- Let guests know your theme from the moment they receive your invitation to the birthday party. Download a photograph from the internet of the cast of "Gilligan's Island." Print this out of heavy paper and glue your head on one of the bodies of the cast members. Use a party hat sticker and place it on your photo head to set the birthday tone. On the back of the photograph, write the party details, including location and RSVP contact information.
- Host your party at the beach or other tropical location. If you live in a climate where that is not possible, host the party in your own yard, but create the feel of an island. String palm tree lights around your trees and use torch lights to provide party lighting. Create signs of places such as the Howell's Hut or the lagoon from your favorite episodes of the show and hang them up at your location. If you are at the beach, you can place these signs in the sand.
- Food and drink should be tied to food and libations typically found on an island. Serve island fruit and decorate your birthday cake to look like an island scene. You might also choose to have a cake in the shape of the ship the crew sailed on, the SS Minnow. Serve your own "Professor Punch" with a mixture of two to three varieties of fruit juice. Serve drinks in coconuts with plastic umbrellas. Reference the book, "Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook," and bake a coconut cream pie or any other special desert the character Mary Ann was known for on the show.
- Ask guests to come to your party dressed as their favorite "Gilligan's Island" character and have a costume contest. Provide an island-themed prize for the most creative costume. Before the party, develop a "Gilligan's Island" trivia game. Create questions from the show based on specific episodes and facts about the actors in the series. Divide party guests in small groups and see which group has the biggest fans of the show.
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