When people think of Valentine's Day they think of couples. The February holiday is about celebrating all kinds of love, including platonic, familial, and self love, too!
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If you want to switch things up this year, why not embrace all things love? Whether or not you have a significant other, everyone can enjoy V-Day by hosting or attending a fun Valentine's Day party with friends or family!
Consider putting a new, fun twist on Valentine's Day by throwing a retro Valentine's Day party. I chose the 1950's as that was a great decade when life was still simple... but you can choose any past year or decade that you like.
As I wrote previously, every end of year I'd throw a party using all of the savings I'd accrued throwing parties during the year. I accumulated quite a stash doing this so didn't have to worry much about a budget.
The year previous to my Valentine party I hadn't had the time to throw an end of the year party, I was just too busy. But I wanted to do something over-the-top special for all those friends that had helped me throw my parties over the year - but wasn't sure what to do.
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As it happened, my fave 1950's style diner in a neighboring town was going out of business and selling off everything in the restaurant. That's when the idea of a retro Valentine's Day party came to me.
I managed to score 3 booth/tables units for $500 each. I figured I could sell them after the party and recoup my investment in them. (As It turned out I made $450 profit when reselling them.)
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While I'll show you what I did for my over-the-top retro 1950's Valentine's Day party, I'll also give you budget friendly alternatives to what I did.
invitations
I made a pretty simple invitation for my retro bash.
I glued Valentines scrapbook paper to card stock. I printed out the drive in scene on the scrapbook paper before gluing the Valentines paper to the card stock.
I made another copy of the yellow car, cut it out and used foam glue dots to glue it down over the printed yellow car - giving the card more depth.
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The lettering was "puffy" raised stick-on lettering.
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I made the inside of the card a simple pop up using a die cut couple dancing on the 45 record.
staging & props
I wanted to turn my house into a 1950's drive-in/diner, yet still have enough room for guests to sit as well as dance.
The hanging musical notes and 45's were from Amazon, $20 for 2 sets. On my boat shelf I put toys I'd had as a kid. (I had to laugh when guests began playing with them, saying "I remember this! I had one of these as a kid!" and grown men sitting on the floor building with Tinkertoys!)
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My taxidermy fish mount coffee table didn't exactly scream 1950's diner so I built a corrugated 1950 car to hide the front of it and hung fuzzy dice on the windshield of the car. On the table behind it I put a bucket of penny candy.
The Valentine's decoration on the end table I made with dollar store items.
I also found a vintage bar cart at a flea market for $15.
It was in somewhat rough shape so I cleaned any rust off it and repainted it.
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I stocked it with the booze necessary to make 1950's cocktails as cocktail parties were a BIG thing in the 50's.
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Popular drinks were Pina Coladas, Mai Tais, Sloe Gin Fizzes,
Pink Squirrels, Singapore Slings, Brandy Alexanders, Rob Roys, Tom Collins, Martinez, Negronis, Manhattans, Martinis, Harvey Wallbangers.
This was the wall I'd covered with faux stone so I had to have a custom photo backdrop made to fit the wall.
I found an outfit out East that made a vinyl backdrop to fit that wall for $62. (Which is cheap by today's standards!) I hung a $7 Happy Valentine's banner. That was all the staging I did on that wall.
This is the wall that really turned the room into a 1950's diner.
The 'curtains' are actually vinyl shower curtain liners that were being discontinued so were on clearance.
The vintage movie poster came from a secondhand shop. The tough part was the floor. I ended up using roll up garage mats. $208. I only needed them big enough to extend just past the booths because I hired my friend's starving college student daughter to be our roller skating 'carhop' for the night and didn't want her falling with plates full of food if she hit the garage flooring the wrong way on her skates.
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The table jukeboxes were rentals.
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This left only the dining room table to do something with so it looked like it fit with the rest of the room.
I used my white lace tablecloth, laid an inexpensive red lace runner over it and made a centerpiece from dollar store items and foliage I gathered from the woods, then sprayed with floral preservative.
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You don't have to go all out like I did in staging a retro 1950's Valentine's Day party. Here are some easy, inexpensive crafty 50's staging ideas:
RECORD COASTERS
RECORD COASTERS
Repurpose old records into chic coasters. Cut them into smaller circles, sand the edges, and seal with a clear varnish for a stylish retro look.
Note: Be careful what records you cut up! I discovered all of the original Beatles 45's I have are now worth over $20,000 each! I'd nearly cut them up!)
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POODLE PILLOW
Sew your own poodle skirt pillow using soft felt and embroidery thread. This simple project adds a playful touch to any room and brings back the iconic fashion of the 50s.
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CORK BOARD​
Design a cork board with a 1950s twist. Cover it with vintage fabric and use it to pin notes and photos for a fun and functional piece. It's even more fun when you have guests brings photos of themselves taken the retro year your party theme is. Tack them up and have guests try to guess who's who.
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VINTAGE HANDKERCHIEF BUNTING
Transform nostalgia into elegance with vintage handkerchief bunting – a perfect blend of craft and charm.
