I partnered with Cricut to create the DIYs for this party. The opinions are my own. This post also contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.
I blinked and somehow I have a teenager! We were trying to think of unique 13th birthday party themes for Grayson’s birthday this year, and came up with the best idea: a silent disco party! We decorated our house like a bougie dance club called XIII (the Roman numerals for 13) with custom details made with my Cricut machines and Smart Materials (more on that below) and had a silent dance party. If you’re looking for 13th birthday party ideas at home or how to host a silent disco, save this post. It was truly one of the most fun parties we have ever had! I’ve got all the details, including food ideas for a bougie birthday party, decorations and activities for a silent headphone party, and other cool 13th birthday party ideas for this silent disco party at home.
13th birthday party theme: Bougie Dance Club
When we were thinking about 13th birthday themes for Grayson, we wanted something experiential that teen and tween kids could enjoy (now that they’re growing out of some of the kiddie themes we’ve done for parties in the past). Since Grayson loves music, we decided to host a silent disco party at home… but we didn’t want to stop there, so we thought of unique 13th birthday party themes around the idea of dancing and discos. We decided to make it a bougie birthday party by transforming our house into a “bougie dance club.” We decided to call it XIII (spelled in Roman numerals for an extra bougie touch). It was really easy to bring this theme to life with my Cricut thanks to the new Smart Materials that don’t require cutting mats. I literally did most of the DIYs the day of the party since it was that quick and easy. If you know me and some of my past parties, then you know I sometimes DIY for weeks (or months) to space tasks out, so when I say I was able to complete the DIYs the day of the party, then you know it was all quick, easy, and low-stress projects! I’ve got details on the projects below.
The color scheme for the 13th birthday party theme and silent dance party was white (probably the bougiest choice for a dance club) and glittery purple (one of Grayson’s favorite colors), but if you were looking for your own 13th birthday party ideas at home, then you could change the purple to your teen’s favorite color. The dance floor and furniture were all white and purple came into play in the dance club logo details made with my Cricut. We also incorporated a lot of neon and LED lights in a rainbow of colors.
The overall vibe was… you guessed it… bougie. To make it a bougie birthday party, we had a velvet rope at the door, we hired a neighborhood teenager to pass the hors d’oeuvres, and had my husband serving the mocktail beverages.
What is a silent disco?
Before I get into the details of how to host a silent disco, you might be wondering “what is a silent disco” in the first place. A silent disco is a really fun party concept. Party guests wear headphones that are wirelessly connected to radio channels. If you were watching without headphones, you’d see people dancing to music that you can’t hear unless you were also wearing headphones. What makes it more fun is that a silent dance party usually has different music options (three different stations or playlists) that guests can change with a switch on their headphones any time they want, so people are literally dancing to the beat of their own drum. The headphones light up with a different color for each channel, so when you see someone really grooving on channel green, you could change to that channel yourself to see what banger they’re listening to. There are many benefits to a silent headphone party: the noise level is low so it’s a great party solution to host a silent disco party at home without upsetting neighbors, guests can choose whichever music channel they prefer which pleases guests with different music tastes, your party entertainment and activities are covered at the same time, and it’s a unique experience guests will never forget.
How to host a silent disco
Another benefit to having a silent disco party is that you don’t need much to have fun with this theme. Here are the basic things you’ll need to plan a silent headphone party:
- Silent disco equipment rental. I found that these were reasonably priced here in the Austin area. You just need headphones, the three Bluetooth receivers (one for each radio channel), and three devices to control the playlists (you can use your own smartphones or iPads or see options to rent devices from the silent disco rental vendor).
- Three music playlists. Most silent disco vendors have options for pre-set channels (hip hop, rock, pop, etc.), or you could create your own custom playlists for each channel.
- Lighting and ambiance. Since the headphones light up, these parties are best in the dark. We kept the kids supplied with glow sticks (I got this fun bulk set) and LED glow bracelets, and also had some party lighting and other LED décor (see details in the next section).
Silent disco party ideas: decor
While a silent disco is fun on its own, this party would not have been as cool as it was without incorporating our XIII bougie dance club theme. If you’re looking for silent disco party ideas, I recommend creating a dance club environment, too. You don’t have to go all out with a dance floor rental like we did- you could dance in your living room or yard. And thanks to the simple Cricut DIY projects, we were able to bring the night club theme to life with surprisingly little effort. Here are the details of what to rent, buy, and DIY for this 13th birthday party theme.
Rent:
- Dance floor (we chose a white dance floor for the bougie birthday party theme)
- Portable bar (we chose white for this and the rest of the rented furniture)
- Lounge bench
- Coffee table cube
- 2 lounge poufs
- 2 highboy cocktail tables
- Stanchions with velvet rope
Buy:
- Party laser light projector. I got this little one from Amazon and it was one of the best investments of our silent disco party. The battery charge lasted the entire party, it worked incredibly well and covered a lot of space. I was surprised just how much this little box can do for the price.
