The Ultimate Guide To A Swinging 60s Theme Event

The style, music, and fashion of the 60s have become immortalised in pop culture which makes it an excellent theme for an event.

You can draw from dreamy interior designs, psychedelic artwork, and the beautiful iconography of the time to create an event that is lively but relaxed at the same time. It doesn’t just need to be tye-dye and peace symbols either – you can draw on many of the fantastic modernist designs that found their way into homes around the world.

To help you convert your venue into a Swinging 60s shindig, we’ve created this guide to give you ideas on how to style your lighting, decorations, and centrepieces for the perfect atmosphere.

Getting Started

Depending on your approach, a swinging 60s theme works well for a variety of different events.

Thanks to musicians such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and The Who it is ideally suited to events with live music or where you want to get guests on their feet. It works particularly well if you want to avoid relying too much on modern pop or dance music for your dance floor.

The Summer of Love and hippie culture provides a fun backdrop to birthday parties, school discos, end of year parties and more. It’s a natural costume party and it doesn’t require guests to look too ridiculous.

The sophisticated style of the 60s, as exemplified in shows like Mad Men, is a good choice for formal dinners, conferences, and fashion events.

Brutalist and modernist buildings pair very well with a swinging 60s theme and you’ll find many examples of these at museums, universities and community centres in big cities such as London. It’s also well suited to American-style bars, art deco hotels, and many music halls and clubs.

Decorations And Designs

If you want decorations that people will instantly recognise as the 60s, then you should opt to include icons such as tinted sunglasses, peace symbols, flower petals, VW campers, and smiley faces.

Psychedelic artwork is a good model to base the look of your event on. You can use prints and light boards with swirling bright colours, strange fractal patterns, and images morphing into each other.

Images of bands such as The Beatles and The Who are a great way to ground your event. You can use cut-outs, screen prints, and band posters. The Beatle’s animations are a good source of inspiration for some of the images you might use.

Orange and yellow patterns with flowery motifs are also a good choice to bring the right 60s atmosphere.

With furniture, you can find pieces that match the minimalist, Scandinavian aesthetic that was popular at the time or use lit cubes and poseur tables to reinforce the dreamy feeling you’ve created.

Centrepieces, Lighting, And Colours

Psychedelic colours schemes are common at Swinging 60s events including bright pinks, yellows, oranges, and greens. Tye-dye patterns will use just about every colour of the rainbow and you can make nods to the refined elements of the 60s with velvety purples and reds.  

Lighting at a 60s event should feel warm and sunny – you want to bring to mind Woodstock and summertime in San Francisco. Dynamic lighting sources and shifting coloured lights can really help to set off any psychedelic or colourful artwork that you have around your venue.

At Table Art, we make custom centrepieces that can be lit to match the atmosphere of your event and they can be remotely controlled to highlight any musicians or speaker when you want to.

For the centrepiece, you can choose from a wide range of props and statement pieces. We’ve previously designed lamps sporting images of famous 60s musicians but your options are only limited by your imagination. Check out some of our previous creations for inspiration.

Swing The Perfect Evening With A 60s Theme Event

Designers and guests alike love a swinging 60s theme event as it provides lots of possibilities to push creativity and there’s plenty of fun to be had on the night.

Don’t settle for a few nods to the era – try to really replicate the look and, more importantly, the feel of the decade with wild colours and unique prints and designs.

If you’d like help planning and designing your swinging 60s theme event, then get in contact with Table Art for a consultation. We specialise in custom centrepieces and furniture that will take your event to the next level.