How to Throw the Ultimate Cinco de Mayo Party

Chips and salsa bar?! Cactus shaped sugar cookies? Mexican drinks?!?! Having a Fiesta?! We got you covered! Well show you how to throw the ultimate Cinco de Mayo party of all time!

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The Ultimate Cinco de Mayo Party

I LOVE throwing parties! Anytime there is a chance to celebrate, I always want to have a party! Jake recently graduated with his MBA and it fell right over the first week of May! When I saw that his graduation was May 5th, I knew the theme for his graduation party needed to be a Cinco de Mayo party! Jake is obsessed with Cacti too, so I knew those needed to be wiggled into the theme too!

For invitations I ended up ordering the cutest cactus party invites ever! Snail mail is always so much fun, so I wanted to send out party invites in the mail. I invited all of our friends, family and close neighbors to come help me surprise Jake for working so hard and graduating with his MBA! Go Jake!

Surprise parties are always so fun, so this party was going to be a surprise! I have never done a surprise party before so I was glad I made invites so everyone else knew it would be a surprise too! I was shocked with all the party planning I did that Jake never found out about the party! When he walked in for the celebration, he was truly shocked! It was so awesome 🙂

When I was planning the party I knew I needed some super fun decor, so I headed to Zurchers to find some supplies!  I was so excited when I was at the store and found lots of great goodies! I got all the pom poms, garland, balloons, paper straws, napkins, cups, plates, chalk boards, sombreros, and photo booth supplies there!  Sometimes I forget about local party stores because I am such an online shopper, but every time I go in the party store I come out with bags of lots of goodies! It’s nice to see displays and items I wouldn’t of thought of to add on to the party to make it the ultimate!

Anyways… let’s dive into the party details and decor! Today I am going to share with you all the aspects you can create to have your own ultimate Cinco de Mayo party!

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The Ultimate Cinco de Mayo Themed Dessert Spread

Anytime I put together a party, my favorite part to work on is the dessert table! It is always so much fun! After scouring Pinterest for hours, I found some ideas for desserts I wanted to incorporate for the Fiesta treat spread!

For cupcakes I wanted some that looked like blossoming cacti, sugar cookies in the shape of cactus and flowers since cactus bloom! Jakes favorite cupcake is a maple bacon cupcake from our friend Emmy, so I hired her to make some for Jakes party!

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Mexican Fiesta Party Drink Spread

No party is complete with out some cute drinks! I always love getting glass bottles for parties because they also look darling!  Since the party was a fiesta cactus party I thought it would be fun to have some colorful drinks!

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Build Your Own Terrarium Station- Guest Party Favors

For the party, I wanted a fun activity for guests so we had a build your own terrarium table!  I got all the succulents, cactus dirt, and rocks at my favorite garden store, Sun River Gardens!  They were super awesome and ordered all the plants in advance so I could have enough for the party. When I told them what I wanted to do, they were great and helped me find all the products I needed for the table as well.

For the party I wanted each guest to be able to make their own terrarium so I ordered 80 of them. Of course I ended up having lots of left over supplies but I am one of those people who never want to worry about running out!

DIY Terrarium Supplies

• Terrariums– I ordered all of our terrariums online in bulk I picked out 2 different styles so everyone could pick out which one would go best with their home style. For these I would recommend buying in bulk so you get a better price per glass terrarium. I have looked all over the internet and in person at shops and these were the best prices I could find. Each terrarium came out to around $1.60 each. Here is a link to the round glass terrariums and the rain drop shaped terrariums that I ordered.
• Succulent Dirt– This is a must! For all your succulents, the dirt they come in will not be enough to fill up the terrarium. I bought a 5 pound bag of succulent dirt and we went through about a pound of dirt!
• Rocks– Rocks are a great way to add some depth and fun to a terrarium. You won’t need a lot of these.
• Moss/Bark– It’s all about the little details! I was so glad I picked up some moss and rocks because it was fun to see all the guest express there individual personality shine through with there terrarium creations!
• Gardening Gloves– These are not a must but nice to have a few pairs around for anyone who doesn’t love to get their hands dirty.
• Pruning Scissors– You should only need 1-2 pairs for the table, but these will come in handy if there are larger succulents that need to be trimmed down to fit in the terrariums.
• Succulents/Mini Cacti– If you have a local nursery call them and see if they can get you a discount if your order a large number of succulents. That is what I did, and so the nursery was able to order fresh new succulents for the party!

When you are putting together your DIY Terrarium station for your guests, look at your table size before hand and see how many stations you can set up. This will help you know how many items like gloves that you will need.

For guests who are not familiar with gardening, I would recommend writing up some directions and printing them out and laminating them. This way you don’t have to answer a million questions during the party on how to build a terrarium, so you can run around and talk to guests and refill the salsas, etc.!

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Chips and Salsa Bar

Its not a fiesta without some chips and salsa!  Anyone else a huge salsa fan?!!? Growing up in Arizona chips, salsa and guacamole were a big staple in our household! I knew with putting together a true Mexican Fiesta it would not be complete with out a big chips and salsa spread!

I really loved how the balloon banners turned out!  I was worried that they wouldn’t work how I envisioned them in my head and they were perfect!  They might of been the favorite part of the decor!

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Mexican Fiesta Themed Photo Booth

No party is complete these days without a photo booth!  I didn’t know if guests would really use the photo wall but I wanted to make sure I had one just incase!  Good thing I did because the photo spot was a hit!  I think almost every guest grabbed their photo here 🙂

There is something so fun about a photo booth because its an easy excuse to grab a photo and document your evening! Jake and I are such fans of taking photos and I am so glad our guests were too!

When putting together a photo booth, you will want a wall with ample space for someone to be able to take the photo of the guests.

Another thing to look for your photo booth is great props that go with the theme of your party! Usually your local party store will have lots of great supplies for this! I found the sombrero, inflatable cactus, ponchos, maracas and other fiesta props at Zurchers. Party supply stores really are great resources for themed parties!

If you have a party coming up, make sure to check out Zurchers!  They have an awesome online selection and ship all over!  You can check out everything I picked out for the party here.

Cinco de Mayo Party Prep Vlog

Didn’t get enough Fiesta fun?! If you want to see more of the Cinco de Mayo party, the set up, close ups of all the tasty food, the cute cactus invites, and more; here is our vlog showcasing it all!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a wonderful week! For more cactus inspired fun,