How to Host a Royal Princess Birthday Party

Two years ago, when my niece recently turned 3, we decided to throw a princess birthday party because, like many girls her age, she was in a phase where she loved anything princess, including tiaras, gowns, and you name it. So we planned a sweet and simple pink princess birthday for her, where everything was royal, pink, and sparkly. Here’s exactly how we did it.”

Princess Birthday Party mood board — Princessy mood board to sprinkle some inspiration for the party

How We Picked the Princess Theme

When we started planning my niece’s 3rd birthday, we knew one thing for sure that it had to be something princessy. But when we started to discuss, we realized there are loads of ways to pull this off. It can be a classic fairy-tale castle party, a character-specific theme, or a floral princess. But after a lot of discussion, considering her age and keeping things simple, we thought of keeping the theme more open-ended and went for a “royal princess” theme. As it will give us more room to plan easily, and she can enjoy twirling in a fluffy dress and wearing a crown.
Based on your age and liking, you can go for a more specific theme as mentioned above. This theme gave us the freedom to mix and match décor, games, and outfits without being tied to one look. You can use my party planner to plan the birthday; it has sections to plan the theme well.

Magical Party Decor Ideas That Worked for Us

We chose something simple and magical and went for a soft pink, gold accents color palette for decor. For bringing the “your highness” royal vibe, we added decor elements that bring elegance, sparkle, and a touch of whimsy. Here are a few ideas that worked for us and suggestions that you can try.

Color schemes: We went for pink and gold, but you can also try lavender and silver or blush and white. Choose colors of your choice to make it feel special or match the character theme.
Entrance: We wanted to make everyone feel magical right from the start. So for the entrance, we made a balloon arch in pink and added a castle foil balloon. You can also add gold balloons, ribbons, and fairy lights to make it look dreamy.
Table decor: For the table setup, we used a sparkly table cover in gold. Added some fancy napkins, plates, and small name cards. Tied a cute ribbon bow to the chairs to make it look royal. And displayed food in glass serving dishes and tiered serving trays.
Wall decor: We made a backdrop with pink streamers and a castle image, with a few occasional gold streamers. You can also add tulle, fairy lights, and paper flowers. It doesn’t have to be expensive; you can DIY with cardboard. Add streamers based on your color, but include shimmer and glitter by adding gold or silver streamers, or use shimmery fabric for a touch of a royal look and glitter.
Centerpieces: A centerpiece will make the table shine. You can go with things like plastic or toy crowns, mini glass slippers, and strings of faux pearls in the center of each table. You can even mix in candles, flowers, or tiaras to match the theme.
Balloon Decor: We tied all pink balloons, with a few golden balloons to fill the wall corner. We also used clear balloons with gold confetti, which made the decor look more elegant yet sparkly. You can add a balloon arch for the entrance or behind the cake table in your party colors. You can tie small bunches of balloons to chairs or place them around the room. Add a few star, heart, castle, or tiara-shaped foil balloons to mix things up.

Our Princess Party Food Menu

We wanted the party food and drinks to look royal and cute to match the party theme. So we gave cute princess names to food items and made them in a way that would match the theme.

You can serve mini sandwiches and call them “Royal Tea Bites”. Made fruit skewers with a star-shaped piece of pineapple or melon at the top and called it “fruit wands”

For sweets, we used store-bought cupcakes, added pink frosting, and sprinkled on edible glitter or tiny candy pearls. We asked someone to make sugar cookies shaped like crowns, and they look super cute.

For the cake, we ordered a simple round cake in strawberry flavor and placed a plastic tiara on top and sprinkled some edible pearls. It made the cake look elegant and matched the theme perfectly.

You can also add cute cake toppers like a tiara or glittery heart, or a bow to different food served on the platters to tie the look to the theme.

For the drinks, we made pink lemonade by adding rose syrup to lemonade and served it in clear cups, and called it “Princess Punch.” You can also make” Sparkling fairy punch” by mixing lemon-lime soda with fruit juice and adding edible glitter to make a magical drink. Serve them in elegant glasses or a bow tied around them.

Games with a Royal Touch

Games make the party super fun and give the guests something to do while they enjoy all the magic. Here are some simple games that we played.

