The Academy Awards® is a great excuse for a party, don't you think? (Then again, isn't any occasion an excuse to party?) The night lends itself to a wide variety of party ideas and themes -- from the classy to the corny.
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Pick a theme, any theme!
Here's an obvious Academy Awards® party theme -- Glitz to the max! Roll out the red carpet for your guests -- literally! If you don't happen to have a long red carpet, an old sheet, cloth or a rug will do. Have them attend the event in their best attire -- and not just their Sunday best. We're talkin' sequins, glitter, tiaras and bow ties. Provide some disposable cameras and be sure to snap them when your guests arrive to add to a paparazzi-filled atmosphere. Serve champagne and first-class hors d'oeuvres such as smoked salmon on crackers, brie and caviar. Hang silver stars and white, twinkling lights in the room.
On a smaller scale, ask your guests to go to a local thrift store and to spend no more than a certain amount -- say, $15 -- to get themselves glammed-up for the big night. Just imagine the funky combinations that they'll come up with! The snack table can hold cocktail weenies, cookies in the shape of Oscar®, a cheese ball with crackers and finger sandwiches.
On the lowest scale imaginable, throw an anti-glamourous Oscars® party! Use cardboard scraps to make post cards for the invitations. Ask people to come in their oldest clothes, the ones they'd wear to paint a house. It should be a potluck -- ask everyone to bring their favorite easy snack such as Cheetos, beer and anything that includes Cheez Whiz.
Invitations
If you want your buddies to pick your Oscar® party over everyone else's, send one of these fun, printable invitations!
Activity ideas
Send invitations for your close friends on Oscar® statue-shaped paper. In your invitation, list the names of those you are inviting and ask them to nominate each other for categories such as "Most likely to be caught stalking Brad Pitt," "Most likely to win the heart of Sandra Bullock" or have them come up with the categories. On Academy Awards® night, put a poster board up with the categories and nominees and have your guests vote. Announce the winners during a commercial break and present them with an Oscar® cookie. Allow your guests to make a speech, but don't go over on time, allow your friends the time frame of a 30 second commercial. If their speech is too long, play some loud music to signal that their time is up.
Go to a theater or a video store and pick up old movie posters. Often these places will give you the posters for free or for a small fee. Remember the evening by passing out movie posters at the end of the night as party favors.
Have a potluck Oscar® bash and ask your guests to name their favorite nominee through a dish they bring to the party: "Angelina Jolie Jumbulaya" that has real kick or "Jude Law Lemon Squares" that are so tart you can't stop with just one.
Draw a picture of the Oscar® statue and make a copy for each party guest. Give them some old magazines and catalogs and ask them to find the best outfit to dress Oscar®. Cutting and pasting is a good way to bring out the child in us all!
Ask your guests to write a treatment, (a description) for a movie about their lives. They should write a title and cast the movie as well. It'll be interesting to find out which actor your guests will think should play themselves...and you!
As a local movie theater to give you some large popcorn buckets in which to serve steamy and buttery popcorn, just like going to the movie theater! Charge your guests $12 for each. Just joking!
Gather with your friends to watch the pre-Oscar® shows. Order pizza and sit back and take turns being the commentator for the pre-show events. Mute the TV and give your view of the night's fashions, dates and much more. If you have a friend who loves to hog the spotlight, you either can keep a time limit or draw names out of a hat -- but make sure everyone gets their turn as Joan Rivers. When the big show begins, serve your friends sundaes and have them vote on who they think could be the next Steve Kmetko or Nacey O'Dell.
If you and your friends are big fans of Trivial Pursuit, invite them over for an Oscar® bash they won't soon forget. Send invitations with a character's name or a movie title on each. Pair your unsuspecting pals by having them match characters with their movie title counterpart from their invitation cards. Have your Trivial Pursuit game ready by pulling all pink (arts and entertainment) cards from the game. Give each team a bell, a bicycle horn or other noisemaker so they can ring in their answers. Because you are the party host, you can be the game host. Don't forget the costume changes between rounds. Use the pink questions as toss-up questions and, for a little added interest, make up bonus questions about the Oscar® nominees. Keep score and the winners of the game will win movie passes to your local theater.
Offer your guests a chance to guess who will win the Oscar® in each of the main categories. Give a prize (movie tickets, popcorn) to the one who correctly choses the most winners as well as a prize for the one who most obviously hadn't made it to the movies lately.
Play an Oscars® version of charades! People should act out a nominee for that night's award -- whether it be for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Costumes or an acting award.
Ask your guests to come to the party dressed as their favorite actor or actress who is nominated this year. Some of the more creative guests may even dress as thier favorite nominated film!
Set up an Academy Awards® scavenger hunt for your guests! Prepare a list of items (microwave popcorn, an unused movie ticket, a movie actor's autograph, etc.) and either have them bring all the items they can find to the party or ask them to show up a couple hours before the show to start the hunt. Give a prize to the person who can find the most items.
Tell your guests that they should pay careful attention to the entire Academy Awards® telecast. During the show, you should sit in the back of the room and write questions about the event such as, "What color was Hilary Swank's outfit?" or "Which movie won the award for best makeup?" Quiz your guests either by asking them to write their answers down or by buzzing in and being the first with the correct answer. Give a prize for the Most Aware Audience Member.
As a group, decide who wins the award for most glamourous dress, best hair, most outrageous outfit and most unusual acceptance speech, among other things, for the actual Academy Awards® telecast.
