Let’s be honest – buying Dad’s birthday gifts is hard work. What do you get a man who doesn’t need anything? (Christmas and Father’s Day are no breeze either). So this year, instead of boring gifts, the kids and I put our heads together. And we decided to throw their dad a party instead. He loved it! The whole family had so much fun, I want to share it all with you.
Here’s how to throw an incredible Las Vegas Casino party for your family. It’s perfect for a birthday party or even a special Father’s Day at home.
Decorations and music
I like to start every party plan by choosing the colours. This theme is easy – red, green, black and gold give glam casino vibes. I found all of these on Amazon and eBay. This is what we bought to decorate the room:
- Black tablecloth for the buffet table. Makes the standard kitchen trolley look a bit more polished
- Slot machine beverage napkins
- Roulette wheel paper plates
- American-style red plastic party cups
- Gold paper straws
- Roulette-style plastic table cover
- Gold foil fringe curtain
- Casino string decorations (6 hanging strings of hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs & dollar signs)
- Gold ‘Let’s Party’ banner. This was customisable for my husband’s age
- Metallic gold tassels on a string
My youngest son and I set these up together. We first hung the gold curtain on the wall where we wanted the buffet. We then covered our kitchen trolley with the black tablecloth and pushed it up against the wall.
Nearby we hung the casino string decorations (heart/spade shapes). I just pushed a push pin in the ceiling to secure each string in a line, to form a curtain on the side of the buffet table.
On an adjacent wall, we hung the ‘Let’s Party’ banners. Above the window, we put the string of gold tassels.
Finally, we laid the roulette table printed cover over the table, dotted some slot machine napkins around it, and then the decorations were finished.
Party snacks and drinks
In the buffet area, my son had an idea to stack the red cups pyramid style. I think it turned out great and also kept him busy while I prepped some of the food.
On top of the table, we laid out glass bottles of Coca-Cola, heart-shaped bowls, a stack of roulette party plates and some more of the slot machine napkins. You should use whatever party snacks your family likes best. For us, we enjoy small sandwiches, olives, crisps, watermelon and mango fingers, mini chocolate swiss rolls, rocky road bites, and birthday cake Oreos. I also made little bowls of popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzels, mini marshmallows and M&Ms.
I threw together an easy cocktail for my husband and me, and mocktails for the children. We used Cherry 7up, a little orange juice, cranberry juice, raspberry vodka for the adults, plus a couple of maraschino cherries on top. This was served over ice in the red cups with gold paper straws.
Dinner with a twist
We often take our family to Pizza Express for my husband’s birthday but being in lockdown, we had to get creative. Fortunately, a company called Great Food2U does Pizza Express meal kits. They delivered the dough and all the toppings to make 4 pizzas. This was not only really tasty, but it made a fun and memorable activity for our family to do at the party. We served the pizza with a salad and some dough balls.
The cake
Although I usually have a rule that I’ll plan a party OR make a cake, I broke the rule because my husband requested his favourite homemade chocolate cake. And this casino party was a complete surprise for him! I made this the day before, and it kept well in the refrigerator. I’m no cake decorator, though! So, to jazz it up, I ordered a Las Vegas-style personalised cake topper from Etsy. We also added a gold glittery Happy Birthday cake topper (from Morrisons) to make it really sparkle.
Entertainment
The best part of this theme is that you get to play casino games! We bought the games and wrapped them up for my husband to open at the party. This is what we gave him:
- Roulette set (felt cloth, wheel, balls and scraper)
- Craps felt tablecloth (the game is printed on it)
- Texas Hold Em Poker Set (poker chips, felt cloth, cards and holder)
- Las Vegas dice
We started the party at about noon and spent the whole day playing, finishing up after 9 pm! We watched a few videos on YouTube on how to play, printed a couple of rule sheets and just had at it. The kids loved roulette and poker, and we played these over and over. Craps was a bit complicated for them, but we enjoyed it for a good hour at least.
We grazed on the snacks and cocktails all day, making the pizzas later on. We loved tossing the dough up in the air, to varying degree of success! Our youngest son thoroughly enjoyed playing waiter and balancing drinks on a tray too. The birthday cake and candles rounded it all off for a truly special party.
And that’s all you need for how to do a Las Vegas casino party. This is one theme that really hits the jackpot!
And that’s all you need for how to do a Las Vegas casino party. This is one theme that really hits the jackpot!If you enjoyed this, you might also like How to do an Animal Crossing Party.
