406 FUN PARTY THEMES FOR ADULTS: THE BEST THEME IDEAS FOR BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND COSTUME PARTIES

406 UNIQUE PARTY THEMES FOR ADULTS

Here is a gigantic list of the best 406 party themes that are perfect for birthday parties, costume parties and celebrations in 2023.

Yep, move over, kids. It’s time for the grown-ups to have some theme party fun! If you have spent so long planning kids’ parties that you’ve run out of creativity for coming up with a party for you and your own friends, look no further. 

There are 406 unique party theme ideas for you to choose from ahead of inviting all your favourite family and friends to join you for the mother of all parties. 

Use this big list to get creative with your next anniversary or birthday party theme or even a Christmas get-together party.

Whether you hire a party planner or make the party yourself, just because you’re grown-up doesn’t mean you can’t play dress-up! 

I’ve created a huge list of all the party themes in alphabetical order. If you scroll past this list, you will also find the themes split up into the following theme genres:

• Movie inspired ideas
• TV show-inspired ideas
• Christmas theme ideas
• Sport inspired ideas
• Halloween theme ideas
• Funny party themes – for serious amounts of comedy

Right, are you ready to dive in?

THE BIGGEST LIST OF PARTY THEMES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Want to know what the really good party themes are for adults? The coolest themes, the quirkiest, the most fun? Read on…

I’ve literally added every single conceivable idea for a party theme to this list. Some of the themes are food-inspired, and some are distinctly retro or nostalgic. There are plenty of ideas for dress-up and costume parties, but also plenty of ideas for simply having a party decor and party food theme.

