Get this free Printable Party Planner to make the next party you host fun and…
40 Dinner Party Themes
Browse these 40 dinner party themes; you are sure to find the perfect party idea that is easy for the hostess and fun for all your guests.
WHAT IS A THEMED DINNER PARTY?
A dinner party where all the food and decorations are made according to one theme. The theme might revolve around a nationality, movie, game, a season, or a time in history.
WHY HAVE A THEMED DINNER PARTY?
Whether it’s getting the guests to dress up in a fun costume, all the food dishes having a similar theme, or just organizing some fun games and activities, a theme for the party helps tie it all together, so guests have a great time together.
HOW TO HOST A THEMED PARTY
Throwing a themed dinner party takes a little bit of organization at first. However, the good part about having a themed dinner is it narrows down your choices for what to serve and how to decorate. It also makes it easier to choose activities centered around the food and your theme.
Start a plan, and it does not have to be elaborate. A simple brainstorming session for ideas will get the ball rolling. I have a brain dump page you can download in my free party planner below.
PARTY PLANNER CHECKLIST
Get this Free Printable Party Planner to help you easily throw a fun and memorable party. This planner will keep the process of planning a party easy.
- Brainstorming and party details sheet
- Guestlist
- Menu
- Decorations
- Entertainment
- Day of the party schedule
- Count down to-do checklist
- Party space grid planner sheet
- Free printable banner with letters
You can make these pdf pages into a party binder by printing all the pages, hole punch them, and place in a notebook.
LEARN TO THROW A GREAT DINNER PARTY
If you have been hosting dinner parties for years or new to opening your home to guests, you will enjoy fresh ideas and tips on hosting in these books.
WHAT ARE GOOD THEMES FOR A PARTY?
Below I have gathers some great themed party ideas for you to try. From ethnic-themed dinners, sports-themed parties centered around a food type to a few fun interactive dinner parties.
- DINNER PARTY THEMES
- MEXICAN DINNER PARTY
- ITALIAN DINNER PARTY
- MARDI GRAS DINNER PARTY
- SPEAKEASY DINNER PARTY
- WHAT ARE SOME GOOD POTLUCK DINNER THEMES?
- MASTERS GOLF DINNER PARTY
- FARM TO TABLE DINNER PARTY
- GAME DAY DINNER PARTY
- BREAKFAST FOR DINNER PARTIES
- BACKYARD DINNER PARTIES
- SOUP PARTY
- MURDER MYSTERY DINNER
- CHILI COOK-OFF DINNER
- HOLIDAY THEMED DINNER PARTY
- SHUSHI PARTY
- MOROCCAN DINNER PARTY
- BOHEMIAN BACKYARD DINNER PARTY
- DIY PIZZA PARTY
- CASINO NIGHT DINNER PARTY
- FRENCH INSPIRED DINNER PARTY
- WINE & DINE PAIRING MENU
- VIRTUAL DINNER PARTY
- DISNEY DINNER PARTIES
- WINTER DINNER PARTY THEME
- VALENTINE DINNER
DINNER PARTY THEMES
Scroll through these fun dinner party themes, one is sure to be a hit with you and your guest!
MEXICAN DINNER PARTY
Try these Easy Mexican Party Theme Ideas and Recipes, your friends and family will be raving how clever you are for throwing such a great party! Everything you need to throw a great Mexican themed dinner party!
ITALIAN DINNER PARTY
An Italian Dinner Party theme will create a festive memorable dinner party. Learn how to throw an easy dinner party using traditional Italian decor and authentic Italian recipes.
MARDI GRAS DINNER PARTY
How to Host a Mardi Gras Party themed dinner for adults
Host a Mardi Gras party that celebrates the flavors of New Orleans. Plan a dinner party with these ideas & recipes inspired by The Big Easy.
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Mardi Gras Party Supplies Set
SPEAKEASY DINNER PARTY
Speakeasy Party Ideas – Our Potluck Family
Fun ideas to set up a Speakeasy Party with a Chardonnay tasting paired with a delicious Blackberry Goat Cheese Crostini appetizer.
