Decorating for a Mexican Fiesta

Recently my nephew got married. I was honored when they asked me to decorate for their rehearsal dinner. Their choice for a theme was to have a Mexican Fiesta.  Immediately my mind "exploded" with ideas.  I could not turn them off.  At some point I have to say to myself, "Stop!"  That is very hard for me to do.

When I think of a Mexican Fiesta, I think of pinatas, sombreros, mariachi bands and lots of bright and bold colors.  It was important to know how many tables there would be so that I knew how many centerpieces I needed.  We were planning for 75 people. When the tablecloths were ordered, I had the choice between black or white.  I chose black because of the impact it would have with all of my bright colors.  White was just too blah for this event.

The first thing I do when planning a party like this is to research the idea which for me is the internet. I searched such places as Pinterest, craft sites, and Google, to name a few.  When I decorate, I want to pay as little as possible for my supplies.  Goodwill, second hand stores, dollar stores and other discount stores are where I largely shop.  This totally depends on the event, but for a Mexican Fiesta it was very doable.

Part of my plan was to personalize each table in some way.  I decided I wanted to have different pictures of the couple at each table and still stay within the decor.  I banked at Goodwill on several Mexican type frames like the one pictured here.

I also decided ahead of time that I did not want to use paper plates.  There are plenty of Mexican themed paper products, I just didn't want to use them.  I'm known for not making things easy on myself.  I had previously bought some Mexican type dinner plates at Dollar Tree.  When I realized they no longer carried them in the store I was so disappointed. However.....they still carried them on the their website....AND....if you have them delivered to a local Dollar Tree for you to pick up, there is no delivery charge.  Boom! These plates were $1.00 each.  What a deal!  (The paper napkins were not mine to choose.....rats!)

In the center of each table I had one of two larger items as the anchor point for that table.  In my case, it was either a pinata or a sombrero. I added a box covered with napkin to give height to each item. I wanted to use serapes (Mexican blankets) to cover the boxes and strew across the table, but they were cost prohibitive.  Each of the pinatas were cut open and an array of flowers, typical of Mexico, were added.  From there, the sky is the limit in terms of what you can use to finish out the table.  Real chili peppers, colored beads, Hot Tamales candy, maracas, colored ribbon were just a few of the things I used.  I also used bell peppers, hollowed out (and cut flat across the bottom so they wouldn't roll) with designs cut out on the sides to use for tea lights.

Our original plan was to have this outdoors but because of forecasted inclement weather, we moved it inside a VERY CLEAN garage. It was still beautiful. The food was catered by a local Mexican restaurant, cupcakes made by my niece looked like cactus, a margarita machine was rented locally......we even had a mariachi band!

The honored couple

Your imagination is the only thing that will limit you in planning a party. Set a budget and start far enough ahead of time so that you don't have to make last minute purchases that will probably end up costing you more. If planning a party is just "not your thing", I would love to help you plan and implement a party.  Just leave me a note on my blog and we can talk about the details.
Party on!