1. 1920s – Flapper
2. 1920s – Gangster
3. 1950s – Rock n roll
4. 1960s – Swinging 60s London
5. 1970s – Hippie 
6. 1970s British punk 
7. 1970s Disco Party
8. 1980s Movie stars
9. 1980s Pop stars 
10. 1990s Pop stars
11. 2000 Pop stars 
12. 80s Club night 
13. 90s Club night
14. Abigail’s Party  
15. Alice in Wonderland
16. All American
17. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
18. Ancient Rome
19. Andy Warhol The Factory 
20. Angels and Devils
21. Animal Kingdom
22. Anime
23. Anything but Black
24. Arabian Nights
25. Around the world
26. Astrology
27. Austin Powers
28. Avengers
29. Awards after-show party
30. Back to Prom
31. Back to school
32. Back to the Future
33. Back to the Future
34. Back to the noughties dance party
35. Backyard BBQ
36. Bad hair day
37. Bad Santa
38. Bad Taste Party
39. Barbie (The movie)
40. Barbie and Ken
41. Baseball Greats
42. Basketball / NBA party
43. Basketball Heroes
44. Baywatch
45. Beach party
46. Better Call Saul
47. Big Bang Theory
48. Billie Eilish – neon green and black party
49. Black, gold, silver theme 
50. Black & White Movies
51. Black and white colour theme
52. Black tie
53. Bluey
54. Board game night
55. Bob Ross painting party
56. Bogan Bash Party
57. Boho
58. Bollywood
59. Brazilian Carnival
60. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
61. Breaking Bad
62. Bridgerton
63. Britain’s Got Talent / TV talent show
64. British royal family through the ages
65. Brunch party
66. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
67. Bugsy Malone 
68. Burlesque
69. Camping party
70. Candy theme
71. Carnival
72. Casino – the movie
73. Casino night
74. Characters from 80s movies
75. Characters from 90s movies
76. Characters from stage musicals 
77. Characters from noughties movies
78. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
79. Cheerleaders
80. Chinese New Year 
81. Chocolate fountain party
82. Christmas in July
83. Christmas sweater party
84. Chronicles of Narnia
85. Cinco de Mayo
86. Circus
87. City Slickers
88. Class Disney character
89. Classic 80’s (think Ferris Buller, Pretty in Pink)
90. Clueless
91. Coachella festival at home
92. Cocktail party 
93. Cocomelon
94. Comedy show characters
95. Comic books
96. Cook-off or bake-off theme
97. Country Bumpkin
98. Country music
99. Craft party
100. Crazy hair
101. Cricket afternoon tea
102. Dance battle
103. Dancing With The Stars/Strictly Come Dancing
104. David Bowie
105. Dead zombie pop stars
106. Dead zombie movie stars
107. Death to my youth party 
108. Denim and diamonds
109. Dessert bar
110. Dia De Muertos/Day of the Dead
111. Die Hard – everyone dresses as John McClane
112. Dinner party 
113. Dirty Dancing
114. Disco
115. Doctor Who
116. Downton Abbey
117. Dr. Seuss
118. Dress as the thing you most fear
119. Dress as your favourite celebrity
120. Dress for the decade you were born
121. Dress up as your favourite character from a TV show or film!
122. Dr Who
123. Egyptian Theme
124. Elvis through the decades party 
125. Enchanted forest
126. English High Tea
127. Escape room
128. Fairy Tales
129. Famous couples
130. Famous Dead People
131. Famous Sports People
132. Fancy Dress (anything goes)
133. Fantastic Beasts
134. Favourite popstar
135. Favourite things party
136. Fire and ice
137. Fondue
138. Footballers and Wives (or husbands) 
139. Footballing heroes
140. Fresh Prince of Bel Air
141. Friends (the TV show) 
142. Game of Thrones
143. Gameshow
144. Gaming
145. Gaming party
146. Gangsters and Flappers
147. Garden party
148. Geeks and tech bros
149. Ghostbusters
150. Ghosts and ghouls
151. Girls night in
152. Glamping
153. Glam Rock
154. Glam squad
155. Glastonbury at home 
156. Glee
157. Glitter and sparkles
158. Glow in the dark
159. Golf 
160. Goth
161. Grammys party
162. Grease
163. Great Leaders from History
164. Great Wall of China
165. Grill and chill
166. Guardians of the Galaxy
167. Halloween
168. Hamptons at home
169. Happy Days
170. Harry Potter
171. Harry Styles
172. Havana Nights
173. Hawaiian Luau
174. Heavy metal
175. Heroes vs villains
176. High tea
177. Hip Hop
178. Holographic
179. Horror film classics
180. Hot Tub Time Machine
181. House of the Dragon
182. Ibiza Chillout 
183. Ibiza Rocks
184. Ice cream bar
185. Iconic footballing heroes
186. International food
187. James Bond
188. Jane Austen novels
189. Jane Fonda 80s workout party
190. Jelly and ice-cream 
191. John Hughes 80s party
192. John Hughes movies
193. Karaoke party
194. Keeping up with the Kardashians
195. Kids show characters
196. Kings and Queens party
197. La Dolce Vita 
198. Las Vegas
199. Lego
200. Line dancing
201. Lord of the Rings
202. Love & romance
203. Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
204. Mad Max
205. Mad Men
206. Madonna through the decades
207. Magic Mike
208. Magic show
209. Magnum PI
210. Makeover
211. Mama Mia
212. Mustache Party
213. Mardi Gras
214. Martin Scorsese movies
215. Marvel Characters
216. Masks and Mimosas
217. Masquerade ball
218. Mediaeval
219. Memory lane 
220. Mermaids and mermen 
221. Mexican fiesta
222. Miami Vice
223. Milkshake bar
224. Minute To Win It
225. Mission Impossible
226. Moulin Rouge
227. Movie marathon
228. Movie stars of the 80s
229. Movie stars of the 90s
230. Movie stars of the noughties
231. Murder mystery
232. Music festival in your yard/back garden
233. Music video party
234. Neighbours (TV show)
235. Neon UV party
236. New York New York 
237. Nightmare Before Christmas
238. North Pole
239. Notorious figures from history 
240. Oktoberfest
241. Olympians/Olympics
242. Olympic heroes
243. Onesie party
244. Only Murders In The Building
245. Oscars party
246. Outer space
247. Painting party
248. Pantone Colour of the Year
249. Parisienne nights 
250. Pastel colours
251. Peace and love
252. Peaky Blinders characters
253. Pierrot 
254. Pirates of the Caribbean 
255. Pizza
256. Plant and sip gardening party
257. Poker party
258. Pool party
259. Pop art
260. Pop culture
261. Popstar 
262. Pot luck party
263. Pretty in Pink
264. Pretty Woman
265. Primary Colours Only
266. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
267. Project Runway
268. Pulp Fiction
269. Pyjama Party
270. Quentin Tarantino movie characters
271. Race day
272. Rainbow party
273. Real Housewives
274. Reality TV Stars
275. Red, blue and white
276. Red carpet
277. Redneck/Hillbilly party
278. Reggae
279. Retro
280. Retro board games 
281. Retro rave 
282. Retro video games
283. Revisiting your school prom
284. Rio Carnival 
285. Rockabilly
286. Rock n Roll
287. Rockstar
288. Rocky Horror Picture Show
289. Roller disco
290. Safari
291. Salsa 
292. Sandra Dee sleepover party
293. Saturday Night Fever
294. Scavenger hunt
295. Science fiction
296. Scooby Doo mystery party
297. Selfie party
298. Seven deadly sins
299. Shakespearean characters
300. Signs of the zodiac
301. Silent disco
302. Silver soirée
303. Slumber party
304. Smores and hotdogs campfire
305. SNL 
306. Social media influencer party
307. Spaghetti Western
308. Spa pamper party 
309. Speakeasy
310. Speed dating/matchmaking party
311. Spiderman
312. Spielberg movie characters
313. Sports Day
314. A Question of Sport – plan your own sports quiz
315. Spice Girls
316. Springtime in Paris
317. Squid Game
318. St. Patrick’s Day
319. Star Trek
320. Star Wars
321. Stranger Things
322. Strictly Come Dancing / Dancing With The Stars
323. Studio 54
324. Succession – will you be Shiv, Kendal, Roman or Logan?!
325. Summer camp
326. Sumo party
327. Super Bowl
328. Superheroes
329. Superstar DJs 
330. Surf’s Up
331. Surprise party
332. Survivor
333. Sushi train 
334. Taco bar
335. Tacky Prom Party
336. Talent Show 
337. Tantrums and tiaras 
338. Tartan & Scotch
339. Taylor Swift stans
340. Tech Bros – (Elon, Mark, Jeff…)
341. Tech Nerd Party
342. The Bachelor / Bachelorette
343. The beautiful and the damned
344. The Bear (TV Show)
345. The Breakfast Club
346. The Crown
347. The Future
348. The Godfather
349. The Goonies
350. The Greatest Showman
351. The Great Gatsby
352. The Grinch
353. The Inbetweeners
354. The Kardashians
355. The Mandalorian
356. The Muppets
357. The Nightmare Before Christmas
358. The Queen’s Gambit chess party
359. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
360. The Simpsons
361. The Sopranos
362. The Wizard of Oz
363. Things starting with a certain letter
364. Things That Fly
365. Thrift Shop Finds (set a budget)
366. Tiger King
367. Time Travellers
368. Titanic
369. Toga party
370. Top Gun/Top Gun: Maverick
371. Toy Story
372. Transformers
373. Trashy/tacky dress-up party
374. Travel themed
375. Tropical
376. Truth or dare games
377. Tux and Tiaras
378. TV show characters 
379. Ugly bridesmaid dress theme 
380. Ugly sweater
381. UK prime ministers through the decades
382. Under the Sea/ Nautical
383. Underwater/ocean
384. Unicorn
385. US presidents through the decades
386. Venice Beach muscle party
387. Video Killed the Radio Star
388. Vintage Funfair Themed Party
389. Vintage garden party
390. Vintage Hollywood
391. VIP party
392. Viva Las Vegas
393. Walk Like An Egyptian
394. Westside Story
395. White partyBlack party
396. Wig party
397. Wild west
398. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory
399. Wimbledon whites
400. Wine and cheese
401. Winter Wonderland
402. Wizard of Oz
403. Woodstock
404. Woody Allen movies
405. Zen 
406. Zombie Apocalypse Party