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Speakeasy Decorations Kit
WHAT ARE SOME GOOD POTLUCK DINNER THEMES?
Choosing a theme for a potluck makes it easier for guests to know what to bring. Try one of these or any within this post.
- Flash-back: A favorite dish your mom made when you were little.
- Dinner & A Movie: Choose a movie to show after dinner and have everyone bring a dish according to what might be served in the movie. There are several Disney movie theme ideas below.
- National Cusine: This is a lot of fun. Try Mexican, Italian, Japanese, German, French, and so forth.
- Copycat Dinner: This would be so much fun. Everyone brings a dish that a restaurant is known for. For example, my Wendy’s Copycat Chili recipe.
- Tailgate Party: This would be fun to do while watching a sporting event.
- Rainbow Dinner: Everyone is assigned a color and a course.
- 5 Ingredients or Less: Simple is sometimes best!
- Rolled Dinner: Everything must be rolled up or in a roll.
- Baked Potato Bar: You supply the baked potatoes, and everyone else brings toppings.
- Picnic: This would be a fun potluck to do when the weather is nice, and you could meet in a park. Or it would be a lot of fun to spread out a big table cloth on your living room floor in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night.
- Food On A Stick: Corndogs, shish kabobs, grilled corn on a stick, or anything else you can fill a stick with.
- Baseball Park Food: Anything from hot dogs, nachos to beer.
TIPS FOR POTLUCK THEMED DINNER
- Choose a theme that lends itself to easy potluck dishes, and that would be fun and easy for your guest.
- Easy Sign-Up: Create an event with a sign-up that everyone can see, such as a text, email, or maybe a signup service like Take Them A Meal will all work.
- Portions: After everyone is signed up, let them know how many people their dish should feed. This is a great way to remind them about the party and answer any questions they might have.
MASTERS GOLF DINNER PARTY
Throwing a Masters Dinner Party with your golf enthusiast friends will be easy with these Masters party ideas. Learn simple decorating tips, ideas for what to wear, and recipes to help you serve traditional foods from the Masters.
FARM TO TABLE DINNER PARTY
An Intimate Farm to Table Dinner Party
Learn how to set a beautiful table and decorate your backyard so guests feel welcome. Then have each guest bring a dish with ingredients grown locally for an easy potluck dinner.
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Farm to Table Dinner
This gorgeous farm to table dinner highlights using fresh produce as decor to set the mood for dinner. So many cute ideas that you could recreate at your own party.
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Farm to Table Home Decorative Table Cover
GAME DAY DINNER PARTY
Host a Game Day Dinner Party when the next big game comes on TV. These game day party food bars are fun and easy to feed a crowd while watching your favorite team play. Get tips for decorating, setting up a foobar, and recipe ideas for the next big game day.
BREAKFAST FOR DINNER PARTIES
Biscuit Bar
Set up a biscuit bar as part of a breakfast for dinner theme. It’s easy for your guest to help themselves. The best part is, you can have it all set up before guests arrives for dinner.
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Waffle Bar Ideas and Recipes – Moms & Munchkins
A waffle bar is a great buffet idea for breakfast, brunch or dessert! Here are some ideas for setting up your buffet, waffle recipes to serve, and more!
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BACKYARD DINNER PARTIES
Create a fun and easy outdoor party with these healthy Backyard Dinner Party Ideas and decorating tips. It’s an easy casual dinner party that your friends and family will enjoy.
Summer Seafood Boil Party
Summer isn’t complete until we’ve hosted or attended a Summer Seafood Boil. Get ready for a lip smackin’, crawfish crackin’ good time!
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Backyard Luau Menu Plan – House of Nash Eats
The end of Summer calls for a celebration and I’ve got a great Backyard Luau Menu Plan for an easy and fun Hawaiian-inspired party!
