The Wild West is one of the all-time classic event themes and it remains a classic for a reason.
It’s a family-friendly theme that has the ability to really transform a venue and there’s an enormous amount of props you can use when decorating to give your guests a true taste of the West.
Making sure your event really carries the feeling of living as a cowboy out in the wilds of America can be difficult. Your style, lighting, and design all need to come together to carry your guests into a new world of cow towns, cacti, and outlaws.
We’ve created this guide to the Wild West theme in order to give you ideas for centrepieces, decorations, colour schemes, and more in order to create the perfect atmosphere.
For some people, a Wild West theme immediately brings to mind children’s parties but it’s a much more robust theme than that. If you take the right approach and create an authentic saloon feel, then you’ve got an event that will work for birthday parties, end of year events, stag dos, product launches, office parties, school discos, and even conferences. It’s not always easy to find a venue that makes a good stand-in for the American frontier but there are plenty to go around. 19th century and early 20th century buildings, American-style bars, historic museums, or large pubs can make a good choice. It’s also a good theme to make use of outdoor space – especially if there are stables or open plains nearby. However, there’s no reason that a Wild West theme can’t work well in most venues if you use enough backdrops, drapes, and hay bales.
A Wild West theme can be a lot of fun to decorate because there are so many options and it lends itself well to a rustic look. In terms of props, you want to make use of cacti, cowboys, wagon wheels, horses, steam trains, pickaxes, dynamite, and even tepees. There are a few approaches you can take to transforming your venue. You can replicate the look of a frontier town or saloon with a whiskey bar, wooden benches, hay bales, and a nearby jail. Another approach is to look towards modern Texas and rodeos for a banquet experience with gingham tablecloths and plenty of bunting. Or you can look to the Great Plains with their glorious sunsets and wide desert environment. You even combine all of these elements as suits your venue for a really wild night. A Wild West theme is a good place for photo opportunities. Even if guests aren’t dressed up, you can provide them with costumes and props next to a selfie booth or a jail-cell backdrop.
Lighting at your event should look sunny and warm. Try to capture the feel of the desert with oranges, yellows, reds, and browns. Interiors should feel woody and it’s a good place to use a sepia colour scheme. You can contrast this with the blue of a wide open sky and lit cacti sculptures or furniture. When it comes to lamps, try to use coloured glass and old-fashioned gas-style bulbs. Centrepieces can add a lot to your Wild West theme. Table Art specialises in lit centrepieces with dynamic lighting options that can really change the look and feel of your venue. Turn up the colour of your sunset and change things throughout the night as the atmosphere changes. You can use cacti, horses, and brass lamps to work as the main statement piece at the centre of your table that will bring your whole theme together. Check out some of our past creations to get even more inspiration.
A Wild West theme is always popular with guests – especially if the bar is authentically well-stocked and you pair the evening with a fantastic selection of cowboy barbecue favourites. To make sure your Wild West night isn’t a calamity, get in touch with Table Art for a consultation. We can transport and install a wide range of custom centrepieces and furniture so you can relax.
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