Pool Party
Your party will be a real splash!
Start with beach ball party supplies, including partyware, cake topper, and more, at Celebrate Express.
Food Ideas
- We have a coordinating beach ball cake template which you can download and print.
- Light snacks are good for pool parties: finger sandwiches, chips, pretzels, or serve the perennial favorite - pizza! Barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers are also fun at pool parties. Have watermelon or fruit salad for cool, thirst-quenching satisfaction.
- Lemonade is a great summer party beverage. Our lemonade recipe is naturally sweetened without sugar!
- For a carbonated beverage with no added sugar, try our party punch recipe.
- Use a Rubbermaid or Igloo water cooler to keep your non-carbonated beverage cool, keep the bugs out, and make it easy for guests to serve themselves!
Decorating Ideas
- Colorful beach towels make great decorations! Hang them along a fence or clothesline for privacy, drape them over chairs, lay them out on the ground for decor and sunbathing, pin one to a shady wall to use for a photo backdrop, and use them as tablecloths!
- Beach balls and inflatable toys are inexpensive and fun decorating items.
- For the food table, visit your local dollar store for great bargains on pails and trays for serving your food, or for use as table decorations. If your table is too big for a beach towel, use a solid light blue sheet or plastic tablecover.
- If the guests will be bringing gifts, use a small table, such as a card table, covered with a beach towel or blue sheet on which they can place their gifts. Place one of more of your own gifts on the table so they'll know what it's for!
Activity Ideas
- You'll want some fun activities for the guests as they start arriving.
- Buy some reusable plastic cups and paint pens, and let each guest decorate one with his or her name and artwork. The guests will be able to recognize their drinks, and they can take the cups home when the party's over! If they aren't feeling artistic, suggest writing some of their hobbies or favorite characters/tv shows/movie titles. Anything they put on their cup can be a conversation starter!
- Face paint! For children's pool parties, hire or recruit a face painter. Most face paints remove easily with soap and water, but test them before the party to make sure they won't come off in the pool!
- During the party, pool volleyball, and other water games are lots of fun. So are water pistols.
Party Planning
- General Party Planning Schedule
- If this is a children's party, be sure to have an extra adult on hand for pool safety.
- Schedule your regular pool cleaning close to the party, but far enough in advance for the chlorine to level off.
- Since this is (usually!) an outdoor party, you may want to include a rain date, or alternative indoor party plans. Let your guests know in advance, via the invitations, what to expect in case of inclement weather.