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A Bohemian Backyard Dinner Party
Sometimes the best nights out are the nights we stay in. Today, Houston calligrapher Meg Grant is sharing her recent backyard dinner party with us. She handcrafted everything from the invitations and place cards, to the menus and bar signage. Scroll down…
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IDEAS FOR HOSTING A BACKYARD TROPICAL THEMED DINNER PARTY THIS SUMMER | Design by Occasion
DESTINATION: THE TROPICS – DISCOVER EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR A COLORFUL DINNER GATHERING AT HOME
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Outdoor Dinner Party | Summer Entertaining
How to host a summer outdoor dinner party with invitations, decorating tips, and recipes.
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SOUP PARTY
Tomkat shares tips on hosting a fun and fabulous Soup Party complete with an array of soup flavors, toppings, appetizers, + dessert (of course).
MURDER MYSTERY DINNER
How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner at Home While Maintaining Social Distancing
Here’s how to plan a murder mystery dinner party all from picking a theme and assigning roles to the guests.
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How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party • Endless Bliss
Get your friends together for a Murder Mystery Dinner Party! This post has everything you need to throw a successful Murder Mystery Dinner Party.
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Murder Mystery Party – A Taste for Wine and Murder
Everything you need for throwing an unforgettable dinner party, including recipes, place cards, and a well-thought out murder. This entertaining kit is wonderful for breaking the ice between new friends or adding a new angle to a gathering of old buddies, setting the stage for each guest to play a role as a suspect in a mystery set in California wine country. Kit includes a party planner including a menu with themed recipes, music and decorating tips, eight place cards, and invitations, and booklets for all suspects including their roles and background information. The mystery unfolds along with your evening, with a CD that gets things rolling and six secret clues you reveal along the way. Six to eight players.
CHILI COOK-OFF DINNER
Hosting a chili dinner is a great opportunity to have a chili cook-off. Have all your guests bring a small pot of their best chili recipe. Pick some judges and award prizes for the best tasting, spiciest, and most unique. This would be so much fun and easy on the hostess.
Exactly How to Set Up a Chili Bar
My best tips to set up a chili bar with all the fixings. Turn slow cooker chili into toppings for fries, hot dogs, nachos & MORE! An easy party idea at home
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EPIC Chili Dinner Board
Great party idea! Set up a chili dinner board. Your guest will think you are so smart.
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How to host a crowd pleasing Chili Bar
How to host a crowd-pleasing Chili Bar for a winter party.
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Chili Cook Off Wood Spoon Prizes
Red Green and Yellow Chili Pepper Lights
HOLIDAY THEMED DINNER PARTY
Thankful for Leftovers and Game Night Party – Liz and Ryan
If you are hosting Thanksgiving and you are anything like us, then you will most likely end up with a ton of leftovers. This year we wanted to be creative and think of a fun way to share our leftovers. So we came up with a Leftovers Game Night Dinner Party for our friends that you can create too.
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SHUSHI PARTY
How to Throw a Homemade Sushi Party
When food-loving friends get together to chip in on a gourmet meal, magical things can happen. Dinner parties are a great way to have champagne caliber fun on a beer budget. One of the my favorite foods is sushi, which also happens to be seriously expensive. When an intense craving hit me recently, …
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A Guide on How to Host a Sushi Party • Just One Cookbook
A comprehensive guide to host a sushi party. Learn how to make sushi rice, selection of sushi to serve, equipment, snack & beverage ideas and many other useful tips for a successful sushi feast.
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Sushi Paper Party Supplies
MOROCCAN DINNER PARTY
Moroccan Dinner Party Menu – What’s Gaby Cooking
Grab the full Moroccan Dinner Party Menu here including appetizers, mains, sides, drinks and of course dessert! Everything you could need for a soiree!
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BOHEMIAN BACKYARD DINNER PARTY
How To Plan A Bohemian Backyard Dinner Party – Sanctuary Home Decor
Everything you need to know to plan a beautiful Bohemian Backyard Dinner Party – Tips and ideas for setting the perfect table and wowing your guests!
