Pull out the red carpet, your favorite Hollywood attire and a few swanky cocktails and get ready to watch Anne Hathaway and James Franco host the 2011 Oscars in style! This year, invite friends over for an Academy Award viewing bash just as glamorous as the real thing. Check out Smilebox’s tips to hosting an unforgettable Oscars soiree!
Bold in Gold
To set the mood, decorate your home with the Oscar’s signature color: gold, gold and more gold! Set up a small buffet of appetizers and finger foods over a table draped in a red tablecloth. Then use gold plastic plates, trays and utensils to display food, available at most party supply stores.
You may also want to get gold and red balloons to hang outside your house to signify where the party is.
If you have gold candles or candle holders, bring them out for added decoration. Otherwise, you can also buy inexpensive tea lights and spray-paint the silver casing gold. Then place them in clear candle holders to illuminate the color.
Last but certainly not least, make your guests feel extra special when they arrive with your very won red carpet! Purchase about two yards of red felt fabric and cut it in half. Then, attach the two ends of the pieces with fabric glue so that you have one long piece of fabric. Secure your red carpet to the floor using masking tape or another adhesive so that it will not bunch and guests will not trip on it.
Drinks to Die For
Your Oscars party would not be complete without a few swanky cocktails to spice up the night. We love US Magazine’s list of Oscar nominated film inspired drinks. Try a “Black Ice” mused by Natalie Portman’s character in Black Swan or concoct a “Bombay Sapphire Royal Tea” composed of gin, earl grey tea infused syrup and lemon juice, courtesy of the King’s Speech.
Winner Takes All
For some added entertainment, have a friendly competition between guests to see who can accurately predict the most winners. Before the show starts, have all guests write their name on an index card and write their predictions for all of the big categories, including “best picture” and “best lead actor.” For a list of all official awards and nominees, check out http://oscar.go.com/nominations. You may want to make a poster board with all of the nominations displayed for guests.
After the show, tally up all of your guests’ responses. Whoever got the most predictions right wins! Give the winner an Oscar themed prize, like a gift certificate to the cinema.
If dressing up is your style, have a costume contest, encouraging guests to dress as a celebrity. Have guests vote on the best Hollywood impersonation. Whoever gets the most votes win! Present the winner with a fashion forward prize, like a small gift card to a local favorite accessories shop. And of course, don’t forget to take plenty of pictures of all your famous guests arriving on the red carpet!
The Finishing Touches
Put it all together with your invites!
For a quick and easy Academy Awards themed invite, we love Celebrate Good Times. Check it out below!
