One of the most fun ways to plan a party is to focus on one big idea that reminds everyone of the person you’re celebrating. Here’s an example of a One Big Idea party the our team threw.
When it came time to celebrate the birthday of our friend, colleague, and spin-class-obsessed Vanessa, naturally, we put together a spinning-themed party. We knew she’d love the event since it focused on one of her favorite things.
If you have a friend who loves a specific sport, this is a great jumping off-point for a party theme—like a golf party for someone who loves to spend their afternoons on the links. (There’s a fun one in my book, Celebrate Everything, complete with golf cake!) Or, you might throw the king of the courts a tennis party, or your newly obsessed friend a pickleball party. (Celebrate Everything also has some fun ideas for a swimming party, no pool required!)
For Vanessa’s party, we started with the color scheme, inspired by the bright yellow logo of her spinning studio. I drew a bicycle wheel in Soul Cycle-yellow, which we then had printed onto cupcake toppers and reproduced in frosting on cake pops. The flavor was lemon, of course, to stay on the color theme. To personalize the party even further, I drew Vanessa on her bike, and we printed and cut out copies of that to use as confetti on the table and as toppers for the yellow-and-white straws.
We rounded out the decor with bottled lemonade, yellow confetti and flowers, and sunshine-yellow balloons. (If you were doing a tennis party, your palette might include tennis-ball green; if soccer, black-and white!)
Finally, we settled on a gift just right for our spinning queen—a certificate for a relaxing massage for her to use after a hard workout, or whenever she wants to unwind. Vanessa loved the party, and having One Big Idea makes it so easy to brainstorm, plan, and decorate. Once you settle on the right idea, there’s no room for the party to spin out of control.