Related: 463 Costume party ideas – even more costume inspiration!

TV SHOW-INSPIRED PARTY THEMES

TV shows make really fun party themes. They are particularly brilliant if there is an iconic character or characters, such as Ross and Rachel for a little nostalgia or Jon Snow and Daenerys for an epic fantasy-style party.

Reality TV shows also make a great basis for creating a party theme for a party for adults. Keeping Up With The Kardashians provides endless opportunities for creative dressing up fun, as does the Real Housewives.

Favourite and super popular TV shows from across the decades make great party themes. Here is a list of TV shows that would make great party themes, either because they have iconic characters or iconic storylines or just because they offer up the chance to have lots of fun.

1. Bay Watch
2. Better Call Saul
3. Breaking Bad
4. Bridgerton
5. Doctor Who
6. Downton Abbey
7. Favourite TV comedy show
8. Favourite TV detective show
9. Favourite TV quiz show
10. Friends
11. Fresh Prince of Bel Air
12. Game of Thrones 
13. Happy Days
14. House of the Dragon
15. Keeping up with the Kardashians
16. Mad Men
17. Magnum PI
18. Miami Vice
19. Neighbours
20. Only Murders In The Building
21. Peaky Blinders
22. Project Runway
23. Real Housewives
24. Succession – the ultimate power party theme!
25. SNL 
26. Squid Game
27. Star Trek
28. Stranger Things
29. Strictly Come Dancing / Dancing With The Stars
30. The Bear – though, be careful not to actually recreate the epic party scene in season 2!
31. The Crown
32. The Inbetweeners
33. The Muppets
34. The Simpsons
35. The Sopranos
36. The Walking Dead

MOVIE-INSPIRED PARTY THEMES

Movie-inspired party themes to make for really big, fancy parties. Think of milestone parties, like 30th, 40th, 50th etc. You can pick a film that was huge in the birthday person’s birth year.

