It was Prince who said “Tonight we’re going to party like it’s 1999!” He was correct. Although it seems like the ’90s were almost yesterday (in the grand universal timeline of things), ’90s themed parties are still a hot and funky topic to consider when throwing parties. On the one hand, all theme parties should have a lot of great music, and the 90’s ushered in new and diverse types of popular music. It is important to have many big name groups like Nirvana, Salt & Peppa, Snoop Dogg, Hootie and the Blowfish, Pearl Jam and so many boy bands (ie 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, Boyz 2 Men etc.), Smashing Pumpkins, Shania Twain, Billy Ray Cyrus and Tom Petty on hand to mix it up a bit.
Use your 90s themed party as a way to encourage people to dress the way they remember 90s fashion. You might be surprised what some people remember fashions to be. Host a fashion show and Miss 90s award night based on audience participation.
If you have access to musical instruments, you may want to host a garage band audition, grunge style! Divide the 90’s themed party guests into bands and give them time to come up with a name and write lyrics to a song. Then give them the option of trying to create the background music with real instruments or adapting their words to a famous campfire song, lullaby, or Christmas carol. The results are guaranteed to be hilarious. Try to have the video recorder running for this.
Another 90s theme party activity is to find political and movie quotes from the decade and play a trivia game of “who am I” or “who said so.” Major news and story makers of the 1990s included the Oklahoma City bombing, Waco, the Los Angeles riots, the OJ Simpson trial, Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas, Columbine, Al Quaeda, Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, Dolly the Cloned Sheep, Rwanda, the Balkan War, the Hubble Space Telescope going into orbit, Pentium processors, e-commerce activities, the collapse of dotcom and much more. other things that were happening during this decade. Television offered Friends, Seinfeld, Sailor Moon, The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Ren and Stimpy, South Park, Boy Meets World, and Real World, just to name a few.
So, slide in some black lights where your regular energy saving bulbs are, pick up some fun party accessories from your favorite party supplier, and get ready to be the talk of the town for weeks, months, and maybe years to come. Because all of these 90s icons, and any others you can think of, will make a great base for an incredibly edgy and “totally awesome” 90s themed party. Have fun!
