This Party Won’t Stop At Midnight: Planning Your Cinderella Theme
by: Michael Kabel

You hear all the time about how Quince anos girls are princesses for their Quinceañera celebration. If you're searching for a theme for your fiesta, why not take that description all the way?

The Cinderella theme lets you blend together a whole range of fun and exciting design elements. It gives you lots of opportunities to entertain your guests, including showering them with "royal" favors and timeless souvenirs they'll appreciate for years to come.

The decorations cast a magic spell over your guests.

Depending on your budget and the size of your venue, you can really go all-out with the Cinderella decorations. You can have a carriage backdrop where guests can have their picture taken sitting inside. A castle also makes an incredible set piece. If your venue has a fountain inside, you can adorn it with colored lights, floating candles, and lily pads, to help give the impression of something special and other-worldly.

If you've seen a picture of the Cinderella's Castle in Florida, you've probably noticed how they use carefully-placed lights to make it look even more fantastic at night. When you place your decorations, just using colored lighting casts a whole new mood of ambience and mystery to any space.

Deep blues, violets, and pale greens work best to create a shimmering, fairy tale atmosphere. Before setting your heart on it though, check to see if your venue's events crew has colored lighting capability.

Invite and welcome your guests in regal style.

Another important part of the Cinderella motif is the entrance to the fiesta venue. Experts suggest making this as grand as possible, either with stage pillars (lightweight replicas used for weddings and other special events), garden arbors, streams of banners, and candles. It'll help each guest shift from the outside world to the "fantasy realm" you’re trying to create.

Before they arrive, though, you've got to invite them. Design and plan your invitations so that they let guests know what to expect. You can even encourage them to dress in costume according to your once upon a time theme. Your court of honor might also take on Renaissance or Medieval dress, to help accentuate the decorations.

Dress for princess success.

Since you're really the centerpiece of the whole event, you'll get to dress up exactly like Cinderella or any other fairy tale princess you admire. This can include everything from translucent "glass" slippers or pumps to the elegant, shimmering gown. The tiara should dazzle guests with plenty of sparkle, as should your sheer white gloves.

Grant each guest a fairy tale favor for the ages.

Favors are an important part of how you entertain your guests. They're like souvenirs of the whole event. The favors you choose should fit your design and color scheme, but also be decidedly elegant. Candles, potpourri boxes or gourmet chocolates are always an exquisite touch.

You can also pass out disposable cameras and let you guests take pictures around the fiesta venue, showing off their formal dress and getting a reminder of your lovely decorations. Just collect the cameras at the end of the evening. Once they're developed, you can share them with the attendees and also keep them for your scrapbook.