Great Gatsby Party Ideas: The Complete Planning Guide
The Great Gatsby party is the most ambitious themed event request we get, and it’s also the one that most often falls short of its own ambitions. The gap between “Gatsby-themed” and “genuinely looks and feels like a 1920s supper club” is significant, and it comes down to a small number of decisions that either make the aesthetic cohere or let it fall apart.
I’ve helped plan enough of these to know what works and what doesn’t. Here’s the complete guide.
What the Gatsby Aesthetic Actually Is
Before you can plan the event, you need to be clear about what you’re aiming for. “1920s glamour” is a phrase that gets applied to everything from a few gold balloons to a genuinely immersive art deco experience. The Gatsby aesthetic, specifically, is:
Art deco geometry: Angular lines, stepped shapes, sunburst patterns. Think the interiors of Claridge’s or the Chrysler Building. Not Victorian flourishes, not Baroque excess, clean, confident geometry in luxurious materials.
A specific colour palette: Black, gold, and white. Sometimes champagne ivory instead of pure white. Deep green (Gatsby’s dock light, the harbour, the money) works as an accent. Avoid pastels. Avoid anything that reads as “wedding” rather than “supper club.”
Controlled opulence: Gatsby’s parties were lavish, but the aesthetic is controlled rather than chaotic. Long tables, tall candle holders, structured centrepieces. Not maximalism, deliberate elegance.
Feathers and pearls: The fashion details of the 1920s that still read clearly as era-specific. A feathered headpiece, a long pearl necklace, a beaded bag, these immediately signal the period in a way that a vague “gold dress” doesn’t.
Once you’re clear on what you’re building, every decision, venue, décor, entertainment, music, can be evaluated against it.
Dress Code: Enforce It
This is the same principle as a Bond night, and it’s equally important here: the atmosphere you’re building depends on the dress code. A Gatsby party where half the guests arrive in smart casual immediately loses its premise.
The invitation should read: “1920s black tie. Gentlemen: white tie or black tie, plus era-appropriate details. Ladies: flapper dress, beaded gown, feather headpiece, long gloves, go for it.”
For men: white tie is the most authentic (Gatsby himself wears a white flannel suit and a silver tie in the novel), but black tie is the accessible alternative. The key additions are era-specific detail, a pocket square, a tie pin, a fedora, a waistcoat.
For women: this is where the event really comes alive. A beaded flapper dress, a headband with a feather, long gloves, a long pearl necklace, T-bar heels. Genuine 1920s silhouette, drop waist, knee or tea length, heavily embellished.
Give guests permission to commit to the costume. Some hosts go further and offer a prize for best-dressed, it’s worth doing, because it encourages people to take the brief seriously.
Entertainment Hierarchy: Casino Tables First
When you’re planning a Gatsby party, there’s a hierarchy of entertainment elements and it matters which one you centre the event on.
Casino tables are the primary entertainment. This is not a dance floor event with casino tables as decoration. The casino should be the thing guests do when they arrive, the thing that dominates the middle of the evening, and the centrepiece that pulls the room together visually and socially. Everything else supports it.
Music is the backdrop. A live jazz band or a jazz-influenced DJ playing 1920s standards and big band material. Not mainstream club music, the music should reinforce the period. A string quartet during drinks, followed by a full band for the main event. The music should never be louder than the room; conversation is part of the entertainment.
Food and drink are period-appropriate props. Champagne towers (they’re actually achievable), canapés rather than a formal dinner, a cocktail menu that includes the Mint Julep, the Sidecar, and the Bee’s Knees. Art deco service style.
Photobooths are supplementary, not central. Every Gatsby party has a photobooth. Most of them get used for twenty minutes and then forgotten. A casino table generates energy for the entire evening. If you have budget for both, fine, but don’t compromise on table count to fund the photobooth.
Which Casino Games Fit the 1920s
For Gatsby parties, the games played in 1920s American supper clubs are exactly the games we offer.
