The Circus is in Town!

Magic tricks, colorful lights, rides, clowns and other characters… bring them all back for one memorable debut! Just because you turned 18 doesn’t mean you have to leave them behind. The Carnival and the Circus are definitely here to stay!

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Come and join the Circus!

For your invitation, you can send a picture of a clown to let your guests know instantly what the party is all about. You can change the colors of the clown to muted ones if you want to avoid making the invite look a little child-like instead of using bright colors.

If you want to be a little more creative, send an invite that looks like a circus ticket. Put all the details at the back of the ticket and tell them to bring their “ticket” to the party.

You can use phrases like “The Ring Master would like to invite you to join the circus…” or “The Circus is in town and you are invited!”

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circus-ticketSTI_SSLayer_TicketStub_Example_1501972_ticket_stub

It’s a Circus out There!

A Circus-themed party is all about the decorations. You can be as creative as you want to be with a circus-themed party! You can have a big tent set up outdoors with red and white strips as your main venue. If you only find white tents, tape some red crepe paper (or any soft paper) on the tent.

Decorate the inside with lots of colorful balloons, clown masks, photos or figures of circus animals like lions, elephants and horses. Hang a trapeze on the ceiling and below it a net to make it look like guests are actually inside a circus tent. Put a couple of bicycles

For the tables, put some colorful plastic balls, rings and bowling pins or any items that a juggler uses to juggle. You can also put it some tall feathers with triangle flags. Place some party poppers, whistles and scatter confetti around the table to make it more colorful and festive.

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Members of the Circus

wowIt would be more fun if your guests would dress up as part of the circus! Have them wear characters from a circus like clowns, members of a trapeze family or group, a lion trainer, the strongman who always carries a barbell or one of the circus ladies with feathers on their head. However, in a circus there is only one Ring Master and that title (as well as the costume) should belong to you.

Let’s Clown Around

If you want to have a little bit of fun on your Circus-inspired party, play some games that will surely make them laugh out loud.

Play Clown Relay, where participants have to wear a clown costume from the big shoes, suspenders, clown nose, huge glasses and orange wig. You can also have guests walk on a tightrope which can be about a foot from the ground. Have them balance on the rope while holding a very bright pink umbrella with feathers and balloons.


If you want to go for a mature Circus / Carnival themed 18th birthday party, it might be safe to have the film “Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” as your peg or basis. Happy planning!

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15 thoughts on “The Circus is in Town!

  1. Hey! Im planning to have a vintage themed party for my debut. Could you suggest the layout of the hall, invitation designs, give aways and such? Even a different set up for the traditional 18 roses and candles. Thank you loads! :]

  2. Hi, Debut Ideas! My color motifs are orange and hot pink + zebra print (not yet sure). With the theme of royalty/princess-ish. I am just thinking what color should I require them to wear? And if ever I will be adding the Zebra print, to where will I use it? THANK YOU!

  3. hello, i really want this theme and the aphrodite’s night as well. if i will have a circus in town party, what should i be wearing during my party? and what would be the probable attire of my guests if i won’t follow the costume thing. just please send me a link of the pictures. thanks a lot. God bless 🙂

  4. Hi . My debut will be on Oct 2011 .
    I still dont have any idea on how i would plan it 🙁
    I want it to be something that reflects my personality
    The motif would be PINK . all hues of pink since i love pink so much .
    I want it like im a modern princess but i dont know how to do
    please help me

  5. Hi Nina,

    Pink is a pretty traditional color for a debut so I’m sure you will not have a hard time finding stuff in pink or within a theme. However, it is good to know that you want a debut that reflects your personality which is one of the best advices we can give any debutante.
    You can have a Pretty in Pink theme or Pink Candy where everything is “almost pink”. You can use candies of different hues of pink as centerpieces. Place them in glass jars or have big pink lollipops with ribbons and feathers.
    Pink Candy
    Don’t stick to one tone of pink, though. There are several different hues of pink so maximize it! You can also add another color as a background like black, white or silver. This will keep it more interesting.
    Pink
    For your decorations, go for something elegant but fun. Place white and pink candles all over the venue to provide ambience. You can also use pink feathers with touches of black or silver.
    Feather centerpieces Hope this helps!

