Entertaining

Monopoly Themed Party

If you love Monopoly and throwing a good theme party, I have some great ideas you don’t want to miss out on.

Our Monopoly Themed Party was a little chaotic to plan, however, I got to go a bit wild with the theme, even down to the realistic Monopoly piece cupcake toppers.

How this party started: I am a proud member of one of the nerdiest clubs you can be in – the antitrust bar. This year, we hosted a group of antitrust attorneys for a party at our house. It was a large crowd of 70+ people and we had the support of a great caterer, but in predictable MsRusset fashion, we had to add in our own flair and treats.

If you’d rather jump to a specific category, use these links:
Party Set Up Treats Food & Drinks Goodie Bags Links to Party Supplies

I. Party Set Up:
If you’re throwing a large party at your house, chances are you are going to have to do some cleaning and rearranging to make it work. I like to think about the number of people to determine the best setup for comfort and flow.

Our house is usually a pit of toys, so the week before, we did our best to clean things out, move toys upstairs, and shift furniture around to make the best use of our space. Our coat closet also isn’t equipped for 70 more jackets, briefcases, and backpacks, so we also bought a few folding coat racks that we placed by the front door. I bought some new thin velvet-lined hangers from Costco, so they all matched. We always need more coat hangers, and folding clothes racks come in very handy throughout the year for packing and cleaning out clothes, so these were well worth the investment.

We set up tables and chairs throughout our home, so there were plenty of landing spots for groups to gather and nerd out over the law and the latest office gossip. We also made sure to have food and drinks available throughout so people didn’t feel the need to all congregate in the kitchen.

Finally, we added some signage where necessary so that people felt truly welcomed to enjoy things and empowered to help themselves.

A) Decor and Theme
Thank goodness for Hasbro and making a very popular game out of one of the primary antitrust themes – Monopoly! We leaned in hard on the Monopoly theme, using an old game set to add decorations to tabletops throughout the space. I also made cupcakes with a variety of cute Monopoly toppers – some were printed sugar papers and some were fondant that I used a mold to form (see details below).

I found some general lawyer-themed items to add to the decor:

Scales (for the scales of justice) that I used to display chocolate caramels and Monopoly game pieces.
A beautiful gold Lady of Liberty statue
Law-themed molds for chocolate and fondant: scales of justice cupcake toppers, a large Dubai chocolate scale of justice, and a 7-inch chocolate gavel (see details below in Treats section).

II. Treats:
Since this party was for antitrust attorneys, we leaned in hard to legal and Monopoly-themed treats. I made Monopoly Cupcakes, Lemon Blackberry Cake, Dubai Chocolate Nests, Dubai Chocolate Bars, and had a lot of fun with the chocolate & fondant mold treat decorations as well.

A) Monopoly Cupcakes
We made chocolate and lemon cupcakes topped with super cute Monopoly game pieces made of fondant, Monopoly cards printed on sugar paper ( this is the amazing Etsy vendor I used for the sugar paper game cards), some scales of justice made of fondant, and some chocolate decor with the initials of the firm we were hosting.

View Black Chocolate Cake Recipe >

View Lemon Blackberry Cake Recipe > (skip the blackberry step)

View Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe >

Monopoly Topper Instructions:

We made these amazing toppers using fondant and edible glitter for paint. Give yourself plenty of time – they do need to dry overnight.

Massage the fondant to make it pliable.
Firmly press into the mold (pushing out any bubbles).
Carefully remove and let dry overnight.
Trim off any excess with a sharp knife.
Paint: If you need to paint your decoration, mix your edible glitter with a cap full of vodka, stick a toothpick in the bottom of the piece, carefully paint, stick a toothpick into some styrofoam, and let it dry.

B) Lemon Blackberry Cake
We also made a large lemon cake filled with lemon cream cheese frosting and blackberry jam. We decorated it with chocolate initials of the firm that we were hosting with teal and orange accents (the firm colors).

View Lemon Blackberry Cake Recipe >

Chocolate Initial Toppers:

These are really easy to make and create a very professional look.

Melt your chocolate and pour it into a piping bag (I like to use compostable ziplock bags for easy cleanup).
Pour a generous amount of nonpareil sprinkles onto a pan.
Carefully pipe your desired letters or shapes onto the sprinkles, then sprinkle more on top of the chocolate to fully coat.
Let it dry and then carefully use it to decorate your cake.

C) Dubai Chocolate Nests
This dessert takes the Dubai Chocolate trend to the next level. We nestled a generous serving of the crunchy pistachio filling in a crispy nest of phyllo dough topped with dark chocolate and flaky Maldon salt.

View Dubai Chocolate Nests Recipe >

D) Dubai Chocolate Bars
We made some mini Dubai Chocolate Bars for some party gift bags (see Goodie Bags section below), and they turned out perfect. I now see why these have been so popular – the combination of sweet chocolate with a rich pistachio filling that is somehow both creamy and crunchy is next level!

View Dubai Chocolate Bars Recipe >

III. Food & Drinks
Since we were hosting such a large group, we relied on a good mixture of catered food and drinks along with our own custom additions. For food, we put out a broad spread of cheese, charcuterie, pickles, and olives in the kitchen. In the dining room and bar, we had a spread from our local caterers – meatballs, sliders, veggies, spring rolls, and more. We chose foods that were easy to grab and eat while chatting and visiting. The caterers provided most of the beverages, but I couldn’t resist adding a Serve Yourself Spritz Bar.

A) Food
I didn’t think I’d be able to pull this off with all of the treats I was making; however, 20 minutes before the party, I decided to put out some cheese and charcuterie boards. I’m glad we made the decision to put this together because I think all of our guests really enjoyed it.

Pro Tip: Get yourself a container for your stinky cheese. I used a cheese dome I found at TJ Maxx.

B) Spritz Bar
The caterers provided most of the beverages but I also set up a Serve Yourself Spritz Bar. This is a great option if you want to offer fun, original cocktails, but don’t want to be stuck making drinks all night. While a Spritz is very easy to make, it does require some guidance. We make this intuitive and easy to “mix your own” drink by providing clear signage and a guide glass to assist in measurements.

Instructions:

Guide Glass and Signage: We had small signs on the table that made it clear that to make a spritz, your guest just needs to combine 2 oz liqueur, 3 oz prosecco, and a splash of soda. BUT you don’t want your guests having to use a jigger or measuring cup and potentially miss measuring or spilling all over the place… or just feeling uncomfortable. So, how are your guests supposed to know what 2 or 3 oz looks like? Enter the guide glass! Using a dry erase marker, make a notation of where 2 oz is on your glass for the liqueur and then an additional 3 oz for the Prosecco. This worked beautifully!
Prosecco and Liqueurs: We included ample amounts of prosecco and a variety of fun liqueurs that work well in a spritz. We had Aperol, of course, but also included some other fun flavors, like mango and passionfruit.
Garnish: You can also include some sliced citrus or herbs to garnish the drinks.

IV. Goodie Bags
Taking notes from the parties we throw for our kids, we thought our guests would enjoy a little goodie to-go bag as well. We found these fun “Evidence” bags for the occasion, which we put out with some homemade caramel and Dubai Chocolate bars.

View Dubai Chocolate Bars Recipe >

View Aunt Ruth’s Caramels Recipe >

V. Links to Party Supplies