Planning a Classic 90s Party from Start to Finish

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Looking for a fun idea for your next get together? From the generation of Nickelodeon game shows and In Living Color, comes the best party you will throw this year- 90’s Party! So break out your Salt N’ Pepper t-shirts and your starter jackets, friends and get ready to party like its 1999!

Step 1- Pick Your 90s Party Color Scheme:

When thinking about which direction to take your 90’s party, you have a ton of great options. I made a visual example in the pin below so you can see the different ways you might want to take your party based on which of these classic patterns you like the most!

When coming up with decorations think of 90s attire & 90s school notebooks

Bold color combinations
Abstract art shapes
Layered patterns
Palm Trees
Classic 90s Icons

Step 2: Pick Your 90s Party Invitations

Inviting people to a party will set the mood for the theme that you choose.
When it comes to the 90’s it’s color splats, geometric shapes and bright colors.
Choose an invitation that fits your desired theme- whether it is Neon, Geometric or just lots of color.

There are great invitations to fit your 90’s party with a little searching. These are few of my favorite!

90’s Throwback – Fill In 1990s Party Invitations (8 count)

80’s Retro – Shaped Fill-in Invitations – Totally 1980s Party Invitation Cards with Envelopes – Set of 12

Step 3- Pick your 90s Party Classic Supplies:

One thing consider about throwing a 90s party is that color is king. That means that you can actually go with a ton of solid, bright decorations and it’s going to look great.

I’d encourage you to start looking for your decorations at one or two of these 9 Thrifty Party Shop Places Most People Forget About.

If you want to go even more authentic, check out these geometric decor options.

Geometric Design Table Cloth >> Ambesonne 90s Tablecloth, Geometric Pattern in Retro Style with Round Half Moon Triangle Shapes Artwork, Rectangular Table Cover for Dining Room Kitchen Decor, 60″ X 90″, Navy Yellow

Plates >> Disposable Plates – 80-Count Paper Plates, Birthday Party Supplies for Appetizer, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert, Confetti Design, 9 x 9 inches

Cups (These literally remind me of the skating rink) >> Dart Solo RP12NP-00055 Jazz 12 oz. Poly Paper Cold Cup – 100/Pack

Step 4: Prep Your Photo booth

Creating a great photo booth is pretty simple, but it will add so much fun to your 90s party! Here’s the basic setup needs:

- Back drop or neutral curtain
- Props
- Lighting
- Camera/Phone
- Tripod or camera holder
- Instant print camera- I love these because guests can immediately take the picture with them

Emvency Tapestry Colorful Graphic Retro Vintage 80S 90S Style Abstract Good Design and 1990S Memphis Home Decor Wall Hanging for Living Room Bedroom Dorm 60×80 inches

90s Party Photo Booth Props Kit-1990’s Throwback Party Supplies Decorations

10″ Selfie Ring Light with 50″ Extendable Tripod Stand & Flexible Phone Holder for Live Stream/Makeup, UBeesize Mini Desktop Led Camera Ringlight for YouTube Video, Compatible with iPhone/Android

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 (Ice Blue) Instant Camera with Mini Film Twin Pack

Step 5- Get Creative with Decorations

There are lots of pre-created 90’s Party supply sets that are right out of the box and ready to go. But I still like to add an element of DIY to most parties that I throw because it helps me explore my craft side.

Here is a fun and interesting table centerpiece you may want to look into creating!

