Mermaid Party Ideas

Whether you’re celebrating a cute little birthday girl, a beautiful bachelorette, or you simply love the idea of an under-the-sea adventure…a mermaid theme party is overflowing with enchanting possibilities.

From mermaid party activities for kids to golden touches of glam, our designers have gone to great depths to make sure everyone is happy as a clam…and that your party goes swimmingly. So let’s dive right in and start planning!

Setting The Tone

Our suggested color theme for a mermaid party is turquoise and lavender tablecloths (either plastic or cloth will do), with pink and purple decorations and accents of gold and pearl. Texturing the tables with natural fish net (available as a party supply) is a clever way to tie in the nautical theme. Tissue paper pom-poms, for the tables and floor, are easy-to-make décor (especially with our DIY tissue paper pom poms tutorial). And our free sea life printables make great accents just about anywhere.

Now that you can picture the color and theme more clearly, it’s time to add a splash of mermaid style to the individual areas.

Go With The Flow

When your guests walk in the door, they’ll be looking for a place to put their cards and gifts so they can jump right into the fun. This is why we suggest combining the card and gift station with the drink table, preferably visible from entrance.

You can either use a bare table for this or dress it up with the tablecloth and netting like the others. Then let our free printables do the rest! Accent the wall with sea creature printables, label a basket with the printable “cards” sign, and transform your punch or cocktail into an intriguing “Sea Drink.”

It’s helpful to place the drink dispenser on a crate to make it easy to fill glasses…with plenty of napkins nearby.

The glasses you choose will depend on who you’re serving. Mini glass milk bottles, with our starfish printable secured with gold baker’s twine and color-coordinated straws, make adorable glasses for the kids. Gold-stemmed champagne flutes are an elegant choice for adults.

Unless you’re expecting a lot of gifts, you don’t need a separate table for them. A pretty chair will do (and can be used later for gift-opening photos). Simply place it by the table and mark the spot with a few of your own presents in coordinating gift wrap. Check out our gift wrap tutorials for some beautiful ideas.

Helium balloons add height and movement to the room. We like glamming a few of ours up with confetti. (TIP! If you make your own confetti, put the paper between two sheets of tissue paper before punching, for a clean cut.)

Self-Surf Food Table

Drawing attention to an important area like the food table, as well as adding more color and life to the room, can be done easily with a DIY backdrop.

We created this aquatic scene with our reversible teal gift wrap, more sea life printables, green crepe paper for sea weed, and small balloons for the bubbles. This table was layered with both turquoise fabric and a lavender plastic tablecloth, topped with netting and accented with floor pom-poms.

We used white crates to display food at different heights and filled empty spaces with more pom-poms and (inexpensive) honeycombs. Various seashells and faux coral can be placed throughout the table (and the room) to add interesting sprays of color. A mason jar accented with baker’s twine and a starfish (or shell) serves as a cute silverware holder. Gold utensils might bring to mind sunken treasures or popular movie mermaids and their helpful sidekicks.

The cupcakes and/or cake, accessorized with pearl candies, deserve special displays on their own pretty stands.

For the rest of the treats, we suggest filling fishbowls with candy that the guests can take home in gift bags. Color-coordinated options include blue jelly beans, pink twist lollipops, pink and white fish crackers, shades of purple chocolate gems, blue and white rock candy, an open shell of large gumballs, and golden chocolate coins for a treasure chest reference. Don’t forget to add scoops to the bowls.

Guests of any age love to fill candy bags for their DIY party favor. Simply lay out cellophane bags (the clear cone-shaped ones are unique and shell-like), supply some pre-cut twine or ribbon, and our free thank you printable then let the guests help themselves to your “candy bar.”

Catch Of The Day

For an eye-catching dinner table, start with the tablecloth and netting. Use mini balloons to represent bubbles and pearls, as well as a few confetti-filled balloons for gem-like charm. Complete the look with more pom-poms and mini honeycombs.

A layered place setting of gold chargers and white and lavender plates can make even paper goods look gorgeous. Especially when topped with a custom party hat, complete with colorful scales.

It’s easy to make this colorful hat by turning an existing party hat inside out and attaching our confetti (or cut out paper circles). And it’s even easier if you click our DIY confetti party hats tutorial.

Treasures To Go

If you want a little something more than candy to send home with your guests, we have great ideas for all ages.

Mini treasure boxes make great mermaid party activities for kids. Start with plain treasure boxes from a craft store and provide paint, stickers, glitter tape, and plastic shells and gems to glue on. Shell/pearl bracelets and necklaces can be their treasures as well as gold coins from the candy bar.

Bridal Bling

We found some pretty sash ideas for the bachelorette and bride and chose fun tote bags for the bridesmaids. The totes not only make great gift bags at the party, but will come in handy on the wedding day for shoes, wraps, make-up etc.

The glittery champagne flutes can also be a keepsake as well as mini mermaid hats (instead of the party hats), which add a cute fin-ishing touch to the placesetting before wearing.

Pearls Of Wisdom

For an inexpensive way to add more style and décor to any party, we suggest greeting cards and balloons. The cards add pops of color and whimsy to the tables, and serve as thoughtful keepsakes for the guest of honor.