How to throw an adult Enchanted Forest Party (Full Guide)
Welcome to this comprehensive idea for the ultimate Enchanted Forest theme party. This is such a fantastic party theme because it’s:
- Magical and mystical
- Inclusive: it’s a theme that everyone understands and knows what to expect
- Has iconic associated colours/sounds and ambience
- Lends itself great to mystical decorations and entertainment
- It’s light-hearted and creative
So, in this post, we will cover great ideas for how to throw an adult Enchanted Forest party. We list suggestions for mystical foresty decorations and entertainment, costumes for a magical forest theme, and food and drink ideas in keeping with the enchanted forest sensory experience.
We also share a planning process and timeline for the ultimate way to plan an enchanted forest party with suggestions for music, effects, and hosting planning and organising.
At Parties Universe, we love creating bespoke party ideas, but as well as the creative side, we know a lot about events and have also created ultimate guides to decoration, entertainment, music, food and drinks for any party which you might like to check out! This goes into lots more detail about the effects created by different creative and technical set-ups and will give you a great overview (from professionals!) about how to create an incredible party atmosphere!
Decoration ideas for an Enchanted Forest party
This is a fabulous party to decorate! Here are a wide range of ideas from which you can choose the elements that best suit you to pull together a cohesive visual theme and create an energetic and magical atmosphere.
Forest drapery: Drapery is a great tool to completely transform a space for any party. For this theme, some stunning drape options could include a forest green bead drape, white or green tule or chiffon fabrics strung across walls or hung from the ceiling to create a tent-style decorative visual. You could also consider a festoon or fairy light walk to draw focus and create a magical ambience.
Lighting for an enchanted forest party: Combining lighting options is always a great way to make a space feel truly magical. For this enchanted forest theme, we love the idea of fairy lights, either across a feature wall or along the top of a space for a warm and sparkly glow.
Another great lighting effect is low-level uplighting. This is a stunning visual; it’s very inviting but also visually striking. You can get affordable low-level LED options that project either a warm white or a green colour, which would greatly impact the party space.
Another thing to consider is lighting effects and projections. If you have a projector wall, you could create a running forest visual with rustling trees, magical sunbeams shining through the canopy, or mostly haze dancing between the branches.
This effect is stunning and very simple to create. There are YouTube visuals available for free and even options that come with sound if that suits your music plan.
Lighting effects: Lighting effects are great for decorating a space. For a forest theme, consider changing shades of green light beams (easily achievable with LED lights) and a food or haze machine to add mysticism to the atmosphere!
Furniture options: A great way to incorporate the theme is to add colours and style into existing seating areas. For instance draping across tablecloths and sofa areas, or ties into the backs fo chairs.
You can also create bespoke forest-theme seating areas such as wooden benches, hay bales, first green cushions and bohemian blankets strewn across grass or little canopy-style tents filled with fairy light for magical little party nooks.
Decorative props: Some great decorative props for an enchanted forest theme include lanterns, candles, bird cages, artificial (or real) foliage, hanging mirrors, mirror balls, strings of festoon lights, flower weather or floral arrangments, hanging butterflies, artificial tree props.
Entertainment ideas for an Enchanted Forest party
Our top forest party entertainment ideas:
- A magical bonfire section
- Little-style huts and tents for secluded and peaceful gathering spots
- Sparklers for the guests to play around with
- Polaroid camera with a selection of forest creature dress-ups and washing line display
- Green and gold slitter stations
- DIY forest head crowns and feathered hair decorations
- A dry ice cocktail station with herbal and flower-based drinks
- Forest rope ring toss on wall games
- Live music (see below for more suggestions), such as a band or roaming pan pipe or flautist
Hired entertainment for an enchanted forest party
Hired entertainment is a great way to add excitement and awe to a party. It will definitely heighten the atmosphere and make the experience memorable for the guests.