DIY 90s Party Center Piece Project:

This centerpiece piece is great if you:

- Want “easy to construct DIY”
- Already have cassettes lying around
- Inexpensive yet effective
- Want a cool party favor for your guest

Supplies for this:

- Cassettes
- Hot glue gun- HOW DO I KNOW WHICH TEMPERATURE TO GET? Great question!
  - High temp glue guns are best for this style of project where you will want guaranteed stability.
  - Heavy duty plastic that is bonding to heavy duty plastic will need the reinforcement of this level of heat.
  - Leave this craft project to the adults unless you want to supervise a low temp craft party
  - Do you know what type of glue gun is best for your project?
- Battery operated lights

Maxell 109085 Brick Packs Optimally Designed for Voice Recording, Low Noise Surface with 60 Min Recording Time Per Tape

Hot Glue Gun, Blusmart Upgraded Mini Glue Gun with 30pcs Melt Glue Sticks, 20 Watt High Temperature Glue Gun for DIY Crafts, Projects, Fast Home Repairs & Creative Arts, Blue

6 Pack Fairy Lights 7 Feet 20 LED Starry Lights Battery Operated String Lights Silver Coated Copper Wire Firefly Moon Lights for DIY Wedding Bedroom Indoor Party Decoration (Multi)

DIY 90s Party Bunting-

One thing I really love is creating bunting for my parties to hang above the party table and/or across the fireplace mantel. One quirky and fun DIY option is to use floppy disks or Vinyl’s to create your own bunting. You would simply want string and then hot glue or connect the items side by side on the string. Once done you can hang them up!

I made a diagram so you can see what you might be able to make with a few records and floppy disks!

You can snag these DIY supplies on Amazon:

Verbatim CD-R 80min 52X with Digital Vinyl Surface – 10pk Bulk Box, Blue/Green/Orange/Pink/Purple – 97935

PHT Silicone Blanked Label Retro 3.5 Inches Floppy Disk All-weather Coasters , 4.7 X 3.6″, Set of 8

If you want to go the easy route, you can also pick up a 90s party decoration kit. These are simple and but still bring the theme into the room.

Big Dot of Happiness 90’s Throwback – Diy Pennant Banner Decorations – 1990s Party Triangle Kit – 99 Pieces

Step 6- Create a Menu

Classic snacks from the nineties will always be a hit at this party. Want to go down memory lane? Check out this fun list of 90s Snack Foods and Candies from Mashable.

Creative 90s Party Food Ideas:

Pizza

A 90’s movie and television show classic food that brings friends together for a party just about anywhere.

Lunchables

- You can buy actual Lunchables Pizza or Cracker Packs
- Make a fancy looking lunchables “board” by cutting your favorite cheeses and deli meats into little circles. Here’s my tutorial on how I make these meat, cheese and cracker stacks myself.
- Assemble them for your guest OR
- MAKE YOUR OWN GOURMET “LUNCHABLES” PIZZA BAR!

Make a Gourmet “Lunchables” Pizza Bar

table set up for a lunchable themed gourmet pizza bar

Ingredients:

- Mini pizza crusts or flat breads
- 2-3 types of cheeses-
  - I really like mozzarella or a pizza blend shredded
  - crumbled feta
  - crumbled goat cheese
- Meats/ meat alternatives- pick your favorites!
  - Pepperoni (turkey or beef)
  - Prosciutto
  - Bacon
  - Calabrese
  - Sausage
  - Vegan pepperoni or meat crumble
- Veggies-pick your favorites!
  - mushrooms
  - olives
  - marinated tomatoes
  - green peppers
  - spinach
- Sauce options
  - Classic marinara pizza sauce
  - Basil Pesto
  - Lemon artichoke pesto- I love the one that Cibo makes
  - Alfredo
  - Balsamic

Directions:

- Create the “Lunchables” table set up
  - On yellow poster board draw “tray slots” to place fixin’s in
  - Place items (on plates or trays) in their section
- Have a toaster oven set to 400 degrees and guest can heat pizza for around 5 minutes

Dunkaroos

Dunkaroos had two basic ingredients:

- Cookies-these are more fun if you find the “bite sized” version
  - Chocolate animal cookies
  - Vanilla animal cookies
  - Chocolate chip cookies
  - Oreo cookies
  - Cinnamon graham cookies

Chips Ahoy! Mini Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Big Bag, 3 Ounce (Pack Of 12)

