Playful Purple: A Fun and Underused Colour
Purple, along with its cousin pink, is a colour we don’t see much in modern Western society. It’s somehow been relegated as a ‘girly’ colour which, for whatever reason, makes it less approachable in ‘serious’ spaces like offices or industrial workplaces. Nobody complains if walls are painted blue or maroon, but you won’t often see purple. It supposedly isn’t a ‘safe’ colour. And that is exactly why everyone should have a purple theme party! If you love purple, this is your chance to compensate for the fantastic colour we’re all missing in our everyday lives. Overindulge and saturate your space with this exciting colour that evokes fantasy, playfulness, and simple joys. Here we’ll cover how to bring this look to life.
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Presenting the Purple Theme Party: How to Paint the Party Purple
1. Saturate Your Space in Purple with Black Lights and Purple Décor
As with any colour-specific party, a purple theme party is all about how everything looks. Most other details are flexible and can be catered to your taste. But the look of your space is what makes this party what it is: purple. You know you’ve decorated successfully when someone walks in and immediately knows they’re at a purple theme party.
Setting the perfect purple scene is the most fun step of party preparation (see Preparation Checklist for Your Purple Theme Party below). Simply occupying yourself with the creative act of decorating in a favourite colour provides a visual jolt of pleasure. Hanging purple streamers is an easy way to spread purple everywhere. Add purple pizzazz by hanging purple foil fringe curtains against the wall or in a doorway. Scatter acrylic purple diamond confetti on a table or other display area. While decorations can be pricy depending on how elaborate you get, you can find inexpensive party supplies if you know where to look.
For passageways, gather sheer purple fabric as an asymmetrical curtain at the top to frame the opening in purple. Or let it drape down from the ceiling with the corners pinned up for a billowy sort of look. You can also showcase purple household décor items such as purple throw pillows for a soft colour pop.
One of the very best ways to instantly create a mystical purple glow is to use black lights and purple light bulbs. This will immediately set that fun dance club/party mode vibe. After all, black light isn’t nearly bright enough to do anything remotely productive, which means it’s for play time only! Here are a few fun finds for instant atmosphere:
- Purple mini light strand or another purple mini light strand
- Purple amethyst light strand
- Mini LED black light
2. Prepare Purple Food and Beverages
Time to get crafty with your menu! Whether you provide all refreshments or whether you invite your guests to bring a purple dish to share, refreshments are a fun way to immerse everyone in a purple theme party through their sense of taste. Your simplest option here is to share a purple produce plate. There are many tasty choices: plums, grapes, beets, eggplant, blackberries (they’re purple when you smush them), and many other berries. With such an array of fresh purple produce, you’ll keep your guests stocked full of antioxidants (not the most exciting party line, but appreciated nonetheless). Provide purple party tableware to match.
Here are some recipes for purple treats, from purple potato dishes to cocktails:
- Purple potato salad
- Baked purple mash (a more daring way to serve purple potatoes)
- Roasted purple sweet potatoes
- Purple rice
- Fried purple cabbage
- Ube (purple yam) crinkle cookies
- Purple cupcakes
- Blueberry Purple Rain martini
- The Purple One cocktail
- Purple Rain cocktail
3. Set the Ambience with the Perfect Purple-Inspired Playlist
A purple theme party calls for music that is just plain fun. High energy, lofi, or somewhere in between, purple-inspired music is playful and creative. Prince is an obviously fitting choice. Whether you play Purple Rain or any of his other classics, his music is definitely purple-icious. Funk is another great choice. Purple sound is a fitting genre for a purple theme party if you dig electronic jams. But crunchier tunes with vocals lend to a higher energy atmosphere. So if you want to make it a dance party, prioritize catchy, high-energy beats. And if you want a more relaxing vibe that fosters easy conversation without having to shout over drinks, play something laid back or atmospheric (and keep the volume lower). Or have two playlists for either option! You can also display a dazzling visual on the screen with an ambiance video like this magical purple treehouse cafe soundscape.
4. Add Evocative Scents
We covered the sights, flavors, and sounds of purple. Now consider the scents! To fully immerse your guests in a purple theme party, engage the evocative sense of smell by lighting one of these deliciously scented candles:
5. Establish Guest Participation
Guest participation is optional and depends on how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party. One way you can invite your guests to participate in your purple theme party is to wear as much purple as possible. Maybe make a contest of it and whoever dresses the most outlandishly wins. You can also request that everyone bring a purple dish or drink to share. Whatever type of participation you request, just be sure to include such details when you initially invite your guests!
Items to Have for Your Purple Theme Party
These are the things you need for your purple theme party:
- Purple lighting and decorations
- Purple food and beverages
- Purple theme party inspired playlist(s)
- Purple scented candle(s)
- Purple outfit
Preparation Checklist for Your Purple Theme Party
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date:
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s)
- If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure calendar date for your perfectly purple theme party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning:
- Schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep (securing and/or making food/drinks, etc.)
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to prepare and set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- In your planned time slots, acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- In your planned time slots, set up decorations
- In your planned time slots, prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party (in your amply planned time slot):
- Prepare any foods/drinks that are too fresh to do any earlier
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare ambience (audio/visual, scented candles)
- Get dressed in your purple theme party outfit
- Once everything’s ready, meditate or do any preferred self-care to get in a good head space if you aren’t already. You want to be a relaxed, energized, and excited host – both for yourself and for your guests! When you’ve put thought and effort into necessary party prep and have taken care of yourself as needed, you are all set for a fantastic purple theme party that you and everyone will enjoy!
