Party Themes and Activity Ideas

Make your Girls Night In your own

Girls Night In is a wonderful excuse to get together with the girls. Your Girls Night In can be as simple a regular get-together with the girls, or you can choose to make it a larger celebration with a special theme. You can make your Girls Night In your own!

You might simply want to ask your guests to make a donation comparable to what they would spend on a night out with the girls. You might want to ask for a set donation tied to a party theme. You might even want to include additional fundraising ideas.

If you’re still looking for a little inspiration, start here! You can also find out what other hosts are up to in our Discussion Forum.

Theme Ideas... just for fun

Dinner and a movie - Combining your favourite movie genre and cuisine is a classic get-together idea with lots of options traditional and exotic. Here are just a few of the endless possibilities sure to please or even surprise your guests:

My Italian Restaurant - Start with some red and white-checkered tablecloths and some music from your favourite opera or Italian crooner. Serve up antipasti followed by risotto or polenta. Follow the food with a home screening of Everybody Wants to be Italian or Il Postino.
Bogart meets Morocco - Where do you start when choosing your favourite Humphrey Bogart movie? How about Casablanca? Set the mood with Moroccan-inspired lanterns, an indoor tent and belly-dancing music. Then serve up a Moroccan feast (to be eaten while sitting on pillows) with tangine chicken, lamb kebabs on couscous and chopped salad with chickpeas and lentils. A Web search will yield lots of recipes!
Stage musicals meet the silver screen - Some of our favourite musicals are set in locations that conjure up some unconventional get-together ideas. Transport your guests away with some music from the soundtrack (i.e. Fiddler on the Roof). Start dinner off with some cold Green Shchi (cabbage soup), followed by Blinchaty pirog (a type of pancake), topped off with some Moscow Ponchiki (pastries).

Single Girls in the City - Even if you can’t get to the city (or aren’t single), you can still have fun pretending or bringing “uptown” life home. Here’s how:

Encourage your guests to dress up in their most fashion-forward attire. Almost anything goes here, including stilettos, chic corporate suits, designer bags and hip flea market finds.
Establish an urban vibe with some club or lounge music. You can find compilations at your local music store or at popular paid music download web sites.
Decorate your party room by devoting an area to each character from your favourite TV show about four “girls in the city.” Don’t forget to run DVD episodes from the program or challenge your guests with trivia.
Offer manicures, serve appetizers of shrimp and little sandwiches, serve mocktails in fancy glasses.
Order the best takeout followed by ice cream.

Memories of Karaoke Karaoke might not be a new party idea, but you can put your own spin on it by playing songs from your favourite musical decade or holding your own “Girls Night In Idol” singing competition. Invite three guests to be your celebrity ‘Idol” judges and let the fun begin. To get started:

Choose a musical theme that your guests will know best. Add a Karaoke image to your online Girls Night In event web page.
Find some Karaoke software (free versions are available on the Web) or rent a machine (check the Yellow Pages or the Web).
For your singing competition create some fun scorecards that rate the singing on unique criteria like: most unlikely song choice, highest note reached, most unusual interpretation of a song or longest note held. Create a “trophy” for the winner, such as a toy microphone or CD case with a certificate.
Add special effects like fog, disco balls or bubble-making machines. Visit your local party supply or DJ supply center for more effects ideas.

Home Spa Party Who wouldn’t want a day or night at the spa? You can have a get-together where you do all the pampering or invite your guests to indulge themselves. The best thing is, you can bring the spa home without paying spa prices:

Send out invitations with small scented soaps attached with ribbon (if hand delivered).
Set the mood with lots of candles, soft lighting and new age music.
Purchase inexpensive flip-fops and invite your guests to change when they arrive.
Visit your dollar store for pretty glass bottles and jars that are perfect for holding/sampling homemade massage oils, body lotions, body scrubs or facial masks. You can find recipes for essential aromatherapy oils on the Web.
Set up small pampering stations on tables with beautiful aromatic hand creams, nail polishes and nail grooming tools.
Make food preparation and serving easy. You can order cheese, fruit or veggie trays and dips. Serve mocktails with slices of lime, lemon or orange or prepare ahead of time.

Fundraising Ideas

Guilt-Free Night-Out Card - before your event, give your guests one of the Guilt-Free Night Out Cards included with your Host Kit. Your guests can then use these cards to "sell" a guilt-free night out to their nearest and dearest for a donation to Girls Night In! (See the downloadable Host Kit or online Host Centre for a printable Guilt-Free Night-Out Card.)
Cooking Competition - ask your guests for an entry fee, set a time limit and let them cook up a storm. Then award prizes for the best (or most creative) dish.
Silent Auctions - do you or your guests have any special talents (i.e. cooking, babysitting, home improvement) that they’d be willing to provide for auction? Create a simple sheet for each donated item or service with a starting price or donation. Leave room for guests to write in their bids. Set a time limit for the auction to close, then see how much was raised.

Please note: the Canadian Cancer Society can not accept proceeds from raffles.

Testimonials

“Last night, my daughters Danielle, Paulina and I began a new tradition by hosting our 1st Annual Girls Night In Mother/Daughter Cocktail Party. With relatively short notice, we had over 20 guests of all ages attend and we raised $1,000! Everyone had a fantastic evening and all guests were thrilled to have the opportunity to include their daughters in this important fundraiser. It was a great way to teach our young daughters about benevolence. We'll definitely be repeating the event next year!” - Kim

“This concept is fantastic! The theme of my event was simple - a housewarming party. It was something I had planned to do anyway. Not only did the evening leave me with some wonderful memories for myself but we raised several hundred dollars between 11 of us! It was such a satisfying and effortless way to raise funds for an important cause. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27. At 29, she died, finally from bone cancer. This was 40 years ago. If they had the research then that they have now, chances are she would have survived. This cause is extremely close to my heart. I'll definitely host another event in the future.” - Viv