Stauffer’s Animal Crackers Snack Cookies: Chocolate and Original [1 Bag of each]

OREO Mini Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Original Flavor, 12 Big Bags

Keebler Scooby-Doo! Graham Cracker Sticks, Cinnamon, 12 ct

- Icing
  - Oreo butter cream icing- this was the most popular for Dunkaroos
  - Chocolate
  - Vanilla
  - Rainbow sprinkled vanilla
  - Strawberry
  - Hazelnut

You can purchase the tub containers of icing if you want “scoop and serve”.
Miss Jones Baking Organic Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate (Pack of 1)

If you like to make your own foods though, making a basic butter cream icing and adding flavors will save you money and prevent waste.

Fun 90s Party Dessert Ideas:

Gushers– grab some packs for people to enjoy, or check out this cake!

Fruit Roll-Ups- this lasagna looks epic!

There were so many great snacks coming out in the 90s. We couldn’t get enough! These snacks could also be used as party favors!

Step 7- Create a Drink Menu

Whether you wanted to have cocktail or a mock-tail, there are some great recipes out there to bring this 90s party theme into play!

Surge

Lucky for us 90s kids that surge is actually back on the market for this party! Pick up some cans and reminisce about the vending machine banning that happened in your cafeteria.

Surge Citrus Flavored Soda 16fl oz. 12 cans

Looking for a fun cocktail for the event? Make a “Surge” Mimosa.

“Surge” Mimosa Ingredients:

- Extra Dry Sparkling wine: 5 ounces
- Triple Sec: 1/2 ounce (or to taste preference)
- Midori or green melon liquor: 1/2 ounce
- Splash of Sweet and Sour

“Surge” Mimosa Directions

- First, pour 1/2 oz of Midori into bottom of glass
- Add 1/2 oz Triple Sec
- Then, pour sparkling wine slowly, at an angle, into glass to prevent spill over
- Splash in Sweet and Sour mix
- ENJOY!

Capri-Sun for Adults

Always a party favorite in the regular version, but you can make “adult capri sun”s with zipper locking bags.

Step 8 – Pick Your Classic 90s Party Song Playlist

From the decade that brought you the wave of boy bands and pop princesses, there is never a shortage of great throw back music to choose from! The easiest route in my opinion is to select a 90’s playlist from Amazon Prime music. In fact you can try it out if you want with this link>> Try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial.

When I throw a party now, I sometimes pre-select the playlist but with this kind of party I want to be pleasantly surprised so I would just voice command Alexa to play a 90’s playlist from Amazon music.

If you want to play a CD there are some fun options out there too:

Now THAT’s What I Call Music

This is the quintessential nineties era music choice. When you could call in on a 1-800 number because it’s “not available in stores”.
NOW That’s What I Call Music Vol. 1

Step 9- Prep any games you may want to play.

Consider setting up an area of the party space for people who would like to play games or bring the whole group in to battle it out in 90’s trivia!

Check out this game >> Buffalo Games Hella 90’s – Pop Culture Trivia Game

Step 10- Decide if you want 90s Party Favors

Make sure not to leave your guests empty handed! Send them home with a goodie bag of fun 90s kitsch!

I hope you enjoyed these 90s party ideas. Make your nineties party a nostalgic throwback to remember!

Ultimate Guide to 90s Theme Party Planning
What to wear to a 90s Party (be sure to share this list of ideas with your guests!)
80’s Dress Up Guide
80’s Party Decoration Guide
20 Most Iconic 80’s Accessories

Kim Anderson

Kim Anderson is the organized chaos loving author behind the Thrifty Little Mom Blog. She helps other people who thrive in organized chaos to stress less, remember more and feel in control of their time, money, and home. Kim is the author of: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have. She’s been featured on Time.com, Money.com, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day, and more!

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90s Party

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There was no better time to grow up than the decade that brought you boybands, Furbies and Nickelodeon game shows! Here are some ideas to help you throw the best 90s Party!

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