Harry Potter Theme

Join Harry Potter and the rest of the gang to celebrate your Bar or Bat Mitzvah! Everyone will love attending a magic theme bar or bat mitzvah with wizard decorations, magic spells and all the fun of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter Party Invitations
You don't have to send a specific invitation for your Bar or Bat Mitzvah theme party, but you can certainly insert one with the formal Bar or Bat Mitzvah invitation. You can also send it after your formal invitation is sent. Choose a magic theme invitation. A caricature invitation is a great option for such a special party. They are completely personalized for your child and are great for centerpieces, sign in boards, seating cards and other decorations at your party. Have your child dressed in Hogwarts School robes standing in front of Hogwarts or even playing Quidditch!

Another idea is to purchase miniature broomsticks at a craft store, and in your smallest handwriting write "Firebolt" on the side. Tie your invitation on to the miniature broomstick and mail it in a padded envelope.

If you would like your guests to come dressed as characters from the book, be sure to tell them that. We've got a great selection of Harry Potter costumes (for all your favorite characters) and Hogwarts school robes! (You could ask someone to come dressed as a dementor and run through the party...but I don't think I'd recommend that.)

Harry Potter Decorations and Party Supplies
Have a lifesize cutout of the guest of honor with an owl, broomstick and wand, dressed as Harry Potter with a speech bubble welcoming everyone to the party. Then hang a sign at the entry that says, "Welcome to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Name the cocktail area "The Leaky Cauldron" and decorate it with items that you would find in a wizard pub, like spell books, crystal balls, jars of potions (colored liquids), cauldrons, lanterns, wizard brooms, and other mysterious items. Use a large cauldron on a center table and have smoke coming out with dry ice. A party or Halloween party supply store can rent you most of the decor items for this party.

Dim the lights and have a fog machine in the corner! Or switch the lights out to a dim green color to add to the eerie effects!

Imprinted cocktail napkins are great for cocktails and dessert at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Why not try something like, "[Your child's name] Chamber of Secrets" with the date.

You can use a small scroll for seating cards for the adults or a bar/bat mitzvah seating card. These can be attached to a pair of Harry Potter glasses! Don't just assign the adults to a table! Name their table after a different Harry Potter character or after a place in one of the books! Here is a short list of Harry Potter characters:

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, with his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle, Neville Longbottom, Oliver Wood, Fred & George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Percy Weasley, The Dursleys (Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley), Professor Lockhart, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Sirius Black and Dobby.

And, here are some suggestions for places for your tables:

No. 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England (where the Dursley's live, of course), Diagon Alley, The Forbidden Forest, Gringotts Bank, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, King's Cross Train Station, London, The Quidditch Pitch, The Shreaking Shack, Dumbledore's Office, The Ministry of Magic

For the kids, plan on using 4 long tables, each to represent a different Hogwarts House and the house colors. The houses are Gryffindor (red and gold), Hufflepuff (black and gold), Slytherin (green and black) and Ravenclaw (blue and gold). Of course Harry is in the Gryffindor house, so make sure the Bar Mitzvah boy or Bat Mitzvah girl gets sorted into that House.

Set out a sorting hat at the seating card table, with a small sign that says, "Kids, Which house will the sorting hat select for you? Adults, sit with a friend or foe of Harry Potter!" Use small cutouts of sorting hats as seating cards for the kids! Everyone will love that. Or use solid color seating cards in the different house colors for all of the kids. Another fun option is a laminated pass in the house colors with the house crest. The kids can wear this throughout the evening and everyone will know what houses they are in at Hogwarts. (Send us an e-mail and we can help with those.)

For your sign in board, get a poster from one of the movies and frame it. Your guests can sign on the front of the frame. (If you're got someone who is savvy with the computer, have them scan the poster and add your child's face!)

Leading into the ballroom, have a sign that says, "Platform 9 3/4" with vintage luggage and trunks stacked around the base of the sign. Bird cages with plush owls are also great in this area. Place more movie posters around the room, or create signs that look like window signs from different stores fount in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade to place around the room.

Have personalized cameras on hand and a Harry Potter photo op and take pictures of all the kids dressed as Harry. Send them their pictures after the event with your thank you notes.

A fun idea for dessert is to recreate "Honeydukes," the sweet shop in Hogsmeade. Here you can find sweets like Fizzing Whizzbees, Pumpkin Juice, Fresh Pumpkin Pasties, Acid Pops, and Cauldron Cakes! Set up a display of an assortment of sweets, cakes and candies. Most candy stores now even carry Harry Potter theme candies, like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

Harry Potter Theme Table Decorations
Start with the kids tables and set four long tables in a row to create the look of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Use linens on the tables to match the four houses - For Gryffindor use dark red linens with gold napkins. For Hufflepuff use black linens with gold napkins. For Slytherin use dark green linens with black napkins. And, for Ravenclaw use blue linens with gold napkins. Going down the centers of the tables have gold plates filled with real or plastic grapes, fruit and bread. You can display sweets going down the tables as well. It will really look like they are about to eat at Hogwarts! Set a pair of Harry Potter glasses at each place for the kids.

Battery operated taper candles suspended from invisible wire “floating” over each of the tables is super cool! You'll probably need to hire someone to create this display for you, but it's worth it! Here's a picture of tables we set up for a Harry Potter Bar Mitzvah.

Choose beautiful elegant linens for the adult tables to give the feeling of wealth you would find in a castle. There are a number of great options for Harry Potter centerpiece. Use tall wrought iron candelabras with taper candles and votives for a classic castle look.

Or for a more fun look, use stuffed animals as centerpieces. For example, use a stuffed owl (Hedwig), a stuffed rat (Scabbers), and a stuffed cat (Crookshanks). Sit the stuffed animals sitting on a stack of books (Harry Potter or magic books). These animals can then be donated to children's hospitals after the event. We love a centerpiece that can be donated after the party!

Or use Harry Potter hats on all of the tables - choose hats from Dumbledore, Madam Hooch, Professor McGonagall and others. Tie bouquets of Harry Potter Mylar balloons mixed with solid color balloons off of the balloons. Most balloon companies can create great balloon displays for your party or you can find a friend to help you with the balloons. Another fun look would be balloon arches in the house colors bouncing from table to table.

Harry Potter Party Favors
Have plenty of gifts ready for your DJ to pass out during the evening. We love glow necklaces, beads, and clappers.

Don't let the magic end when your party's over. Send your guests home with light up wands. Here are some other very cool Harry Potter favors:

And, of course, Party411 can help with t-shirts, boxer shorts or any other favor you can think of for your Harry Potter party! Send us an e-mail for more information on personalized party favors.

Have fun and Mazel Tov, from the Party Girl and the Party-ettes!