How to Plan Your Independence Day Party

Fourth of July is all about gathering with family and friends and maybe catching a sparkling firework show or (safely) shooting off fireworks yourself. If you need some last-minute ideas for planning your Independence Day party, we’ve got you covered. You could stick with the more traditional route of a barbecue. Or set your party apart and try a theme. Either way, we have several suggestions to make your Independence Day party a blast.

Ideas for Hosting an Independence Day Party

Theme

How would you like seeing party goers transform into the Founding Fathers, Betsy Ross, or Molly Pitcher? Invite guests to dress up as their favorite historical character from the times of the American Revolution. Imagine several Thomas Jeffersons, George Washingtons, Ben Franklins, and Abigail Adams roaming around your party.

You could expand the time period to include any patriotic historical Americans, such as Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Davy Crockett, Susan B. Anthony, or Harriet Tubman.

If you don’t want to go with a historical theme, ask your guests to dress in red, white, and blue or stars and stripes. Uncle Sam and Statue of Liberty costumes would work well with this type of theme. You can easily make your ownstar shirt by using our transfer paper.

Decorations

What would Independence Day be without sparklers? If you can’t find them at a local store, order onlinesoon.

You can usually find red, white, or blue paper plates, cutlery, cups, streamers, and napkins at your supermarket or the local party supply store. This red, white, and blue ring toss game will both add décor and liven up the party. If you would like your very own Liberty Bell at the party, buy brown paper bellsor create your own. Looking to save a little money on decorations? Instead of buying decorations, print out flags, banners, and other printables yourself in red, white, and blue.

Food and Drink

As long as the weather behaves, take the party outside. You can grill the usual burgers, hotdogs, and chicken. Want a different spin on the typical burger? Try these blueberry burgers (tip: reviewers suggest not using a food processer as the original instructions indicate). For your vegetarian friends, grill up some veggie burgers, eggplant, asparagus, and bell peppers. Veggies taste wonderful when grilled! Throw veggie and chicken kabobs on the grill too.

Any red, blue, and white fruits would work well in a fruit salad—blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and bananas with a dollop of homemade whipped cream is a tasty treat on a hot summer day. Nothing says “Happy July 4th” more than a flag cake. This recipeis slightly healthier than a conventional cake.

The Dish has a bunch of easy festive recipes if you’re looking for more food ideas.

On to drinks! For a nonalcoholic drink, make a batch of lemonade and throw in some fresh blueberries before serving the pitcher. Or cool off with a watermelon slushy. Need something a little stronger? This blueberry-strawberry mojito is easy to make, and this patriotic pina coladajust requires a blender. You could also whip up a simple sangria using blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.

How ever you celebrate this Fourth of July, we wish you a safe and happy holiday! Share your last-minute Independence Day party ideas below or on Facebook and Twitter.