Roulette is the most era-appropriate centrepiece game, it was the game of choice at the great European casino resorts of the 1920s, and the visual of the wheel is inextricably associated with that period. Make it the focal point of the room.
Blackjack (or its 1920s American equivalent, twenty-one) was played throughout the Prohibition era in the back rooms of speakeasies and in the legitimate supper clubs of the period. It’s entirely authentic, fast, and accessible.
Craps is the most quintessentially 1920s American game, the dice game played in Harlem clubs, on Atlantic City boardwalks, in the basements of speakeasies. It’s loud, communal, and brings an energy to a Gatsby party that the card games alone don’t replicate. If you have space and a high-energy guest list, craps is worth including.
Avoid anything that doesn’t fit the era, video poker, electronic games, anything with screens.
Décor Suggestions That Don’t Require a Big Budget
The Gatsby aesthetic is achievable at a range of budgets. Here are the high-impact choices:
Black and gold tablecloths: This single decision does more than almost anything else to establish the aesthetic. Black tablecloths, gold runners, gold candle holders.
Tall centrepieces: Gatsby’s tables were dramatic. Use tall, narrow vases, think 60–90cm, with ostrich feathers, white flowers, or gold-painted twigs. They photograph beautifully and they fill vertical space.
Gold geometric votives: Art deco candle holders in geometric shapes, available from most event prop hire companies. Scatter them across tables and surfaces.
String lights in warm white: Not fairy lights in a general sense, tight, warm-white strings hung at a relatively high ceiling level. The effect is of candlelight at scale.
Framed art deco prints: A few well-chosen framed prints in gold frames, positioned at eye level around the space. Easy to source, low cost, immediately signals the period.
Personalised 1920s-Style Fun Money
This is a specific touch that works particularly well for Gatsby events. We offer custom fun money designed to fit the occasion, and for a 1920s theme, we can create fun money in a period-appropriate design: art deco typography, black and gold, with a denomination and event name that fits the theme.
Think: “Gatsby’s Grand Casino” with an art deco border in gold on black card. It’s a physical prop that reinforces the theme throughout the evening and that guests often keep as a memento.
Why Casino Tables Beat a Dance Floor as the Centrepiece
A dance floor at a Gatsby party has a problem: dancing to 1920s music requires knowing how to Charleston, which very few modern guests do. The result is often either standard club dancing to jazz-influenced pop (which breaks the period) or an awkward dance floor that empties quickly.
Casino tables don’t have this problem. The games are timeless, roulette in 1924 is roulette in 2026. The aesthetic is period-perfect. And the social dynamic of the casino table, active, competitive, conversational, is exactly the energy that Gatsby’s parties were known for.
Internal Links
- Casino Hire Packages, all collections with roulette, blackjack, and craps options
- How to Plan a Casino Night, logistics guide for themed events
- How to Host a James Bond Casino Night, similar themed event guide
Planning a Gatsby party? Get a free quote, mention the theme when you enquire and we’ll discuss décor coordination, game selection, and custom fun money design.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many casino tables do we need for a Gatsby party of 80 guests? Three tables, The Flush collection, works well for 80 guests. We’d typically recommend one roulette table as the centrepiece, one blackjack table, and one further table (blackjack or craps depending on your preference). This gives guests enough variety and enough space to avoid queues at any one table.
Can you help with décor recommendations beyond the casino tables? We focus on the casino entertainment, but we’re happy to share what we’ve seen work well aesthetically at Gatsby events, venue dressing, table styling, prop hire sources. When you get in touch, ask us what we’ve seen at similar events and we’ll share what’s worked.
Is a live jazz band necessary, or can we use a DJ? A jazz band is ideal and makes a significant difference to the atmosphere. But a well-curated DJ set, 1920s standards, big band, Electro Swing, can work very well, particularly for evening-only events where a band may be impractical. The key is that the music reinforces the period rather than defaulting to contemporary club music.