Western Theme Party Ideas

Yee-Haw! Western theme party ideas holler "Welcome to the Wild, Wild West!" Come on in and sit a spell. There are some great ideas for Western Theme Parties, and some of the best are included here.

Where

Your basement, a party room, backyard (for a barbeque), or a saloon!

Invitations

Have Western theme party invitations look like boots, cowboy hats, horses, cactus, horseshoes, spurs, lassos, cows, etc. They can say stuff like "Bring your spurs on down to the hoedown!" One neat idea for a birthday or anniversary is to create a Wanted poster with picture of guest(s) of honor with wording like "Wanted for gettin hitched" or "Wanted for turning 30" at the bottom. Another idea is to have invitations that look like telegrams, written in telegram style: "Come to Rita's birthday party. Stop. Saturday, July 17. Stop. Arrive at 4 p.m. Stop. Location Rita's 'home on the range.' Stop."

Be sure to use western style wording on any invitations, like "Ride on Down for a Rootin Tootin Time!" or "Saddle Up to the Wild West Party!" or "Kick Up Your Heels for a Hoe-Down!"

If you don't want to make your own, you can find some nice ones at eInvite.com.

Costumes

For you western theme party, encourage (or require) your guests to wear western. Have a few cowboy hats and bandanas on hand for those who don't come dressed up. Guests can dress up as various characters:

Cowboys, Cowgirls - Bandanas, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, jeans, plaid shirts, chaps, spurs
Madames and Saloon Girls - frilly dresses, fishnet stockings, feather headbands or hats, corsets, high heeled boots, fingerless gloves
Bandits - black mask, black cowboy hat, black jeans, black shirt, black or red bandana, black boots
Indians- moccasins, face paint, beaded suede fringed clothing, feather headdress
Mexicans - brightly colored ponchos, sombreros

If you or your guests want to go all out, you can get costumes and accessories here!

Favors

Western theme party favor ideas include bags of peanuts, prickly pear cactus candy, cactus suckers, bottles of hot sauce, salsa, small cactus plants, packets of southwestern dips/sauces, bandanas, sheriff's badges, etc. A nice idea for western theme parties is to have a tin pail with some of these goodies inside.

Western Theme Party Decoration Ideas

Make sheriff's badge place holders for dinner (can also be used as a party favor, or have the guests wear them)
String boot/cactus lights, or chile pepper lights around
Table coverings could be red and white plaid
Centerpiece ideas for western theme parties: boots with flowers, tin buckets of peanuts, western looking candle holders
Wanted Posters (a funny twist on this is to use pictures of the guests and make up silly sayings to put on the bottom, like "Wanted fer Eating Pie!")
Create different looks: saloon, hoedown (barn), OK Corral (fence/wagon)
Use bandannas as place mats and napkins
Use disposable aluminum or tin pie plates as plates.
Arrange bunches of wheat, daisies, sunflowers or wildflowers in cowboy boots, metal coffee pots or tin pitchers
Have saddles, wagon wheels, lanterns, pitch forks, cactus, fences, barn, hay bales, anything John Deere, cow bells, lassos, rope, rawhide, etc.
Hang a desert scene mural on a wall
Green, brown, tan, red balloons

Get more Western Theme Party decoration ideas here.

Food

The main course at a western theme party is Barbeque of course! Barbeque chicken, pork ribs, steaks, spareribs, even hamburgers and hot dogs, are perfect with baked beans, baked potatoes, chili, corn on the cob, cornbread, and apple sauce.

Snacks could include salsa and tortilla chips, trail mix, jerky, peanuts, popcorn, pretzels, Hershey's gold nuggets, etc. Find great recipes and ideas here.

Drink

Serve hot coffee in tin or old crockery cups.

You can use a galvanized wash tub as a drink cooler. Serve lemonade, iced tea, beer, root beer, and for the very adventurous, moonshine! You can serve drinks in mason jars or mugs.

If you want to serve mixed drinks, visit DrinkNation for ideas.

Cake

Western theme party cakes can be boot shaped or decorated with candy/icing hay bales, fences, boots, lassos/rope, saddles, farm animals, cowboy hats, horseshoes, and more. Cakes can be decorated with black and white to look like cowhides, or with cactus shapes. They can be shaped or drawn in the shape of different western states. There are all kinds of ways to create a western style cake! Get some great cake recipes and ideas here.

Games

Panning for gold: Get a big tub and fill it with sand and water and bury coins in the sand (you can use fake gold coins or real money). Have guests use a pie pan or a pasta strainer.
BBQ Party Games Bargain Pack
How about a roping contest? Have a lasso and farm animal cutouts.
Horseshoes.
Sack races, or three-legged races.
If you have a campfire (or grill) going, and someone who can play the guitar, you can have a sing-along. Everyone knows lots of old west favorites like Home on the Range, Clementine, Coming Round the Mountain, Happy Trails, etc.
If your ideas for western theme parties warrant it, you can even rent a mechanical bull!

Entertainment

Square dancing, Line dancing, two-stepping. Western theme party music is definitely country/western! From contemporary to the original Roy Rogers and Dale Evans! Have a barbershop quartet give a performance. Get a band with a great fiddler. Check out music selections here.