Pin the Tiara: We made a big princess on a poster with paper and made a tiara cutout. Everyone took turns trying to stick the crown in the right place while blindfolded. It was fun to play.
Royal treasure hunt: We hid small items like rings, beads, or small wrapped candies around the party area and gave clues and a small bag to collect the treasure.
Royal Ball Dance Party: At the end, we played some princess movie songs to get the dance started. The birthday celebrant’s father did a Royal Ball style dance with her, and later we played some favorite songs, and everyone danced and enjoyed themselves.
Hire a princess entertainer: You can also hire an entertainer dressed up as a princess. You can ask them to be a princess of your choice; everyone will be in total awe looking at their favourite princess.

DIY Craft Stations

Craft stations are such a great way to keep guests occupied, and everyone loves taking home something they made. Here are some ideas to try.

Crown Decorating Station: Cut out simple crown shapes from cardstock or foam sheets and set out stickers, gems, and markers. Everyone can decorate their own crowns and wear them for the rest of the party.
Make a Magic wand: Set up a craft station to make their own magic wand and decorate it. Use paper straws or sticks as the base and keep them ready, and let guests glue on stars, ribbons, glitter, and foam shapes. You can prep some of the pieces ahead of time so it’s not too messy.
Make Princess Bracelet: Set out some beads and string, and let them make their own royal jewelry. People enjoy this; make sure to provide a variety of beads and charms.

Guest of Honour OOTD

This was the fun part, not just for the birthday celebrant but for her mom too; she got to dress her daughter like a real princess. We got her a fancy pink gown with a few sparkly details and a tiara. We paired it with a simple pearl necklace. She looked so adorable.

You can dress the birthday celebrant in a simple gown with a few sparkly things. Go for her favorite princess dress or soft colors like pink, lavender, or light blue, or a cute tutu. Add a plastic crown or a flower crown, a wand, and cute, simple jewelry.

Guests also get the chance to dress royally. They can dress as royal guests in gowns, capes, or fancy dress. They can wear as per the party color theme or any other color of their choice.

Favors We Gave the Royal Guests

Party favors are a nice way to say thank you to your guests. You can give cute items that match the princess theme. We gave some stickers, small bubble bottles, a compact mirror, and some chocolates.

Here are some party favor ideas that are a few easy items it can be mini tiaras, wands, or bead bracelets. You can also give small things like stickers, bubbles, or sparkly stationery items.

Another good idea is to give small princess-themed coloring books with some crayons.
You can give any of the above items or give multiple items packed as a hamper.

To make it look extra special, put the party favor in a small pink or gold bag, add a tag that says, “Thank you for coming to my royal celebration.”

If you plan a craft station during the party, the items guests make can also count as their party favors.

Send a Royal Invite with a Personal Touch

We wanted invites to reflect the party, so we went with a royal-themed invitation. We made a paper scroll by using glitter paper and pasted a printed invitation on the other side, and added a ribbon after rolling it. In the invitation, we mentioned guests’ names are invited to the Royal Birthday Ball to be welcomed to dress like royalty.

DIY invitation: You don’t have to buy expensive invitations; you can make easy DIY invitations. You can make your card in the shape of a crown or a castle shape with colorful paper. Let the invitation reflect royalty by writing the invite in cursive writing with a glitter pen. Another fun idea is to roll the invite like a scroll and tie it with a ribbon to make it look like a royal message.
Digital Invite: You can even go for digital invites. You can use free tools like Canva to make to cute princess-themed invite. Include elements like a castle, a crown, and a princess in your design.
Invitation words: Make your invite sound royal. It can be something like, “You are royally invited to Princess [Name]’s Birthday Ball” Add the date, time, and place, and make sure to include the dress code by requesting guests to dress up in a princess outfit.

From My Party Notes

Going for a general pink and royal theme turned in our favor because as we started buying things for the party, there were so many choices and party essentials that pairing them with pink and gold made it easy; otherwise, we would have to search for more specific items and ensure that they pair well with each other.
Starting the dance like a ball with Dad made the party more heartfelt, a father-daughter moment. Even other dads joined with their daughters.
We packed the party favors very easily, and they looked stylish. We made a hamper packed in heart-design-printed transparent cellophane sheets, placed all the party favors in the middle, collected all the corners and secured it with a rubber band, and added a cute bow in golden
The scroll-style party invite was easy to make, and everyone loved it.
We had set up a Princess Bracelet Station, with all the supplies and crown-shaped bracelet charms. Everyone enjoyed making them, and to my surprise, some made them with enthusiasm and gave them to their mothers. They felt happy to take something back home that they made.

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