8 Children's Fancy Dress Birthday Party Ideas

Children love nothing more than dressing up, which is why getting invited to a fancy-dress party is one of the coolest things that can happen to a child in school. If you are considering making your child’s next birthday party a fancy-dress party, you have virtually limitless possibilities, but it is still important for you to keep a few things in mind.

8 Children's Fancy Dress Birthday Party Ideas
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Here are 8 top tips for throwing an amazing fancy dress birthday party that both children and parents will love.

1. Decide on What Kind of Fancy Dress Party It Is

If you plan to host a fancy-dress party, you should first decide whether you will have a specific theme, or if you’re throwing a ‘dress as you like’ party and leave the fancy dress options to the imagination of the party goer.

You might assume that the ‘dress as you like’ costume idea is better, but having a theme is great since you can plan the entire party around it, from the design of the decorations and invites to the food that’s served on the party table.

A properly defined theme will also help parents find a costume for their children without scratching their heads and wondering what to dress them up as. 

2. The Top Party Theme Ideas

The theme you choose for your child’s fancy dress party does not necessarily have to be complex. You can actually keep it simple, for instance, by having a purple party where everything and everyone at the party is donned in purple, or go for something a bit more specific, such as a superhero party.

Your child may already have a theme in mind for their party, but if they don’t, here are some ideas:

- Princess Party: Queen outfits, fairy-tale princesses, tiaras, and lots of glitter provide guests with a gorgeous princess butterfly wand with wings that lights up and flashes

- Fairy Party: Fairy costumes, think tutus paired with wings, and Tinkerbell outfits 

- Under the Sea Party: Ariel, mermaids, mermen, and all the creatures that live under water

- Harry Potter Party: Wizards, witches, Hogwarts students, and dragons

- Pirate Party: Pirates, anything with skull and crossbones on it, and other swashbuckling outfits

- Pink or Purple Party: Dress head-to-toe in your favorite color

- Garden Party: Garden fairies, bumble bees, lady bugs, and butterflies

- Superhero Party: Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or basically any hero with a cape.

- Letter Party: Pick a letter, say ‘F’ and dress in all things starting with this letter – Fortune teller, fairy, or firefighter.

3. Theme the Invitations

If you will have a themed fancy dress party, ensure that you set the tone of the party with a cute invite in the style of the theme. For example, for a garden party you can make invitations that open up to form a butterfly.

4. Give Plenty of Warning

Fancy dress parties require at least one week’s extra notice than regular birthday parties. You obviously don’t want to always be remembered as the mum that sprung a fancy-dress party on other mothers at the very last minutes thus leaving them without any time to either whip up a costume or even buy a ready-made costume online.

5. Serve Fancy Food

A great idea to keep the fancy dress theme going has to do with the food that you serve. For example, jelly boats are probably too cute for a pirate-themed party while biscuit wands and flower fairy cupcakes are great for a garden or fairy party. You can find lots of recipes and must-have party table favorites online.

6. Fancy Decorations

Always remember that you have the freedom to go all out when it comes to the decorations for your fancy dress party, so do not hold back. The only thing that may limit you is your budget and imagination. But even then, it isn’t a must for you to break the bank with decorations.

All you need to do is stick to your preferred theme and you will be surprised by just how many decorations you are able to make on a limited budget. So, head over to your local craft stores and discount shops and start making your own decorations.

7. Have a Backup Costume

It is always a good idea to have a spare fancy dress costume on hand in case a child shows up at the party without one. All it takes is for a mum to accidentally overlook the fancy dress component on the invite for a child to turn up in plain clothes at a princess party. Even if it is just a spare superhero cape or tiara, you should always have something on hand for any dress up emergencies.

8. Fancy Party Favors

Make sure that your selected fancy dress theme goes right through to the goodie bags that you hand out at the end of the party with lollipops that match the theme of your party. You can even fill the goodie bags with things besides sweets, such as cute rubbers, temporary tattoos, stamps, or even stickers. Alternatively, you can decorate the actual goodie bags with themed stickers.