Every year somebody in our circle of family or friends has a laser tag party and every time, we decide to do one for Cole’s upcoming birthday. For one reason or another, we have yet to have a laser tag party….until this year! This was our first time going to a venue for a party and it was a “blast”!
Of course I had to put my spin on it and in light of all the restrictions of what we could bring in to the venue, I think it still turned out pretty great! Here are some photos to show you what I did and more details on how to do it yourself are below! Hope you enjoy our laser tag blast!
I usually create everything for our parties, including the invitations but I found this one on Etsy and just loved it! The seller was wonderful to work with and I had my invite very quickly!
I also usually print and mail my invites but we were leaving the country for a mission trip and I had to send them out pretty early, so I opted to use Paperless Post online which allows you to upload your own image and track your guests, etc…just like Evite but much prettier.
I thought it turned out really cute and it was a great inspiration for the other printables I created to round out the party.
We had our party at Stars & Strikes Family Bowling & Arcade Center. It is a really nice place that has bowling, an arcade, bumper cars, & of course, LASER TAG! We booked a laser tag party which came with a private party room. Of course there were restrictions on what we could bring in but we were allowed to bring our own cake, favors and water bottles. We were also allowed to bring in our own partyware & decor as long as nothing was attached to the wall.
So I set the scene by creating a backdrop for our table and I hung it using a photo backdrop stand kit that I have. I know most of you may not have one but you can always ask about using these command strips. I have done that before and it has worked really well! The backdrop was a wooden vinyl backdrop and I added all the details using cut paper. I made most of the words on my Silhouette machine but you could create your own designs by cutting circles, lines, and letters out of colored cardstock.
I decided to set up the table they provided by displaying our favors, cupcakes (instead of a cake), and water bottles. It was so easy and everything fit in one storage box to transport from my house to the laser tag center, so it made for a quick setup but an eye-catching display. For favors, we decided to fill these super cute milk cartons that I found at Michaels with a variety of candy. I wrapped black & white baker’s twine around them and added a printable sticker to the front of each box. For additional favors, we found these movie sized boxed candy and I just wrapped our printable personalized labels around them to thank our guests for coming. So fun!
I made homemade cupcakes and displayed them using green ice cream cups turned upside down. I added our printable & editable sticker to the front to tie in the laser tag theme. I made custom cupcake toppers to go on top for another way to bring in our laser tag theme.
For the partyware, I picked up some green party plates, green & white striped napkins, black cups, and aqua striped straws. I wrapped the party straws with our personalized party flags and added a ‘ZAP’ sticker to the front of the cups for a custom look to the store bought partyware!
One of my favorite details to the party was our glow stick name tags! I just used these glow sticks and our printable and editable name tags to create them. And here’s an image with the DIY details for you to create your own!
And for a the final touch, I created water bottle labels and food signs to let our guests know what we were serving. The 4×6 food signs fit perfectly into the IKEA stand up frames.
It was a really fun day and the kids had a blast! Happy planning! I’d love to hear how your planning is going and how it all came together. Leave me a comment and be sure to tag your photos with #amyspartyideas so I can see!
UPDATE! Our party was just given the PARTY EXPERT award from Shindigz.com! Just listen to the kind words they shared. What an honor!
“I absolutely love the zappy creativity that you put into this idea! Laser tag is often a kind of dark but exciting activity, and you gave it a fresh breath of colorful life; especially with the greens. On behalf of Shindigz I would like to award you the “Party Expert Approved” badge. I absolutely loved the COLE IS TEN! tags on everything, that was a super cute nice touch!”
Tisha says
When I read your post I immediately felt we were on the same page! As a mom of boys I am always looking for new party ideas to keep their attention. I was beyond giddy when my son mentioned Laser Tag! We took your advise, rented a facility and set up a small dessert table with store brought goodies and jazzed them up with your AMAZING printables! His party ending up being…dare I say it….. A BLAST!!!! Thanks for the inspiration.
You can see photos on my page here https://www.facebook.com/unforgettablysweet
xoxo,
Tisha
Unforgettably Sweet Theme Parties and Dessert Tables
Tisha says
When I read your post I immediately felt we were on the same page! As a mom of boys I am always looking for new party ideas to keep their attention. I was beyond giddy when my son mentioned Laser Tag! We took your advice, rented a facility and set up a small dessert table with store brought goodies and jazzed them up with your AMAZING printables! His party ended up being…dare I say it….. A BLAST!!!! Thanks for the inspiration.
You can see photos on my page here https://www.facebook.com/unforgettablysweet
xoxo,
Tisha
Unforgettably Sweet Theme Parties and Dessert Tables
Amy says
Thank you Tisha! Your party turned out AMAZING! So fun 🙂 xoxo, Amy
Megan says
Do you have any ideas for a Ghostbusters birthday party for a 4 year old boy?
Kristine says
Hi Amy! This party is simply amazing! I am planning a laser tag party for my son as well and was just wondering where you purchased your backdrop kit?Thank you so much!
rachel frampton says
My sister’s birthday is fast approaching, which is why I’ve decided to start looking for a tailgating trailer that we may rent for her laser tag party. Well, I agree with you that it would be best to provide yummy favors for the guests, such as cupcakes and water bottles. Your suggestion of placing a ZAP sticker to the fornt of the cups seems like a great plan as well.
Amy says
Thank you Rachel! I am sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier but I hope your sister’s birthday was a blast! 🙂