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Calling all Lord of the Rings fans!!! Journey to “Middle Earth” for the ultimate party inspired by the Lord of the Rings books and movies! For our Lord of the Rings party, decorated the party space to look the Shire, munched on goodies the characters enjoyed, had a few activities set up for all to play, and had the ultimate time working together to play some games! Read on to check it out!
INVITATIONS
While the art of physical invitations has mostly given way to digital messages, it’s still nice to add a little note about the party to get everyone excited about the theme!
For this party, we let everyone know it was a Lord of the Rings themed party & that they could come dressed up as their favorite character! Later on in the party, we also set up a costume contest, so costumes were definitely encouraged 😉
If you are sending out invitations, opt for some brown or vintage paper to help complete the look!
DECORATIONS
Turn your party area into Middle Earth!!! If you have the space, you can definitely decorate each room or space to match the Middle Earth map – The Shire, Rivendell, Gondor, Rohan, Mordor, etc!!!
For this party, we focused on the Shire for most of our decorations but did bring out some of our medieval castle and darker decor for a few games. The Shire is filled with natural landscape, so we used a lot of wood and natural decorations as well as lots of greens and browns in our party space and tables. We created a few signs and labels to go along with the books and held them up with Wood Place Card Holderes. We also spread out a TON of Lord of the Rings Stickers and brought out our Lord of the Rings books,
We lit up a few “Smells like Shire” Candles (in safe spaces, of course) and had the movies playing in the background for any guests who just wanted to sit back and relax 😉
PHOTO AREA
Photo backdrops are a great way of setting a theme and double as a nice and easy activity! Pick a backdrop that functions as decorative, add a few props to the scene and you’ve got a great place to hang out!
To create the feel of the Shire, we hung up some green streamers and artificial vine in doorways, on walls, and across the tables. We also set up a Hobbiton Cave Backdrop where guests could pose for pictures in the Lord of the Rings costumes 😉
Note, you don’t have to go all out with a photo backdrop stand either. Grab a few pieces of tape and an empty wall & you’re all set!
THE TABLE
Since we had both kids and adults at this party, we set up two different tables.
For our adult table, we set brown stoneware plates on top of Wood Slice Paper Placemats, wooden utensils, and Mini Lanterns at each setting. Then we used some artificial vine and sprinkled leaves and grass around the table.
For our kids table, we set out some plates and napkins from the Lord of the Rings Plates & Napkins Set and filled some burlap sacks with some extra candy. We also set out some Lord of the Rings Stickers around the table.
PARTY FOOD
No party is complete without some party food! When our parties are inspired by books, we like to add some signs with quotes as special nods to the authors’ works! This party was no different – there’s quite a few references to food in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit. With the Hobbit’s appetites, there’s no shortage of food that complements the theme!
ACTIVITY TABLE
We typically set up an activity table for kids to keep entertained while everyone arrives AND after all the games are done. These activities are simple and easy and typically don’t require too much supervision!
- Puzzles: We had a group that loves putting puzzles together, so setting out 500 piece puzzle was a great way to get these guests to join in on the Lord of the Rings fun. To keep in theme, we set out a Hobbit House Puzzle.
- Guesstimate: This one is a nice, easy activity that you can set up for guests to check out throughout the party. Just set some iconic objects in a jar and see who gets the closest to the actual # there are in there. For our table, we set out some Bilbo’s Gold Pieces (chocolate in gold wrappers), Dwarven Metal (black acrylic gems), Leaves of Leaves of Lórien (fake leaves), and the Rings of Power (gold key rings)
GAMES
Games! Games! Games! What is a party without a few games 🙂 We had a few simple ones that kept the kiddos busy throughout the party! Since we had quite a few crafts that we knew everyone would want to focus on, we had just a few games
- Archery & Axe Throwing: IF you have the space, an archery or axe throwing station would be great fun! BUT, there are also some great nerf and game options if you can’t do a full set up 😉
- Guess Who: At the beginning of the party, we had a table where guests could write in their favorite character. Then we mixed them up and played a version of Heads Up with the written in names.
- Escape Room: We were a bit short on time this year, so we didn’t get a chance to create a treasure hunt. BUT, we did find this EXIT: The Game – The Lord of The Rings – Shadows Over Middle-Earth. The game was fun – and challenging – but you’re only able to use the game once (it’s not a reusable type game).
- Sticker Search: This activity works soooo well that we use it in almost every party! Stickers are a great way of decorating party tables (as table scatter). For some of our last activities, we have a ‘sticker hunt’ and let the little ones run around collecting as many as possible! They get to keep or trade whichever ones they find! For this party, kids picked up the Lord of the Rings Stickers that were spread out around the party area!
And we didn’t have these at our party, but they are some really fun ideas you could add to yours as well!
- Lord of the Rings Chess: For all those chess AND Lord of the Rings fans out there, this would be a must have!
GOODIE BAGS & GIVE WAYS
For our goodie bags, we filled up a few mini burlap sacks with some candy, more stickers, goodies to send them home with 🙂
THE PRINTABLES
If you liked our party & are interested in the signs & labels, they can be found here: Lord of the Rings Party Signs & Food Labels. Share the joy of Middle-earth with friends, family, and fellow fans—grab your LOTR printables now and let the adventure begin!
The treasure hunts can also be found here: Lord of the Rings Treasure Hunt & Games. Gather your Fellowship, follow the images, let the adventure begin—download today for instant Middle-earth fun!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much for checking out our Lord of the Rings inspired party. We hope this has helped with your party planning and maybe even inspired more ideas!
If you’re looking for more party ideas, feel free to check out our other posts here and follow us on Pinterest.
Happy Party Planning!
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