Party City
5 Out-of-the-Box Themes for Your Next Celebration
Plus, all the ingredients you need for the most Houston photobooth of all time.
Image: Shutterstock
Bayou City Blowout
- Costumes: Houston heroes—think JJ Watt, Slim Thug, Lynn Wyatt, et al.
- Food: Queso, kolaches, brisket
- Signature drink: Tequila and Topo Chico
- Activity: Pin the Ponytail on Beyoncé
- Setting: Somewhere air-conditioned, with all the Ultimate Houston Photobooth fixings (see below)
- Bonus points for: Throwing it on July 13—713 Day.
Image: Shutterstock
Come as You Were
- Costumes: Whatever made you cool in middle school—overalls, leg warmers, or butterfly clips.
- Food: Frozen pizza, Lunchables, ice cream sundaes
- Signature drink: Spiked Hawaiian Punch
- Activity: Arts and crafts, trust falls, Truth or Dare
- Setting: A basement or generic event hall decorated haphazardly with paper streamers.
- Bonus points for: Guests who get their parents to pick them up.
Image: Shutterstock
Coachella
- Costumes: Your best festival gear: mesh tanks, fishtail braids, and loads of body glitter.
- Food: Avocado toast, acai bowls, and whatever else is trending on Instagram.
- Signature drink: A La Croix-can cocktail à la Present Company
- Activity: DIY flower crowns and terrariums
- Setting: A pool so crowded with floats, no one can actually swim in it.
- Bonus points for: Charging $3,000 for admission
Image: Shutterstock
Retirement Party
- Costumes: Thrifted sweater vests and slacks, sensible shoes, glasses on chains
- Food: Cottage cheese, Wheat Thins, canned soup.
- Signature drink: Shots served in empty prescription bottles
- Activity: Bobbing for false teeth
- Setting: Inflatable palm trees, lawn chairs, and plastic flamingos.
- Bonus points for: Anyone who's already balding.
Image: Shutterstock
Bougie Country Club
- Costumes: Prep-school-chic: pearls, tennis skirts, and popped polos.
- Food: Caviar, canapés, charcuterie
- Signature drink: Champagne, darling.
- Activity: Putt-putt, croquet, bocce
- Setting: Assuming you can't afford ROCC, an extremely well-manicured yard.
- Bonus points for: Having the most diversified portfolio—or even knowing what that is.
For the 'Gram: the Most Houston Photobooth of all Time
Image: Shutterstock.com
Your backdrop:
Get a large piece of cardboard and some black and teal paint, then attempt to re-create the iconic Be Someone graffiti over 45 near downtown. Finish it off with construction-paper bats inspired by the ones at the Waugh Street Bridge, suspended from the ceiling with fishing line.
Your props:
- A cute, plush crawfish with no idea what’s in store for him.
- An astronaut helmet —this is Space City, after all.
- A cowboy hat, because you’re in Texas.
- A roll of tinfoil for DIY grillz, because you’re in Houston.
- Artificial bluebonnets, because while it's not technically illegal to pick the real thing, it is definitely frowned upon.
- A Harden-style beard, to strike fear in the heart of any opponent.
- A crown, to channel Bey.
- Astros, Rockets, and Texans gear, pulled from your own closet.
- A fake steering wheel, to pair with a healthy dose of existential rage.