Go for parties with iconic characters, such as James Bond, Cher from Clueless or Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Or think about how the movie could inspire the party venue – or the party venue could inspire the party theme!

1. Abigail’s Party  
2. Austin Powers
3. Avengers
4. Back to the Future
5. Barbie (So many Barbies and Kens to choose from)
6. Breakfast at Tiffany’s 
7. Casino
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
9. Classic 80’s (think Ferris Buller, Pretty in Pink)
10. Clueless
11. Die Hard – everyone dresses as John McClane
12. Dirty Dancing
13. Fantastic Beasts
14. Ghostbusters
15. Grease
16. Guardians of the Galaxy
17. Harry Potter
18. Hot Tub Time Machine
19. Iconic horror movie characters
20. James Bond
21. John Hughes movies
22. Lord of the Rings
23. Mad Max
24. Magic Mike
25. Mama Mia
26. Martin Scorsese movies
27. Moulin Rouge
28. Pirates of the Caribbean 
29. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
30. Pulp Fiction
31. Quentin Tarantino movies
32. Saturday Night Fever
33. Spaghetti Western-inspired
34. Spiderman
35. Star Wars
36. The Breakfast Club
37. The Godfather
38. The Goonies
39. The Greatest Showman
40. The Great Gatsby
41. The Mandalorian
42. The Nightmare Before Christmas
43. The Oscars – Academy Awards 
44. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
45. The Wizard of Oz
46. Titanic
47. Top Gun/Top Gun: Maverick
48. Vintage Hollywood movie stars
49. Woody Allen movies

MUSIC-INSPIRED PARTY THEMES

Music-inspired party themes. Well, the sky is the limit. Pick from a favourite band or artist, or pick a music genre or music from a certain decade.

Music-inspired parties are great for invoking a sense of nostalgia, especially as they lend themselves to you getting really creative with the music playlist.

1. 1950s – Rock n roll
2. 1970s British punk 
3. 1970s Disco Party
4. 1980s pop stars 
5. 1990s pop stars
6. 2000 pop stars 
7. 80s Club night 
8. 90s Club night
9. Back to the noughties dance party
10. Billie Eilish – neon green and black party
11. Characters from Musicals (stage or film)
12. Coachella festival at home
13. Country music
14. Dance battle
15. David Bowie
16. Disco
17. Elvis through the decades party 
18. Favourite popstar
19. Glam Rock
20. Glastonbury at home 
21. Glee
22. Harry Styles
23. Hip Hop
24. Ibiza Chillout 
25. Ibiza Rocks
26. Karaoke party
27. Line dancing
28. Madonna, through the decades
29. Music festival in your yard/back garden
30. Music video party
31. Reggae
32. Retro rave 
33. Rockabilly
34. Rock n Roll
35. Rockstar
36. Roller disco
37. Saturday Night Fever
38. Spice Girls
39. Studio 54
40. Grammys winners
41. Taylor Swift stans

SPORTS-INSPIRED PARTY THEMES

Sports party themes don’t necessarily mean having to play the actual sport. Get everyone to dress up as a sporting hero from the world of football or basketball.

1. Baseball heroes
2. Basketball / NBA party
3. Basketball Heroes
4. Cheerleaders
5. Cricket afternoon tea
6. Footballing heroes
7. Iconic footballing heroes
8. Olympic heroes
9. Sports Day
10. Superbowl

FUNNY PARTY THEMES

If you are looking for a way to add some humour to your next party, I’ve put together a list of ideas from bad hair days to tech bro cringeworthiness. Here are 14 funny party themes for adults that will have you and your guests laughing all night.

1. Bad hair day
2. Bogan Bash party
3. Tacky tourist
4. Unlikely celebrity look-alike
5. Ugly sweater/Christmas sweater
6. Mismatched party (wear clothes that don’t match)
7. Crazy hat party
8. Tech bro party – from Elon to Mark, party on, bro!
9. Tech nerd party
10. Redneck party
11. Bad taste party
12. Crazy sock party
13. Halloween in April
14. Awkward family photos
15. Tacky prom night
16. Celebrity Impersonators
17. Trailer park bash
18. 80s workout video
19. Tacky prom party
20. Moustache party

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PARTY THEMES

Give your party a fun theme if you want to really make sure your Christmas party stands out as THE party of the holiday season. There is so much pressure to have fun at Christmas that sometimes a theme is the best way of getting the party started.