  6. Hi. Your debut ideas are awesome. Very creative and well-written!

    My daughter is turning 18 this June and we are still undecided on the theme and venue. She wants a celebration that is simple (nothing grand/ expensive) yet memorable and fun. How can we possibly do it in a kiddie party place like Macdonald’s with Alice in Wonderland or Hello Kitty theme? Another option would be a pool party. Or you may have other suggestions. Guests would number to around 50.

    Please help us. Thank you and God bless!

  7. Hi. Your debut ideas are awesome. Very creative and well-written!

    My daughter is turning 18 this June and we are still undecided on the theme and venue. She wants a celebration that is simple (nothing grand/ expensive) yet memorable and fun. How can we possibly do it in a kiddie party place like McDonald’s with Alice in Wonderland or Hello Kitty theme? Another option would be a pool party. Or you may have other suggestions. Guests would number to around 50.

    Please help us. Thank you and God bless!

  8. Thanks Angie!

    If you’re having it in a venue like McDonald’s it may a little bit hard to pull of another theme since they already have souvenirs, cakes and decorations on hand. However, if you are set on having the party in one you can always bring your own decorations.

    For an Alice in Wonderland theme, use top hats, much like the one worn by the Mad Hatter, as your centerpieces, place some small vials on the table with the words “Drink Me” on it but filling it with colorful juices.
    Drink Me!
    You can also bring different kinds of quirky hats and place it in a box so everyone can choose and wear one during the party. Place some different kinds of tea pots and cups and saucers on each table. You can use plastic cups and saucers so as not to break them. Glue one on top of the other to make it a little bit more fun.
    Tea Cups tower
    String some colorful paper lanterns across the room to make it look like a garden party. Remember that an Alice in Wonderland party is all about color, imagination and creativity!
    Alice in Wonderland Party

  9. Hi debut ideas,

    I’ll be celebrating my 18th birthday on September. I would like to combine pink, white and black for old hollywood theme. do you think its ok? what names would be catchy for 18 roses, 18 candles and 18 treasures? thanks!

  10. Hi. Thank you so much for the wonderful suggestions. You are indeed overflowing with creative juices. Keep them coming.

    By the way, for the Alice in Wonderland theme, what would be a fun and memorable way to present the 18s (we’ll have just 2> 18 roses and 18 candles)? I think having 18 balloons with messages inside would also be great. Can we mix this with the 18 candles or is there a better way to do it? Instead of hiring a professional emcee for the program, we will just request a friend of hers to be the emcee and we will rent a private place (a “patio”) for the event.

    You’re such a huge help. More power…

  11. Hello Debut Ideas 🙂

    My debut will fall on the 17th of June 2011. I was wondering how I could spice up my Masquerade themed debut aside from letting the guests wear masks. Could you give me suggestions or tips? 🙂
    Thank you very much!

  12. Hi Miel,

    The thing that adds spice to a party is having games in them. Since your theme needs to be mysterious, mind boggling, you should play games that will do just that. How about a guessing game? Give your guests a piece of paper and a pen and ask them to guess the names of other masked guests and the one who guesses the most correctly gets a prize, etc. Hope this helps.

  13. Hi Alice,

    Here are some 18 options for a hollywood theme. Since Hollywood is all about awards and movies, you can substitute 18 Awards or 18 Statues for your 18 candles (where each will make a speech on why this award was given to you, etc). For your 18 candles, you can have 18 Clappers where they would say “Lights, camera, action” before they make a speech. You can also have 18 Awards to replace your 18 Treasures. Your 18’s will have to think of this. For instance, Award for being Miss Congeniality or Miss Talent, or Award for being a very good friend, with reasons why they chose it.) Make sure no award is duplicated. Have Oscar statuettes as props for a total award-winning moment. For 18 roses, try 18 Movies / Films, 18 Movie Theme Songs or 18 Best Musical Scores where you will be dancing to their respective soundtracks. Songs to be played will be dependent on the movies that you pick. You could also go for the blockbuster movies from the year you were born up to present (making 18 movies in total) and dance to their theme song. You can also substitute your 18 Roses with 18 Toasts to celebrate your 18 years on earth. The guy will first make a toast, have a speech, then dance with you. Hope this helps.

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