Assorted Vintage Style Handkerchiefs
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MENU BOARDS
Craft your own chalkboard menu board for the kitchen using wood and chalk paint. It’s a fabulous way to display daily specials, just like in a 1950s diner.
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MILKSHAKE CANDLE HOLDERS
Transform old glass bottles into delightful milkshake candle holders. Paint them in pastel shades and top with faux cherries to bring a 1950s diner feel to your table.
food/menu
For the menu I wanted to replicate a 1950's drive in menu. My chef friend Emil was manning the grill for the hot dogs and hamburgers. (Yes, we BBQ in February provided it's not 30 degrees below 0) and I was manning the inside kitchen. Most of the menu we'd prepared ahead of time.
Our "carhop" came skating out to take people's orders (cracking the guests up) and I'd plate everything in the kitchen. Between the 2 of us it went off without a hitch and we spent minimal time cooking and plating.
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These are authentic 1950's recipes:
1950's CLASSIC HAMBURGER/CHEESEBURGER Recipe here
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OLD FASHIONED LUNCHENETTE HOT DOGS Recipe here
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SALISBURY STEAK (serve with mashed potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole) Recipe here
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GARLIC, ROSEMARY & LEMON FRIES Recipe here
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OLD FASHIONED ONION RINGS Recipe here
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OLD FASHIONED COLESLAW Recipe here
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GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE Recipe here
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MINI PIES Recipe here
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For drinks we served the real Coke with kane sugar, other sodas and root beer floats.
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The coleslaw went into individual serving plastic cups with lids.
For the Salisbury Steak I plated it on my white dishes. Everything else went in 1950's diner style baskets with black and white checkered deli paper.
For party favors I used 1950 classic car food boxes.
For favors I put a couple of eggs of Silly Putty in each, a box of Cracker Jack, some Bazooka Bubble Gum, a pack of candy cigarettes, a pair of wax lips for the gals, wax moustache candy for the guys,
​I found this tutorial on how to fold a napkin in a heart shape - perfect for a Valentine's Day dinner party.
activities
sock hop
AHHHH the sock hop. What would the 50's have been without them as rock 'n roll broke on the scene?
Our parents all swore we were going to hell in a handbasket for listening to that "awful music" and doing that "obscene dancing". They even banned showing Elvis below the waist on TV due to his hip movements. LMAO
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Put together a play list of 50's hits and shake that booty to the popular dances of the 50's: Twist, Jitterbug, Hand Jive, Bunny Hop, Bop,
Boogie Woogie, Stroll, Cha-Cha.​
If you're unfamiliar with 50's top hits, this will get you started...
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Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley
Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper
Shake, Rattle and Roll - Bill Haley and the Comets​
Dream Lover - Bobby Darin
Splish Splash - Bobby Darin​
Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
Rockin' Robin - Bobby Day
Matchbox - Carl Perkins
Sh Boom - The Chords
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry​
Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry​
Yakety Yak - The Coasters​
At the Hop - Danny & the Juniors
Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay - Danny & the Juniors​
Hound Dog - Elvis Presley​
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley​
Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers​
Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino
have a valentine exchange
Write each guest's name out on a separate piece of paper and put them all in a container.
Print off enough 1950's kitschy Valentines that you have one for each guest.
When your guests arrive, give them a Valentine and have them pull a name of another guest out of the container.
They must write a Valentine to the guest whose name they pulled but they can only sign it "Your Secret Admirer".
Have guests guess who sent them their Valentine and who their "Secret Admirer" is.
bubble gum blowing contest
Give each guest a piece of bubble gum and see who can blow the biggest bubble without it popping.
(Yes, we were easily entertained in the 50's! Hey, in one night we could put 2000 miles on the car just driving up and down the main drag...)
have a hula hoop contest
Hula hoops were all the rage in the 50's.
Whoever can keep it going the longest wins. It's not as easy as you might think!
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make up a 1950's trivia game
Award a prize to the guest who gets the most answers correct.
roller skating obstacle course
This is a great activity because it's so versatile. If everyone doesn't have a pair of roller skates you can do it without roller skates.
Either way, if you can set this one up on a smooth winding surface that's best. Test it out before you do this activity!
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You can use traffic cones or whatever you wish as your obstacles.
Among them, set up at least one TV tray or card table that you're going to put play money on. You can use Monopoly money or buy a $1 pack of fake money at the dollar store.
You'll also need a soda jerk hat and an apron per team. Plus some plastic containers set on a round tray of some kind for each team.
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Position one team member at the start of your obstacle course and the other team member at the other end of your obstacle course. The team member that starts the race wears the soda jerk cap, the apron and carries the tray with the plastic containers on it.
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They must race to the other end of the course without dropping any containers off of their tray (or start over again!) and must stop at the TV tray or card table to pick up their play money "tips". When they reach the end of
the obstacle course they must transfer everything including the tips, hat and apron to their waiting team member there. He/she must then race back to the obstacle course start line in the same fashion.
The team who can do this in the fastest time wins the race.
To make the race even more challenging, make the teams balance their trays one handed as a waiter would!
50's slang
Guests must match the 50's slang term with its meaning.