You can either have a group ‘show’ or ‘experience’ style entertainer, or you can have people wandering around the party interacting with guests now and then to keep the flow and mingle with the group going.
This is great for parties where not everyone knows each other, as it creates a great talking point for guests. Some hired entertainers that could suit the enchanted forest theme might be:
- a magician
- a tarot reader
- stilt walkers, adding height like enchanted trees and dressed in musical floating fabrics for effect
- Aerilalist acrobats, dressed in floaty green costumes, hanging from a high as though swinging from trees
- Jugglers with ethereal green batons or balls
- Hoop acrobats (with green or LED-lit hoops)
- Live characters: enchanted forest creatures such as fairies, elves, sprites, and perhaps even trolls for guests to interact with and speak to
Hired physical entertainment:
- Large rope swings
- A stylised bounce house or trampoline in white or forest colours
- Hired hot tubs bound in twine and hessian cloth
Live music ideas for an enchanted forest party
Live music would be fantastically atmospheric for an enchanted theme like this! You could have acoustic music, an ethereal singer, guitarist, flautist, boiling and cellist, or more unusual forest sounds such as drumming, steel drums, harp, percussionist or pan pipe player.
Consider hiring a full set from a band or musical artist, or having a soloist mingle with the guests playing magical etherial tunes.
If you hire a band, discuss the staging options with them beforehand and consider stage lighting and whether they would allow for a have machines or projector with forest leaves behind them.
Interactive entertainment at an enchanted forest party
Magical wishing tree: Get guests to write out secrets, wishes or spells into little scrolls and hang them from a decorative tree branch or piece of foliage. This is a magical activity, and it creates such a cute focal display for the other guests.
Forest tree wall art: get the guests to join together, each adding a fingerprint leaf to a mystical forest tree as a wonderful keepsake of the evening and an immersive installation which develops over the course of the party
Light and sign a lantern: If there is an outdoor space, a lovely live installation activity could be to have guests sign and hang a lantern with an LED light off a string or off a nearby tree. This will create a magical look as the night develops, and the interactiveness creates great suspense and time development for the party.
Interactive food ideas for a magical forest theme
A great entertainment idea is to have a food vendor create food live. For this theme, a cocktail bartender/ mixologist could be a great option, creating herbal-inspired cocktails with rosemary, elderflower, juniper and sage flavours mixed on dry ice for a musical appearance.
You could also consider servers offering up: roast chestnuts, candy floss, sugared almonds, truffle parmesan popcorn or french fries, rolled ice cream and mulled wines
Dress code ideas for an Enchanted Forest theme
This is a fantastic theme for the dress code! For a generic enchanted forest look, use bohemian style tule, chiffon, or light linen fabrics, rich green, oranges, and deep chocolate brown colours and add gold accents for a magical look.
You can also add whites, yellows and lilacs for a more uplifted, light-magical atmosphere.
If you would like guests to include costume and character in their dress codes, here are some suggestions for enchanted forest characters:
- Fairy
- Elf
- Deer antler headband
- Butterfly wings
- Forest nymph
- Woodland prince/princess
- Mystical wizard/witch
- Flower crown and flowy dress
- Nature-inspired bohemian
- Enchanted knight
- Forest sprite
- Woodland shaman
- Magical Unicorn
- Enchanted garden fairy
- Enchanted forest ranger
- Woodland elf archer
Drinks to serve at an Enchanted Forest party
Some flavours that could inspire drinks and garnishes for a forest theme cocktail and mocktail menu: Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Lavender, Mint, Sage, Elderflower, Rose, Chamomile, Juniper, Honey, Pine, Cucumber, Apple, Berry, Citrus, Ginger, Hibiscus, Cardamom and Vanilla
Here are some cocktail recipe suggestions of crowd-pleaser drinks that would go fabulously with this theme:
- Rosemary Gin Fizz: Gin, fresh rosemary, lemon juice, simple syrup, soda water
- Thyme Lemonade Spritzer: Vodka, thyme-infused lemonade, sparkling water, lemon slices
- Lavender Martini: Vodka, lavender syrup, lemon juice, dry vermouth
- Mint Mojito: White rum, fresh mint leaves, lime juice, simple syrup, club soda
- Sage Margarita: Tequila, fresh sage, lime juice, agave syrup, triple sec
- Cucumber Dill Gimlet: Gin, fresh dill, cucumber slices, lime juice, simple syrup
- Elderflower Spritz: Elderflower liqueur, prosecco, soda water, fresh mint
- Chamomile Whiskey Sour: Whiskey, chamomile syrup, lemon juice, egg white (optional)
For more ideas of popular drinks, drink menus and order quantities for a party, we have a party drinks guide that might be helpful to check out.
