Award-Worthy Oscar Party Tips (Guest Post)

Can you believe it is almost a week until the Oscars? Even though I've been howling about Leonardo DiCaprio for what feels like months, we're just around the corner from seeing if he can seal the deal with Oscar. Which would, of course, be amazing. Like many blogs around here, it is going to be all about the Oscars for the next few days - so do grin and bear it. However, I have a guest post on here from Morgan Gray, who shares her tips on what makes an Oscar party awesome. Really makes me want to throw one myself! So here you go -

My friends and I trade around who gets to host, and this year it's my turn—and I couldn't be more excited! I have a lot of ideas to make for a great party.

Food and Beverages
When it comes to the food and drinks—one of the major parts of any party, especially an Oscars party—I like to put in a lot of effort and run with a theme. For example, last year when Silver Linings Playbook was up for awards, I made mini Philly cheese steak sandwiches to bring to my friend’s potluck party. This year, I'm going to make Nebraska the theme, so I'll be making hors d'oeuvres like cornbread, mini chicken-fried steaks, and mashed potatoes and corn in Mid-West style.



The beverages are also key. This is another great place to make a theme run, but this year, I want to give my guests a lot of options. Thus, what I've decided to do is put together a bar they can run themselves and make their own drinks! I came across this fun infographic from RedEnvelope and it’s a good starting place. The drink of choice this year is the San Francisco Cocktail for Blue Jasmine (I'm a sucker for anything Woody Allen), but I also found a list of “classic Oscars drinks.” I'll ask people to bring a bottle or two of alcohol to make it fair for everyone, less expensive for me, and fun to let people take what they want home afterward!

Décor
I absolutely love dec-ing out my place for any party, but the Oscars give us a chance to go full-out. To make my guests feel extra-special, I'm going to make up some Hollywood Stars for them with their names on them and hang them around (I'm bracing myself in advance for the selfies). I'll also cut out the Hollywood sign from white paper and paste it on a black sheet with lots of star confetti to add a glimmering effect. The tablecloths will all be glittery black, with white- and gold-colored plates and plasticware to make everything look especially classic and clean-cut.

Since I'm having friends with children come this year, I've decided not to do a red carpet because I don't want the kids tripping on it. So what I've decided to do instead—and I've given myself a pre-emptive pat on the back for this—is bake a large batch of red velvet cupcakes instead! Why buy a cheap streamer-like carpet from the party store when you can make tasty treats that everyone will enjoy so much more?

Costumes
What we've done in years past is have the traditional Oscars ballots, where everyone votes for the films they think will win different awards. This has always done well (the winner normally gets a nice bottle of wine or a small cake), but I've decided to take it one step further this year. We're going to have a costume party! Having the children come is what inspired this idea, but then I figured—why wouldn't my friends want to dress up too? I'm going to ask that my guests come dressed in some fashion for their choice of Best Picture (my friend Dave is going to dress as Christian Bale's character from American Hustle) and that can count as extra points in the ballot race. I think this one will work very well this year!

Throwing a party can be stressful for sure, especially when there's pressure to keep up with the great parties in the past. However, with some tried-and-true tricks, some new ideas to keep things fresh, and a lot of black cloth and glitter, you can be sure to have a great Oscars party!

Do you have any ideas for an Oscar themed party? Leave a comment and with all these ideas, someone could have the best Oscar party ever!