How to Throw Back a Millennial Themed Party

Inspiration/Background of the Theme

Most everyone has been around long enough to have experienced Y2K. It was a big deal: the turn of the century and a new millennium! That combined with the increasing usage and popularity of the internet among other technological advancements made it an era all in its own. A millennial themed party celebrates that time and brings us back. With the music, bubblegum pink pop culture and flip phone frenzy, there are plenty of ways to party like it’s 2000. Let’s get started!

Iridescent bottom of a CD against a cloudy blue sky background next to another photo of two clear bubbles against a millennial pink background

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How to Throw a Millennial Themed Party

1. Create the Scene with Y2K Party Decorations

The decorative aesthetic around our recent turn of the century was bright and bold with sleek and metallic edges inspired by cutting-edge technology. Light and shimmery colours like millennial pink and baby blue along with plenty of shiny silver were big then. Look for Y2K hearts and millennial pink décor.

Millennial themed party staples in tri-photo collage: woman wearing pink and red millennial heart halter top midriff, shiny blue Nokia phone against light blue background; man in light blue denim vest over white T-shirt with yellow-tinted sunglasses and paperclip chain necklace

Here are some fun millennial party decorations that will transport your space back to Y2K in no time:

Photo collage: woman wearing a white baby tee with pink eyeshadow, pink pleather miniskirt, and matching pink platform strappy sandals, woman in black cargo pants and black sneakers, and woman in baby pink shirt blowing a large millennial pink bubble — OG Productionz, Anubhaw Anand, Matheus Berte

2. Prepare Millennium Era Refreshments

Preparing tasty dishes reminiscent of the late 90s/early aughts is a fun way to engage your guests in this era through their sense of taste. While it’s easy to spend a lot on food, you’ll spend less by preparing your own dishes rather than buy pre-made party platters. This means you need to plan your menu and set aside time to cook/prepare food in advance (included in your time block to-do list below). While that takes more effort and preparation, it also gives you more freedom over specific ingredients. This is important, say, if someone is gluten free. Of course, you can always budget by inviting guests to BYOB and/or bring edible items to share. Most people are happy to contribute (see 6. Guest Participation). But regardless, be aware of any invited guests’ dietary restrictions and provide at least a couple decent food/drink options they can have.

Check out these tasty millennial-era recipes:

3. Take it Back with the Perfect Millennial Themed Party Playlist

Photo collage of four different people, each wearing millennial style clothing: woman in millennium pink jacket with red hearts, red mini skirt and sheer red knee highs with fuchsia platform pumps; man in block-colour blue denim jeans with denim jacket and white tank top; woman in red wide-leg cargo pants with red and white zip-up long-sleeved midriff shirt and large clear sunglasses holding skateboard; and woman in navy and white tracksuit with black combat boots with a large silver disco ball. The makings of a millennial themed party — Reba Spike, OG Productionz, KoolShooters

Here’s the best part of planning a millennial themed party: making your playlist! There’s plenty of fun party music to choose from this era, from multiple genres. Play whichever favourite tunes make for a positive and energetic party atmosphere. If you need ideas, here are a few popular Y2K artists:

4. Add Evocative Scents

Double photo collage: green-lit photo of woman with pigtail buns, a long-sleeved midriff turtleneck, and black pleather cargo pants with narrow sunglasses; woman in white baby tee with blue and pink design, silver glitter choker, long white glam gloves, feathery pink and silver studded wide-brimmed hat, shiny silver eyeshadow and large black lashes, rhinestone-studded wide-leg blue jeans and black platform shoes — Ricardo P. Garfias; Slaytina

We covered the looks, the tastes, and the beats of the millennium. Now, consider the scents! To truly bring your guests back Y2K style, engage the evocative sense of smell with these scented candles:

5. Plan Millennial Party Games

People remember, but how much do your guests really remember? Make sure they get it straight by challenging them to some memorable Y2K trivia with these fun printable/downloadable games:

Millennial themed party props: silver Nokia phone standing on reflective iridescent surface against sky blue background; reflective iridescent bottom of CD; vivid light blues/purple diagonal striped design; Blackberry phone over silver/iridescent metallic fabric

Another fun way to engage people but with less structure is storytelling. Again, seeing as the turn of the millennium wasn’t that long ago, nobody should have trouble remembering nostalgic details about their lives at the time, so encourage your guests to get into some juicy storytelling! Ask everyone to take turns sharing what they were doing on New Year’s Eve of 1999/2000. What was going on in their lives at the time? Who was their favourite musician, or what was their favourite movie? What did they like or dislike about that era in general? Plenty to divulge and recollect together!