Food ideas for an Enchanted Forest party
The forest party theme blends with picnic-style foods, companies, and buffet tables.
Think about how to dress these tables and the types of serving dishes and crockery that suit the theme well: large wooden or crystal glass serving bowls. Little tealights out on the table. Forest green napkins.
Eco-friendly compostable plates and cutlery.
Here are some suggestions for forest-style food ideas:
- Mini Mushroom Tartlets
- Herb-Crusted Goat Cheese Balls
- Forest Berry and Cheese Platter
- Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Bites
- Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Basil and Mozzarella
- Wild Mushroom Crostini
- Spinach and Feta Puff Pastry Twists
- Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Nuts
- Fig and Prosciutto Wraps
- Mini Caprese Skewers
- Herb-Marinated Grilled Vegetables
- Wild Rice and Cranberry Salad Cups
- Large salad topped with edible flowers
- Pine Nut and Basil Pesto Pasta Salad
- Mini Quiche with Spinach and Herbs
- Honey and Thyme Glazed Chicken Skewers
- Fruit salad with mint and rosemary herb flavouring
For a full list of food ideas and suggestions, we have a guide to planning food and food quantities for a party that might be helpful to check out.
How to plan an Enchanted Forest party
This party has so much potential, and the planning is a super exciting stage! But make sure you keep some overview of the time, space, and cost of all of your ideas to get the maximum value out of your efforts.
To help with the party creation, we are sharing our top tricks and trips for organising, planning and hosting this enchanted forest party:
How to create the best party atmosphere (3 TOP TIPS AND TRICKS):
- The guests have fun when the hosts are having fun! This is almost always the number one tip, and this means it’s best to delegate all preparations to make sure you are ready to host as soon as the guests arrive.
- Have high-quality sound (and delegate the music to someone who loves creating atmospheric music atmosphere and managing the energy of a party), and make sure it’s never too loud.
- Have an event or energy change planned for 2/3 of the way through the party. This could be anything from handing out sparklers to serving dessert, changing the style of music, having a group show or speeches, or shifting to the dancefloor. This is a great way to reinject energy and mingling into the atmosphere.
How to plan a brilliant Party (3 TOP TIPS AND TRICKS)
- Get the big-impact things in place and worry about the rest only if you have time. Before the party starts, make a list of month before/week before/day before and morning of tasks and prioritise those that will have the biggest impact.
- Delegate as much as you can. Ask a friend or family member to come beforehand and help you set up—and use their help! You can feed them and offer them drinks as a thank you, making the party-hosting experience much smoother and more pleasant.
- Only serve food that can be prepared in advance, and if needed, ask your neighbours for extra fridge or oven space for the day of the party (alternatively, you can ask friends and family who live nearby to store and heat as well).
Good luck!
We are so excited for you, and we hope these ideas have sparked your creativity and energy in developing this amazing event!
We have shared our top ideas for brilliant enchanted forest theme decorations, entertainment options, interacting entertainment, and food and drinks.
We would love to hear how you get on and see any pictures!
Thank you so much for reading. Best of luck, Zoe xx
