Animal House made toga parties hugely popular

Décor

Send out scroll invitations

Think green! Okay, yeah as far as the environment too, but colors and decorations too. You can use olive branches, other leafy branches, and fruit to add little Greek touches to your toga party. Fake branches are totally fine but I recommend using real fruit. The added benefit is that you can arrange it neatly on a platter or in a bowl but it doubles as a snack for the party. Use red cloth on tables and as curtains, for a little Roman royalty vibe (since they too rocked the togas). That red cloth will serve you well later for other parties. Naturally, you’ll want everyone to dress up in togas. I usually encourage this in one of two ways. Either include instructions in the invitation so guests feel comfortable in their toga creation or have everyone just bring their sheet/material to the party and everyone make togas together. Finally, start the entire party out with an extra touch by sending out invitations that roll up like a scroll.

The Toga
First you need safety pins, a sleeveless t-shirt (to wear underneath), and 3-4 yards of a material like cotton, muslin, or poplin. You can use a sheet of course but there are a couple of problems there. If you don’t know what you’re doing, trying to turn a sheet into a toga gets very frustrating, very fast. Plus they tend to be very bulky instead of the more attractive look of a well done toga. Step one is to put the shirt one. Then hold the material horizontally by length and start wrapping it around your waist. Be sure not to crush the fabric. Wrap it around 1.5 times. Now (and it may help to have a friend around to lend a hand) safety pin the toga around your waist. Throw the rest of the fabric over your shoulder. Bring the material back to around your waist and tuck it into the waistband. If you want, safety pin the material into the waistband. Tada! For extra accessories, think simple and often gold. A colorful belt is fine around the waist and gold earrings are okay. A cuff bracelet looks fantastic.

Food & Drink

A good toga party is about snack food & healthy options at that

Food and drinks can go two different ways at a toga party. For more traditional fare, start with fresh fruit and veggies. Have an assortment of cheeses (depending on your guests, you can either get some incredibly exotic cheeses or just keep the selection simple) and a few breads both sweet and savory. Finish it off with mixed nuts and dates if you can get them. Finally, for dessert try mini cheesecakes for a delicious treat. But if you’re like me, even that much effort might be too much for a toga party. In that case, make it simple. Tell everyone to bring something to share, you provide meat and drinks and bbq it up! Just as delicious. For traditional drinks, wine is of course the best option. For a lighter and sweeter twist on sangria try mixing a bottle of red wine with 1 can of cranberry juice cocktail, 1 liter bottle of sprite and ¼ cup of raspberry vodka or a clear rum. (If you’re drinking age). For those of you who are younger, keep the juice and make it a 2 liter bottle of ginger ale. Add in about half a carton of lime sherbet and it makes a refreshing punch.

Games

A toga party wouldn’t be complete without a toga costume contest.

As with the rest of the party, the games are mostly about simplicity. You can try a fun little trick of bobbing for olives in martini glasses (use sparkling water) or have a trivia contest about famous toga wearers. Every toga party has to have a toga contest. Award prizes for best traditional toga, most creative, and worst attempt (because the last one is just funny). Don’t schedule too many games and instead make your toga party about catching up with old friends at the start of a new year.