Princess birthday party ideas

Throw a party fit for a queen… or at least a little princess! Tiaras, fairy dust and tulle abound in a party that is sure to enchant even the most proper of princesses and her maidens in waiting.

Remember the days when your backyard was a fairy kingdom, full of royal gatherings, tea parties and glittery adventures? Recreate those memories for your own little princess by throwing her a princess party she’ll never forget.

It’s time to make a royal announcement. The best way to set the princess theme for your little one’s party is in the invitation — make them special by inviting ladies-in-waiting to your fairy kingdom for a royal afternoon tea with the princess. If you would like attendees to dress up, make it clear on the invite and don’t forget to include a contact number for guests to use on the day if they need to.

As for the style of the invitation, glitter is a must and pink will likely feature. If you’re using paper invitations, consider letting your little princess help by adding glitter glue or small stick-on jewels. Or you could add a touch of magic to the theme and send invitations out inside a confetti or glitter-filled balloon.

Once the invites are in the mail, it’s time to think about decorations. Scour your local op shop for bright and colourful costume jewellery, silk scarves and dress ups that you can place in a royal treasure box. These can be used by guests to dress up on the day — especially helpful if someone arrives without a costume.

Hang pink tulle from tree branches or the ceiling to add a whimsical feel to the party. Gold, silver and white Christmas decorations are great to give a rich, royal look and don’t forget to include balloons, streamers and glitter confetti to match your colour scheme to finish off the party atmosphere.

Finally, wrap a chair in pink tulle, add a flat pink satin cushion and perch a gold or silver foil crown on top. Your little princess will certainly feel special blowing out the candles on her princess cake while she’s sitting on her very own royal throne!

You can create your very own princess party games by tweaking a few old favourites. Swap pinning the tail on the donkey for pinning the kiss on the frog and ramp up the royal in pass the parcel by passing the poison apple. You can include a guessing game by asking guests to guess how many sweet jewels there are in the treasury jar and don’t forget to get the guests involved — provide supplies to let them make or decorate their very own fairy princess wand or crown.

The perfect activity for a sweet princess — DIY lolly jewellery

Fairy princesses want to eat food that’s pretty. Make fairy princess fruit wands by skewering a few chunks of colourful fruit onto skewers, provide jugs full of pink lemonade and, of course, an endless supply of fairy bread! Butterfly cream cupcakes are an old favourite and are perfectly suited to a royal tea party, as are small cream cheese and cucumber or chicken finger sandwiches. Adding a basket of green apples — with one or two red ones — provides guests with a visual reminder of the Snow White fairytale and puts a healthy option on the table to boot. Finally, you can get creative with a bag of marshmallows, some melted chocolate and a range of silver, gold and pink sugar decorations to create fairy princess-inspired marshmallow pops.

Every little princess deserves a cake of magical proportions. For princess-inspired creations, you can’t go past the Australian Women’s Weekly birthday cake cookbook — the Dolly Varden cake can easily be customised into a princess to match your child’s colour scheme. Other cake options include a red apple, a crown or a gingerbread castle — especially good for children who don’t like cake.

Of course, you’ll want to take some photos on the day. Make the memories special by giving your guests some props — foil crowns, feather boas or cups from an old tea set work well. You can also frame the shot by hanging a repainted gilt frame from the ceiling or a tree branch for guests to pose behind.

What’s a princess party without a royal favour? Hand out bags of pink candied popcorn, marshmallow fairy princess wands, candy apples or decorated sugar cookie crowns for guests to take home with them. Don’t forget to send a thank you — a printed postcard of each child with the party princess makes a nice little memento.

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