Party idea: Beatles Mania

Editor's note: this party was canceled due to illness, thus no real photos. Future party ideas will have more photos. Promise!

The day I heard Rock Band was making a Beatles edition I started planning a party (sadly, I am not exaggerating!). There was already a built-in activity so that was covered. It is always good to think about what you'll be doing at the party before you send out the invitations so that you can put any pertinent information that your guests might need. If it is costume, put it on the invitation! BYOB? Put it on the invitation. So, just because the invitation is first and goes out well in advance, you do have to have thought through the entire party before sending it out.

So now that we have that settled, move on to the invitations.

The first thing you think of is, of course, music so why not make a CD invitation? That is what I decided to do. The outside jacket is a simple black and white iconic image of The Beatles with the party date. What really makes it look good is using the same font as The Beatles used. You can download it for free here. You can also find Magic Mystery Tour and Hard Day's Night fonts to use in other projects for the party.

The inside of the CD jacket has the same image in grey scale with the party details. And, of course, no CD would be complete without the play list. This list was compiled by my co-planner in crime, Paul, who is always in charge of music at my parties! His list is of first favorites starting with Birthday (duh) and ending with The End (pretty clever).

The cheapest way to get these invitations out is to pass them out. Still put them in an envelope but just hand them out. If you are willing to put in the extra money purchase protective envelopes and spring for postage. They really should be safe in regular envelopes, but just in case I'd use either the cardboard ones or the padded ones. A trick that I often use is make one up and mail it to yourself in the least desired packaging. If it comes to you clean, you know you can go with that. If not, try plan b.

Now that the guests are invited the second most important thing is food. Food is even more important than decorations because food are decorations. Once you plan that out you can see what needs to be filled in. For this party I had the idea to have Beatles' songs themed food. It took a lot of thinking but this is the menu I came up with:

Here Comes the Sun chips
Glass Onion rings
Lady Madonna Fingers
Yellow Submarine Sandwiches with Mr. Mustard
Sergeant Pepper poppers
Strawberry Fields cupcakes from Muddy's
The long and winding Rocky Road snack mix

For drinks I planned:

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
4 oz Lemon Lime Soda
2 oz Blue Curacao
3 cubes of ice
The British beer of your choice
Pimm's Liqour (a favorite of The Beatles)
White Russians (for Back to the USSR? Ok, maybe a stretch)

One very important thing to note about the food is that it will have to be labeled! No one will get it if it is not. Use place card holders in front of each item for the full effect.

After the food is settled you can decide on plates, napkins, etc. Some parties don't need plates so don't waste your money. This one does, though. I first wanted to go with Union Jack plates like the ones below and found here b/c come on, nothing says British like Union Jack. Aren't they cute? But they are hard to find in stock, expensive to ship and British, not Beatles, so I decided to just go with plain white squares from Oriental Trading to represent the white album. Black napkins looked cool (you always need less than you think b/c no one uses napkins) and I didn't need cutlery.

Glasses are another thing that can carry out a theme. British beer almost requires a pint glass. You can get them at Dollar Tree or Old Time Pottery for $1 or $2. Do it! It is worth it for the effect. Plus, you'll be able to use them over again. Or, get crazy and etch them and give them out as favors. If you do one glass up big (real pint glasses) the other glasses for the mixed drink can be cheapies.

Now for the decorations. Don't forget that your serving pieces are decorations, too. A great decoration for this party is vinyl records. Even you don't have any laying around go to a thrift store. I like The MIFA Store! And don't think you have to look for Beatles records. Buy whatever you can find (big and little) and simple made a new label for it. You can make labels that reflect you and your party or Beatles records or whatever you choose. You can also make bowls out of records to hold the chips. It is super easy. Here's how to do it:

1. Preheat your oven to around 200-250 degrees
2. Place your record on the center of an upside down pot or metal bowl. Put this onto a baking sheet.
3. Put this into the oven. Keep a close watch because each vinyl starts to "flop" at a different time. It usually takes 4-8 minutes.
4. Take the whole thing out of the oven (wearing oven mitts, of course) once you notice some real "flopping" going on.
5. Put your record into another bowl and shape it around that, or you can hand mold it. Sometimes, you might like the way it looks right as you take it out of the oven; if so, skip the molding.
6. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

Your finished product will look something like this:

Use the records as chargers for other foods and remember to add height to your table by raising some of the foods are different levels. Simply put a small bowl or box under the record to add height. Just make sure that it is still sturdy so that you don't have an accident.

You can also hang the records all around the house. For the best effect decorate all of the rooms that guests will be in. Don't forget the bathroom! This added touch will really be noticed by your guests. Other decoration ideas include printed images of different Beatles album covers, photos, etc. These can be hanging around, laminated or turned into coasters. If you want to get real crazy, you can buy collectables or cardboard cutouts of the band, but that will definitely cost you!

Once you have all of that set up, have fun! During the party everyone takes turns playing Rock Band and making fools of themselves. Be sure to take plenty of pictures and lots of video so you can post it on Facebook later and thoroughly embarrass those in attendance and show others what they missed! It is also nice to thank everyone how came by sending them photos from the party via email. If gifts were brought to the party, post-party thank you notes should be mailed. I fall down on this sometimes myself, especially with kids parties, but this is one of the most important aspects of a party. Not only is it nice to do, but when the thank yous match the theme, it reminds your guests of what a great time they had at your awesome Beatles Mania party!