Think Christmas movies or simply think glamour and luxury. Christmas number ones is a particularly fun idea, where everyone can choose their favourite Christmas number on and dress up as the music artist.

1. 12 Days of Christmas 
2. A Christmas Carol
3. A winter wonderland
4. Bad Elf on the Shelf 
5. Bad Santa
6. Black and gold 
7. Candy canes
8. Christmas crackers comedy 
9. Christmas Elvis
10. Christmas games night
11. Christmas HoeDown
12. Christmas in Vegas, baby!
13. Christmas masquerade ball
14. Christmas movie marathon
15. Christmas number ones
16. Christmas on the beach
17. Die Hard – everyone comes as John Maclane
18. Dress as a Christmas bauble
19. Funny Christmas hats
20. Gingerbread house building
21. Ornament making party
22. Snow and ice
23. Tartan and Scotch 
24. The Grinch 
25. The Nightmare Before Christmas
26. The Nutcracker
27. Ugly Christmas sweaters
28. Wreath making party

HALLOWEEN PARTY THEME IDEAS 

If you want to take your Halloween party to the next level, it is well worth giving it a theme. It’s also a great way of getting everyone to dress up because a general theme of ‘Halloween’ can sometimes be overwhelming.

Go for current spooky favourites from the world of TV or film, like Stranger Things or Squid Game or go for movie classics, like Halloween or It, or Freddy Kruger in Nightmare on Elm Street.

1. The Last of Us (HBO TV Series)
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street
3. Beetlejuice
4. Black and white 
5. Dead zombie movie stars
6. Dead zombie pop stars 
7. Dia de los Muertos
8. Escape room
9. Fortune telling party
10. Ghost white party
11. Ghouls night in 
12. Halloween (The movie)
13. Hallo-Wine party
14. Haunted gingerbread house
15. Iconic horror movie characters
16. It
17. Mad scientist 
18. Murder mystery
19. Neon glow party
20. Rocky Horror Picture Show
21. Scooby Doo
22. Scream (The movie)
23. Smores and hotdogs campfire
24. Squid Game
25. Stranger Things
26. Vampire / Dracula
27. Zombie prom night

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY THEME

You know your party guests – and yourself – best. So, gauge just how much effort everyone is likely to put into getting dressed up for a themed party.

If the answer is absolutely zero, then go for a theme that doesn’t involve fancy dress. You can easily theme a party with fun invites, decorations, food and music. 

But if you know that everyone is ready, willing and able to go full force with their fancy dress outfits, then the sky’s the limit with the party theme suggestions on this list. 

The only other thing to bear in mind before diving into the list of theme ideas is how much time you have ahead of your party. 

If you’re going for a full-on party theme, you want to give your guests a good amount of time to plan and get their outfits together. Around a month should do it for most themes. 

The same goes for being realistic about how much time you have to prepare for the party. Don’t go for an over-the-top fancy theme that you just don’t have the time to prepare for. 

A quick note: Whilst plenty of themes below can be adapted or are suitable for kids’ parties if you are looking specifically for kids’ party themes, I’ve got a separate post with a big list of 99 of the best themes for kids’ parties.

HOW TO BRING YOUR PARTY THEME TO LIFE

Once you’ve chosen your party theme, you need to work out how to bring it to life. Here’s a quick list of ideas for things you can do and include.

• Themed party invitations – include dress-up ideas/instructions.
• Themed decorations
• Party music playlist
• Themed party food
• Themed party food plates and cups
• Themed party drinks – create a special themed cocktail.
• Themed party favours

WHY IT IS WORTH FINDING A UNIQUE PARTY THEME

If you’re debating whether or not to give your party a theme, I thought I’d put down my thoughts on why it is worthwhile spending time coming up with something really unique.

1. IT CREATES BUZZ

Finding a party theme that nobody else you know has done before is a great way to make sure that your party stands out.

Adding details of a theme to your party invitation helps create buzz and excitement in the run-up to the party. It will help ensure that everyone puts plenty of effort into their outfit for the party, especially if it’s. a costume theme party.

It also shows that you really care about making sure that everyone has lots of fun.

2. HELPS YOU FOCUS YOUR PLANNING

A party theme helps make all the different elements of the party come together. From the decorations and food to the activities and what everyone does and wears. It allows you to create an immersive experience for your guests.

3. IT’S MORE FUN!

Let’s face it: modern life is hectic. Many of us don’t have the time to really kick back and have fun, so it is wonderful when someone else takes the time to create a magical experience for us.

A themed party gives all your guests the chance to step away from their everyday lives, kick back and thoroughly enjoy themselves.

PIN TO SAVE: