Saddle up for a "Go West, Young Man"-themed birthday party.
A "Go West, Young Man"-themed birthday party should evoke the spirit of Manifest Destiny and the Wild West. Tailor your decorations to reflect the theme, and base your games and activities, invitation style and food-and-drink menu on the various images and symbols of the West during the 19th century.
Invitations
Create handmade invitations for your party inspired by symbols of the Old West. For instance, make paper cutouts of sheriff's badges with each guest's name scrawled across the middle. Or take a black-and-white or sepia photograph of yourself looking solemn in cowboy attire and make a mock "Wanted" poster for your invitation. Include all the important details: the date, time and location of the party, as well as any other special instructions you may have. For example, if you want people to dress to the theme, explicitly note this fact in the invitation and include sample costume ideas.
Decorations
A variety of different options exist for decorating your party space, so choose an inspiration you can easily and cost-effectively replicate. One option involves turning the party space into a saloon: Set up a bar and some poker tables, keep the lighting dim and play old-time stepping music in the background for an authentic feel. Use cardboard to cut out some swinging saloon doors to hang with tape in the doorways, and use the rest of the cardboard to make cowboy silhouettes to place on the walls. To reflect the natural environment, place cutouts of cacti or tumbleweeds around the space, or invest in a few hay bales for extra seating.
Games and Activities
Use the poker tables you set up for the decor as spaces to actually play poker. Provide poker chips and cards, and keep a round of games going throughout the party. Designate a section of the party to take cheesy old-fashioned photographs using a digital camera; edit these photos after the party to be black-and-white or sepia, and then either mail out copies of the images or post them on an image-sharing site online for easy access. If you feel like putting on your dancing shoes, hold a square or line dancing competition.
Food and Drink
Old Western grub was not for the faint of diet, so serve up some hearty dishes such as chili con carne with cornbread, barbecue sandwiches or any variety of grilled meat; for the vegetarians, try making a meatless chili or veggie burgers. For your cake, bake cupcakes with sheriff's-badge cookie toppers, or decorate a large sheet cake to look like a scene straight out of a spaghetti western. Serve these items in rustic dishes, and hand out bandannas to use as napkins.
Tags: West Young, birthday party, black-and-white sepia, party space, poker tables, symbols West