- White spandex cocktail table covers (it was a better price to buy them on Amazon than to rent them).
- LED multi-colored flameless candles. We used these as centerpieces in the lounge area, on the cocktail tables, and at the bar. They have a remote control that allows you to change colors or put them on rotating color mode.
DIY:
As I said earlier, the DIYs were what made this silent disco party so unique and brought our bougie dance club theme to life. I used my Cricut machines and Smart Materials to make the following, just using simple text lettering for the Cricut Design Space library for the “XIII” logo:
- Vinyl party logo on the dance floor and bar
- Cricut Maker 3 (the Maker 3 cuts really fast, which is great for making larger scale designs like these quickly)
- Smart Vinyl (taking the mat step out saves time and money for this party DIY)
- Weeding tools
- StrongGrip Transfer Tape (ideal for heavier vinyl, including Cricut Glitter Vinyl like we used)
- Iron-on logos on shirts for the dance club “staff” (AKA my husband serving the mocktails and a neighborhood teenager we hired to pass the hors d’oeuvres)
- Customized beverage napkin with party logo (using this method for personalized paper napkins made with Cricut)
Since I just used text in the Cricut Design Space library, there was no complicated design needed. Just choose your favorite font and your favorite colors of Cricut vinyl and iron-on, and these projects are done in minutes, and you have a fabulous, high-impact, custom 13th birthday party theme.
Bougie birthday party food and drink ideas
Since we decided on a bougie birthday party when planning 13th birthday themes, we knew choosing the right food would be key. We decided on a combination of bougie food (this was many of the kids’ first time trying caviar, and I got to show off my easy panna cotta recipe) and kid-approved party food served “bougiely” (chicken nuggets on cocktail picks, for example). Food was served on passed trays that we lit up with glow sticks for our dance club theme. Drinks were simple but special mocktail recipes served by my husband. Here are the details for all these cool 13th birthday party ideas.
Food:
- Chicken nuggets on sticks (sitting on small dollops of ketchup and ranch)
- Crock Pot Party Meatballs
- Tater Tot Mini Cheeseburger Bites
- Caviar bites (mini toasts with cream cheese, caviar, and fresh dill)
- S’mores on a Stick
- Cake pops
- Mini Bundt cakes
- Lemon Panna Cotta with Raspberry Compote (the Instant Pot compote recipe can be found in my cookbook, Pressure Cooker Cookbook for Beginners)
Beverages:
- Shirley Temple
- Roy Rogers
- Orange Creamsicle
- Ginger Lime Fizz
- Water bottles (make sure to recycle the bottles!)
- Assorted soft drinks and juices
Serving Supplies:
- Clear plastic serving trays with glow sticks taped to the edges
- Small plastic dessert cups
- An assortment of pop sticks and cocktail picks for all the appetizers and desserts (I like these, these, and these)
- Beverage napkins (see above for the DIY)
- Plastic cups
- Glitter straws
- Maraschino cherries
- Lime wedges
- Orange slices
Silent dance Party favors
With the kids in attendance being a little older, we didn’t do traditional party favor goodie bags. Instead we had LED glow bracelets in different colors that the kids could wear during our silent disco party at home, then take them home with them. These were more of a hit than I expected, honestly. People were layering them up like they were Shang Chi.
What do you think of this 13th birthday party theme? Would you host a silent disco party? If these 13th birthday party ideas, silent disco party ideas, or bougie birthday party ideas inspire you for your own party, be sure to tag me @fabeveryday, as I’d love to see your party!
More kid’s birthday party ideas like this silent headphone party
- Anime-Themed Birthday Party
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania At-Home Watch Party
- Bendy and the Ink Machine-Themed Birthday Party
- Classic Nintendo Birthday Party (Mario Bros., Zelda, Kirby and More)
- Clifford the Big Red Dog Birthday Party
- Construction-Themed Birthday Party
- Despicable Me / Minion Birthday Party
- Dinosaur-Themed Birthday Party
- Disney Cars Birthday Party
- DIY Escape Room Kid’s Birthday Party (with lots of escape room puzzle ideas)
- Dungeons and Dragons Birthday Party
- Emoji-Themed Birthday Party
- Kid’s Ice Cream Social Birthday Party
- Safari Themed 1st Birthday Party
- LEGO Movie-Themed Birthday Party
- Minecraft-Themed Birthday Party
- PAW Patrol Party Ideas
- Pokémon-Themed Birthday Party
- Power Rangers-Themed Birthday Party
- Rock and Roll Birthday Party
- Silent Disco Party (Fun 13th Birthday Party Theme)
- The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender Party
- Thomas the Train Birthday Party (with Free Thomas and Friends Birthday Printables)
- Tiger-Themed Birthday Party Planning Ideas
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