18th Birthday Party Ideas With An Air Of Mystery

18th birthday party ideas are sometimes not even necessary as most 18 year olds just want to go to a club to celebrate their birthday. Many 18 year olds think of planned birthday parties as childish or stuffy family affairs. I know when I was 18 I just had a night out with my friends.

But there are many 18th party ideas that are far from childish and stuffy. BBQ party ideas are quite popular as are Luau party ideas and Bowling party ideas.

You could also have High School Graduation party ideas or a college theme, as your 18 year old may have just graduated and is going onto college or university.

Other ideas could be an organized trip to a theme park, a limo ride around the local clubs, tickets to a concert, a spa or makeover day, dancing or singing lessons or even a weekend break.

If you are going to have a party, I would choose a theme such as:

• Hollywood – See 13th birthday party ideas page for the low down on this party.
• Fairytale – It may sound childish but many 18 year olds are favoring this princess theme for parties. Check out fancy dress shops for fairytale costumes that are far from childish!
• Moulin Rouge – Elegant gown, corsets, cabaret and fabulous dance routines make this an awesome themed party.
• Masquerade – Prom dresses and suits are very fitting for a masquerade ball along with masks, of course, and some elegant food and cocktails.
• Western – Yee Haa! Go lasso you a horse, fire up the BBQ and party the night away at this awesome hoedown!
• 90s Party – Our early years are always a time to remember so why not go back to their youth and celebrate with all their old favorites!

If your 18 year old is inviting a lot of guests I would suggest hiring a hall, hotel function room or restaurant. If only a few close friends are coming, say for a spa party or makeover day there would be no problem holding this at your home.

One word of warning, if you are going to book your teen concert tickets, lessons or even a holiday you will need to establish costs. It may be fine for you to pay for her and a friend to go to a concert but impossible to pay for five of her friends to go on a holiday. You may be paying for your daughter but make sure that her friends can afford to go before booking anything.

My favorite 18th birthday party idea, however, is a murder mystery party. You can either book for a murder mystery weekend at a hotel or just create your own from scratch or by purchasing a murder mystery box set.

Murder mystery games for 18th birthday parties are extremely popular and can be bought online then delivered to you or some websites even let you download the games straight away. They can also be played by all ages, which is great if you have mixed aged guests and you will find that everyone as fun.

You will need to find and purchase a mystery game before you start planning your party as the whole party needs to be based around the instructions in the game. You can devise your own mystery but this would require a LOT of work and planning and the sets you can buy are relatively cheap.

I would recommend merrimysteries.com, which are reasonable priced, include everything you need to host the perfect murder mystery party and are available to download immediately. They also feature all girl murder mystery kits, perfect for that all girl party!

INVITATIONS

18th birthday party invitation ideas need to be sent out around 2 weeks in advance. This gives you enough time to collect RSVPs, which you need so that you can make sure you have enough numbers to fill each character.

Usually a murder has already been committed so the invitation needs to invite each guest to the party in their various characters. The wording of the invite will depend on the game that you are playing but will probably either call for a detective or for a suspect to be interviewed.

Many kits will come with ready to print invitations, which makes it even easier so all you need to worry about is what you’re going to wear.

DECORATIONS

The most obvious murder mystery 18th birthday party idea for decorations is a dead body. This can be made from old clothing and a paper mache head. You can also place various clues, as necessary, around the room and decorate in accordance to wear the murder happened e.g. a hotel room or a restaurant.

Also add candlesticks, magnifying glasses, footprints and mark off the dead body with some crime scene tape.

You can also decorate with general party decoration ideas such as balloons, streamers etc. all with an ‘18’ logo on.

If your not having a murder mystery party then keep the decorations within your theme such as for a Western theme you would have horse pictures, plastic guns (water guns would be fun) and hay bales.

FANCY DRESS

To dress up or not to dress up? Get the teens together and ask them is your best option. They may not want to but most will love the idea of getting in on the act and dressing up as their character, even it is only a few accessories.

18th birthday party ideas on what to wear for a murder mystery party - Imagine Mrs Peacock in blue with a feather boa and 50s headdress!

THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

18th birthday party ideas for cakes are easy. The most popular being an '18' shaped cake but why not try some of these other birthday cake ideas:

• Champagne bottle shaped cake
• Champagne or wine glass shaped cake
• A cake topped with a photo of the birthday girl in her youth
• A cake in the shape of the murder weapon
• A circular tiered cake with stars or sparklers on top

FOOD AND DRINK

All this sleuthing is going to make the teens hungry. Either have a full blown dinner party or just provide a buffet for the guests. This is a general list of 18th birthday teen party food and can be used for any party. If you are going to host a murder mystery party why not give each type of food a mysterious name such as Death Defying Dumplings!

• Chocolate fountain
• Chocolate fondue
• Stuffed mushrooms
• Spring rolls
• Fried dumplings
• Buffet - Sandwiches, sausage rolls, pasties, pizza etc.
• Teriyaki chicken on skewers
• Pasta
• Chicken tikka
• Soft drinks
• Pink Champagne

ENTERTAINMENT

If your 18th birthday party idea is a murder mystery party that will obviously be the main game of the evening. But here are some more party entertainment ideas to keep everyone having fun in every type of party:

• Spin the Bottle – This works best if you also have some boys at the party.
• Truth or Dare – A classic party starter.
• Twister – Always fun at a party.
• Clude – If you can’t find a good murder mystery to play.
• Fashion Disaster – Get a load of different clothes and put them in the middle of the floor. Then turn the lights off and everyone has to get dressed in at least one item of clothing. This can be great fun if you have some really obscure clothes!
• DJ – Just hire a DJ and dance the night away

FAVORS

As 18th birthday parties are such memorable occasions it’s always good to have some great 18th birthday party favor ideas. So check this list out:

• Personalized chocolate bars
• Printed 18th party T-shirts
• Engraved champagne glasses
• Magnifying glass, notepads and flash lights if you’re having a mystery party

Happy Sluething!

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