As mentioned in the Haunted Pirate Party post, the first party that I would throw for Michael was the Vintage Circus Surprise Birthday Party! This party was not only pivotal in our love story but also really nailed home who amongst our friend group was willing to go all in on our themed parties. And that, truly, is what makes for a great party!
Without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the greatest show on earth!
The Invitations
The Invitations:
As with any circus, you’ll need a ticket to get in! Am I right?! “Creed’s Amazing Circus” tickets would be the invitations, discreetly handed out while Michael wasn’t looking.
The Decorations:
Michael is a mid-century modern kinda guy. So I knew a tacky circus of primary colors and obnoxious music wasn’t gonna cut it. Instead we went for a vintage circus with rich colors, classic characters, and thorough touch of circus paraphernalia throughout. A lot of thrifting lead me to some classic artwork, vintage hat boxes and traveling cases, table linens in mis-matched deep reds and creamy whites. From Etsy I managed to find some vintage noisemakers with old school clowns which were a great add to the décor but also very effective during the SURPRISE! From Amazon I was able to piece together costumes, raffle tickets, Ferris wheel decorations, red and white straws and cupcake tins, etc for little touches here and there.
The biggest puzzle to solve was a circus tent that would take up the majority of the living/dining room. Michael and I didn’t live together before we got married so testing this circus tent happened in my condo with some estimated proportions. Sheets of actual fabric were incredibly expensive so I managed to accomplish the look with several overlapping layers of red and white tulle. By doubling or occasionally tripling the fold I was able to make the color less opaque. Not a perfect circus tent but a dramatic effect when it’s all assembled together! For the draping, tulle was attached in the center of the space and then draped over lines of twine run the length of the wall. This gives the freedom to drape as deep as you want in the center creating that classic circus tent shape.
The games were the next piece of the decorations. We had ring toss, balloon pop, a shooting range, and corn hole set up in the backyard.
Balloon Pop: White, Red and Gold balloons give off a more sophisticated look than the primary colors so that follows our vintage circus theme. Staple these to a pallet and you’ve got a great looking game that can be adjusted and moved anywhere in your party. (Not to mention, cheap! Big bang for a few bucks!) I also used some white balloons that had gold confetti inside so when those were hit you’d set of a great explosion of gold!
Ring Toss: As a wine drinker, I had plenty of access to wine bottles. After collecting a bunch of bottles, spray paint in red, white and blue and then line up in a wooden box. A few cheap rings from Amazon complete the classic carnival game.
The shooting range was a little more complicated to construct. Thankful for good friends who actually have the knowledge and tools to create a structure like this! Ours was a free standing structure with a row of targets that would fold back when hit. The same thing can, of course, be accomplished with decorated cans or bottles in either a row or tower. A couple cheap nerf pistols complete the equipment list for this game.
The Characters:
It was pretty important to have a variety of characters so for this party it was required that you “reserve your character”. A “cast list” was sent out and guests were asked to pick ahead of time so that we didn’t have a circus of only mimes (for example). Suggested characters to choose from: Strong Man, Mystic Madame, Jugglers (2 allowed), Mimes (2 allowed), clowns (2 allowed) Acrobat, Bearded Lady. Michael, as the birthday boy, would be the Master of Ceremony and I was dressed as his assistant ring leader.
The Menu:
Cotton Candy, caramel corn, and burgers!
The Cotton Candy, send me a DM if you know how to make this work. We spun a ton of cotton candy into these beautify puffy wands and by the time the party started they had all completely melted down to nothing! But, the show must go on! The cotton candy machine was used in the décor and looked great even without the candy itself. Somebody tell me what I did wrong there!
I used this recipe for Caramel Corn. I also made salted caramel cupcakes from this recipe and used some caramel corn and caramel syrup on top as a garnish. In both recipes the caramel was easy enough to make, even for a beginner like myself. For the members of our group who wouldn’t enjoy a caramel corn I made regular popcorn as well.
Popcorn served in these themed popcorn boxes not only added to the decorations but also made it easy for the guests to grab a box and head back outside for the games!
Drinks were served in glass coco cola bottles that were thrifted and then run through the dishwasher.
The Main Event: The Big Surprise!
Michael was tricked into a “birthday hike” with one of his best friends while we scrambled to assemble a circus in his house with only a few hours to pull it off. All of the guests were asked to park down the street where their cars wouldn’t be seen so when Michael was brought back to the house it looked like I was the only one home. With several hidden cameras set up we all hid wherever we could find: closets, around corners, behind furniture, prepared for a loud roaring SURPRISE! It was a major success, a very unprepared birthday boy was instructed to change into his costume and voila welcome to your 35thbirthday party!
For your own party…
Thrift as much as you can!
For everything else, check out the link below for our list of finishing touches found on Amazon!