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DIY PIZZA PARTY
How to Host a Picture Perfect Pizza Party – The Defined Dish
I just love hosting a good dinner party. Friends, good food, and great wine all in the comfort of your own home where you can really enjoy each others company… it just doesn’t get much better than that to me! Entertaining can be stressful and overwhelming. What should I cook? How do I make it look p…
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How to Throw a Homemade Pizza Party • The Pinning Mama
Are you looking for an excuse to get together with your friends? Learn how to throw a homemade pizza party with these simple tips. It’s a fun, easy, and kid-approved! Hi, it’s Ginnie from Hello Little Home! I’m excited to be back and talking about one of my favorite foods: pizza. It’s a meal that ..…
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Pizza Pennant
Pizza Party Dinner Pack
CASINO NIGHT DINNER PARTY
Poker Night Party: Decorations, Food, Invitations,-The Holidaze Craze
You can’t go wrong with these adorable poker party ideas! Throw the best poker night party ever with these clever DIY party ideas.
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Casino Theme Party Decorations
FRENCH INSPIRED DINNER PARTY
The Blond Abroad has all the details that will help you throw a French-inspired Dinner Party. Everything from music, lighting, decor, and recipes.
How to host an EASY 5 Course French Dinner Party
Host an easy and almost effortless 5 course french meal – a complete menu with wine pairings for each course! You didn’t know entertaining was this easy!
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FIVE TIPS FOR A CASUAL FRENCH DINNER PARTY – Classic Casual Home
Bonjour from Paris! If you follow me on Instagram, you know what I am up to! This seems like an appropriate time to tell you about a casual, French dinner party that we hosted recently in San Francisco. Please ignore my “Franglish” on Howard’s menu (he did the cooking)….Read More »
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France Flags Banner
Eiffel Tower Backdrop
WINE & DINE PAIRING MENU
Festive Winter Wine Dinner at Home | Cooking Chat
Create a special elegant evening without going to a restaurant. Try this festive, three-course dinner with wine pairings for each course. Cheers!
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VIRTUAL DINNER PARTY
How to Host a Virtual Dinner Party: 11 Proven Tips and Tricks
Looking for something fun to do? Why not host a virtual dinner party? Gather family and friends from far away and enjoy your time together with these tips!
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DISNEY DINNER PARTIES
Beauty and the Beast Dinner Party – Raising Whasians
Hungry for Disney? Grab your Beauty and the Beast Dinner Party Ideas from our night at Williams Sonoma, featuring the limited edition Le Creuset Soup Pot
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Alice in Wonderland Dinner Party
A Mad Hatter-inspired garden party Of all the Disney Dinners, I spent the most time planning Alice in Wonderland. It’s funny that I was so excited about it since I am really not a huge fan of the film or book but I’ve always loved the idea of Wonderland. I hosted Disney Dinners: Alice in… Read Mor…
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Mary Poppins Returns Dinner Party
An easy menu inspired by English tea and served in a colorful London park setting “Everything is possible. Even the impossible.” – Mary Poppins I couldn’t even tell you how many times I watched Mary Poppins growing up. Rather than remaking the classic, Disney continued the story in 2018 with a brand…
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WINTER DINNER PARTY THEME
Cozy & Chic Winter Dinner Party | Kara’s Party Ideas
Though the snow may or may not be fallin’ this Cozy & Chic Winter Dinner Party by Chelsey Flint of Chelsey Flint Events, out of Oklahoma City, is definitely callin’! Showcasing soft whites with accents of golds and silver, this celebration is sure to deliver! So cozy in and take a look and warm up…
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60 Pack Winter Wonderland Snowflake
Winter Party Supply Pack
VALENTINE DINNER
Italian Cannoli Dream Valentine’s Day Party | Kara’s Party Ideas
This post is sponsored by International Delight. All opinions are real and my very own. On more than one occasion I have been told that I am impulsive. And, in reality, it’s true. I crave deviation from normalcy, I love spontaneity, and I just can’t be content with the mundane. I suppose it is pa…
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Our Love is Sizzlin’ Dinner Party & Dirty Cupid Game – Fantabulosity
Our Love is Sizzlin’ Dinner Party & Dirty Cupid Game: A romantic and fun party idea for adults, and a fun adult party game idea!
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