Now that we have officially kicked off summer, I’d like to share this fun summer party theme with you I did a few years ago. This Margaritaville party came about because I had planned catering from a yummy local Mexican restaurant and I had loads of Mexican and Hawaiian decor in my stash from hosting school hospitality luncheons.
So Mexican + Hawaiian + Summer = Margaritaville!!
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My husband belongs to a great group of golfing friends that have been going so long they have their own “Ryder Cup” tournament every year. There is always a couples party to announce the pairings for the final round on Saturday night with lots of trash talking, rehashing of what’s happened so far, and of course, eating and drinking. We have hosted this end of summer event at our house a few times and I always try to include a few decorations to make things more fun. You can see the Caddyshack golf theme party we did for last year’s event here.
I don’t have a lot of photos to include in this post since this was a party from years ago. I didn’t take pictures with posting them in mind before now and obviously my circa 2017 camera phone, focus, and lighting weren’t on point!!! I hurriedly clicked these few photos in this post during setup. I’m always going at full speed putting things out right before people show up so I did good even getting any pictures taken! But since this was such a fun theme, I wanted to share what I do have to give you some ideas for easy decorations and to get your creative juices flowing for your own Margaritaville party…
I first set the theme with an email invitation. I uploaded this graphic into Paperless Post on a colorful coral background and made a free invitation with all of the details.
I borrowed a flock of pink flamingos to greet everyone and mingle in the backyard too. A basket of flower leis waited inside the front door with instructions to “get lei’d”.
In the kitchen around the appetizers and desserts, I popped some fern picks into a tall vase with a mini grass skirt and green fairy lights for a palm tree-inspired centerpiece. I laid out some remnant grasscloth wallpaper that was stored in the attic and topped it with a pinata, leis, coconut shells, a Hawaiian hat, tropical drink glasses, and palm leaves and the whole kitchen island front was looking festive in its grass skirt!
There was a Tex Mex buffet catered in the dining room and I made Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars in keeping with our Mexican theme. They are always a hit!
And a watermelon rind shark held some of the fresh fruit served with cream cheese apple dip. I wish I had a better picture…so stinkin’ cute!
The kitchen table was the wine and bubbly station. Lots of spills happen here so colorful wrapping paper and a beach towel jazz up this area and are easily cleaned up. I had a bag of tropical flowers from Dollar Tree glasses from another event that I clipped onto the wine glasses and champagne flutes. It’s kind of hard to see but the cocktail napkins remind us “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”
We set up the bar on our outdoor kitchen. It helps spread the crowd out and we can just hose it off when we are done. And I always have a lot of fun with our signature drink menu! For this theme, we had three refreshing summer drinks ready to go.
Frozen margaritas are always mandatory at this party and I usually do some sort of “John Daly” since it is a golf group and it’s a great drink when it’s hot. And then I come up with a cocktail that is fitting for the theme we are having that year. For the Margaritaville party it was a Malibu Sunset.
If you’d like to use my same exact menu and use the flyer as a fun decoration for your bar, I’d love to share! I made it an 8×10 so it pops easily into a frame. It’s part of the subscriber only library tab in the footer menu. Just sign up below and you’ll receive an email with a password for access to bonus material here on the blog!
Coming up with the names is the most fun! If you are following this exact menu, use your favorite frozen marg recipe for “That Frozen Concoction that Helps Me Hang On“. And for the John Dalys (“Wasted Away Again Tea“) use half tea/half lemonade and the amount of vodka you prefer. Arizona Tea makes a gallon jug of tea and lemonade already mixed that makes it super easy.
For the Malibu Sunset or “Some People Claim There’s a Cocktail to Blame“, I used roughly 4 parts pineapple juice, 2 parts Malibu coconut rum, and 1 part grenadine. Mine were in bulk but if you ever make them by the glass, the ingredients are layered to look like a sunset, hence the name!
As I was searching for pictures, I found this picture of our beloved Yorkie (RIP) that was ready to party in his Tommy Bahama best…
This is always such a colorful, fun theme for summer and the decorations are not costly. Dollar Tree is a great source for decorations if you hit it during the summer season. Oriental Trading and Amazon also have lots of cute and cheap items perfect for this theme.
With just a few items and a little Jimmy Buffet in your music playlist you’ll be set for this summer shindig!
Cheers to good friends and good times,
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