the party and make that her gift to the birthday boy. She was more than willing to contribute and now she didn’t have to go buy a gift.

I baked brownies and asked our host (who bakes!) if she’d make a cake she invented for one of my birthdays years ago. She complied and we had a table full of desserts.

Next came the decorating. Being a black and white party I had made the invitations on my computer (all black and white) and mailed them out with the request that everyone where either all black, white or a combination of the two. The birthday boy added red to his outfit and therefore stood out as the guest of honor! I went to the dollar store and bought white table cloths, napkins, and crepe paper. Then I stopped by a party store to stock up on the same supplies in black (many discount stores don’t carry black items like that unless it’s Halloween. Stock up then if you know you have a need for black decorations later on!). I found a great square cocktail plate with a space cut out of one corner for holding a wine glass (which I picked up in plastic). This was a 21st Birthday party after all!

Balloons were the last thing on my decorating list. I recruited my best friend to help with the set up and we spread out to several rooms of the house, draping tables in plastic, crepe and balloons. The desserts followed the theme and we were dressed up in black and white as well.

We played two really fun games, one an ice breaker and one a team game. The ice breaker had every guest with the name of a famous or fictional character on their back. They asked the other guests questions to discover who they were. This was hilarious! Then we played Pictionary – but I did a homemade version so that we could personalize it a little.

We took lots of pictures, had lots of cake and had a really good time! Low cost themes are easy to plan for if you have a bit of imagination and a few solid tips to follow!

Happy partying!