6. Establish Guest Participation

Guest involves how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party, such as with BYOB or share-a-dish-potluck. Whatever you establish, just make sure you clearly communicate it when you initially invite guests. One definitely fun way your guests can participate in a millennial themed party is to break out the old cowrie shell chokers and bootleg jeans and dress the part! Millennial style was all about small rectangular sunglasses tinted blue or other colours, bootleg cargo pants with a million straps and pockets, fitted baby tees, miniskirts, platform shoes, frosted tips, pleather pants and jackets, goatees, and immaculately groomed eyebrows. Your guests need only visit a thrift store to find these period fashion finds. It wasn’t that long ago…

Photo collage of four people, each wearing millennial style clothing: woman in camo joggers with white FILA sneakers and a black midriff T-shirt, woman in light blue tracksuit, man in coral athletic shorts, baby pink hoodie and yellow-tinged sunglasses, with woman in pink plaid pleated miniskirt and light purple sunglasses. This is the 'costume/dress code' to encourage for a millennial themed party! — Luis Sanchez, Mike Von

Checklist of Items You Need

Now that we’ve covered what you’ll need to do for a millennial themed party, here is a list of all the tangible items you may need to acquire for it:

Y2K party decorations
Millennial party food and beverages
Millennial party music
Millennial-era scented candles
Millennial themed party games
Y2K-style clothing

Preparation Checklist for Your Millennial Themed Party

Millennial themed party inspiration: the iridescent bottom of a CD against a cloudy blue sky background; photo of a young woman in a lime bucket hat, colourful long-sleeved midriff shirt, wide leg jeans with silver loop belt, and white platform sneakers; photo of two clear bubbles against a millennial pink background

Most of these steps for party preparation apply to any type of party you host. So while we covered Y2K-specific details and ideas above, below are basic party planning guidelines to neatly order each step of the process (you can find more thorough details in the Best Party Practices posts):

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). The only details you’ll need to share at this time include what type of party it will be (Y2K-themed); any requested participation (i.e. ‘Y2K dress code’); party date and general time of day; and where (your address, or other location if elsewhere)
This first step is just to get people to confirm that, barring unforeseen circumstances, they are able and willing to attend and will save the date to do so. If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure the calendar date for your awesome millennial party!

Big gold Y2K balloons against a white background with millennial pink grid border between letters

2. Then, proceed with the fun planning

Once you have your millennial party date established, you first need to get out your calendar and map out when you plan to do every step of preparation. This means you schedule time for each preparation activity that you’ll need to do. If you don’t schedule time on your calendar early enough, you may find yourself overwhelmed and unprepared the day of the party. Don’t do that to yourself! Check out the How to Be a Good Party Host post for more clarification on exactly what you can do to be confident, prepared, and ahead of the game. Party planning isn’t rocket science, but it naturally requires some thought and effort (which people notice). Here’s a general overview of what you can expect to do leading up to the party:

First, sit down and schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep as listed below
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 set up)
Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
Acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
Set up decorations
Prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)

Photo collage of four people, each wearing millennial style clothing: woman in blue plaid miniskirt with white and blue argyle short-sleeved baby tee, woman in baby pink tracksuit with white platform sneakers, woman in white and navy tracksuit next to a pile of silver disco balls, and woman in black and white print fitted maxi skirt with belly chain, black long-sleeved midriff shirt, and ombre sunglasses — OG Productionz, Monstera Production, KoolShooters, OG Productionz

3. Day of Party

It’s very important to get as much party prep done far enough in advance that you have some time to yourself to relax come party day, especially if you’ve been busy. So be sure to plan your day-of-party preparations early enough to have that time and space to yourself as well. Within those amply planned/set-aside time slots, you can expect to do these preparations during the day of your party:

Complete any last-minute food/drink prep that are too fresh to do any earlier
Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
Prepare music and candles
Get dressed with plenty of time in your favourite Y2K party outfit
Once everything’s ready, take the time to do any preferred self-care activities that get you in a good head space if you aren’t already. This is in your own and everybody else’s best interest (they’ll pick up on your contagiously good vibe)! You want to be a relaxed, energized, and happy host 😊

Two smiling women wear bright millennial pink and millennial heart shirts

All Set to Host a Fabulous Millennial Themed Party

Every part of the party planning process is meant to be enjoyable – from planning your outfit to creating the party playlist. At the end of the day, the goal is for you and your guests to have a stellar good time – no matter what plans did or didn’t pan out. As long as you put thought and care into party preparation and keep a flexible mindset that allows grace for when things turn out differently, your millennial themed party will be a terrific time that everyone will remember.