Girls, it’s time to roll out the red carpet–for yourselves and your best girlfriends. Pour some bubbly and toast to your friendship during our Awards Show Mania party. Whether it’s the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes or MTV Music Awards, televised award shows present a great opportunity to reconnect with those cast in the most supportive roles in your life.  You’ll catch up on all that’s going on in your lives while watching the glitz and glamour and dishing about who’s with who. With our help, you can have a great award-show bash that’s simple to plan and execute–even at the last minute. So don’t delay, award yourself a “night in” with the girls!

Click here for a complete calendar of award show dates.

Setting and Setup

You don’t have to do alot of prep work for this party.  Just make sure the viewing area is tidied up (dusted and vacuumed to say the least).   A key point to remember during clean-up time: Dust your television screen.  Your friends will thank you!

Bring out the crystal champagne glasses and dust off a few pieces of china.  Fill a pretty vase or two with fresh cut flowers.  Any elegant pieces you might have to display will add to the charm.  Try checking out the local resale shops if you feel your household lacking in crystalware. Remember, just a few key pieces will do the trick.

If you want to go all out for this one, buy a red carpet for your special attendees to walk down.  After all, everyone should have a chance to stroll down the red carpet, right?  You can purchase one online at www.hollywoodmegastore.com, listed under “red carpet sidewalk runner.”  A 24-inch x 15-foot durable red cloth with underside adhesive is sold for only $8.99. Have a photo person stationed to take a picture of everyone’s grand entrance.

Other fun items from www.hollywoodmegastore.com include a VIP entrance door banner for $2.50 and a “Celebrity Limo Parking” sign $7.99, just perfect for the big event.

For each guest, print out a list of nominees for each category.  Along with the list, make sure you have pens readily available.  The nominee list can easily be found online by googling the name of the awards show you will be watching.  For the Primetime Emmys, find the nominee list here.

Invitations

When inviting your pals, keep in perspective the size of the room and the size of the television screen on which you’ll be viewing the show.  If you have a 12-inch television screen, don’t invite the whole softball team over.  Put a limit on the number of people by the number of inches.  For every 10 inches, invite 1 or 2 people.  For example, if you have a 36-inch screen, limit your invitees to 3-6 people.

If you have a little time before the star-studded event, try the black-and-gold “Hollywood Star Event” invitations from www.HollywoodMegaStore.com The invitations are 8 for $2.99 and include Rsvp cards.  Very reasonably priced and would catch the eye of any starlet.

If you are a last-minute party thrower, don’t hesitate to just call your friends on the telephone or use Evite them to let them know about the planned event.  Don’t forget, the most important part of an invitation is the gesture itself.  Whether it’s done with a gold glossy sheet of 4×6 paper or on the telephone, it makes no difference to your friends. As long as you let them know your intentions, it will warm their hearts to be included.

Food and Drink

The food for any Awards party should be elegant yet simple.   Try a cheese platter, grapes and chocolate-covered strawberries to satisfy healthy cravings.  If you need a little more, try adding a spinach quiche or veggie pate.  Pair the food with a sparkling drink like the yummy Startini made with champagne, pomegranate juice and vodka, recipe here. For those with a non-alcoholic palate, you could serve Izze sparkling juice with many flavors to choose from, available at your local Whole Foods or Target.

Activities

In between host humor, commercials and acceptance speechs, you’ll certainly be talking to your girlfriends to catch up on all the latest. But if you feel like there’s a lull, try this activity to help you to learn more about your girlfriends and them to learn more about you. Before the party create a list of awards-ceremony-inspired questions (see samples below).  Write them on some pretty slips of paper and toss them in a fancy bowl.  Keep the bowl within reach of all the guests during the awards show. Then at an opportune time, such as a commercial or acceptance speech, go clockwise around the room and have guests answer a questions. Take your time answering the questions; they are designed to lead you into more discussions. Even if you ask and answer only one person for every other commercial, it’s ok– just have fun with it and enjoy your friends.

Sample Questions:

1.  Have you ever been told you look like a famous person, if so who?

2.  If someone were to make up a show about your life, what would it be called?

3.  If you were to make it big as a singer or actress, what would you want your stage name to be?

4.  If you were to present an award on the awards show, who would you most want to present with?

5.  Make up a stage name for the person on your right.

6.  If you were given two tickets to the awards show, who would you ask to go with you?

7.  You are dressed and ready to go to the awards show but your purse is so small you can only fit three items in it,    what three items would you carry with you?

8.  Name one person you’d like to sit next to at the awards show.

9.  Name one person you wouldn’t like to sit next to at the awards show.

10.  If a show were to be made about your life, which actress would be cast to play your character?

11.  What was the first concert you attended?

12.  If you could have a gown designed for yourself for the awards ceremony, whose gown would it be like?

13.  If you were to design a gown for the person on your left, what color would you make the dress?

14.  You are the director of the awards ceremony and in this room is your only cast of presenters, who would you pair together and why?

15.  If someone were to sent you flowers on the night of the awards, what specific flower would you hope to see?

16.  Which actress would win the best dressed category tonight?

17.  Which actress would win the worst dressed category tonight?

18.  If the person on your right were to win in any category, which category would it most likely be?

19.  Which actress do you most identify with?

Here are a couple of additional fun activities:

• During the ceremony have one person in charge of writing down all the movies, videos or tv shows that all are dying to see after the awards.  This list can be used as a reminder to plan future get-togethers.
• Allow time before the show begins for each guest to guess who will win each category, using your pre-printed nominee list. Ask each guest to keep track of their correct and incorrect guesses during the awards presentations. By using a small easel, you can easily make tally marks for all to see who the leading lady is.  After the the final category is revealed and your results have been tallied, award a small gift to the most deserving contestant.  Try a small gift such as a lottery ticket for the winner to dream of millions, or Hersheys Pot of Gold chocolates–because if you can’t win real gold, chocolate is the next best thing.

Party Favors

For those who love to stay with the theme, take a look at the engravable awards from www.hollywoodmegastore.com Starting at $9.99, they are an Oscar lookalike and would steal the heart of any fan.

An inexpensive alternative can also be to make up your own awards.  At any local craft store you can find lots of items to design your own award, either by printing or crafting. Additionally, if you wanted to award gifts but not bother with awards, try these: For the friend that wins most “supportive” friend category, surprise her with a gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret new support lingerie. For the friend that wins most ”dramatic” friend, give her two tickets to the newest drama/play in town. You can brainstorm the rest!  If you don’t want to spend a lot of money,  you might try also: For the friend who is most “creative” present her with a lightbulb. For the friend who is most “social,” award a new mini-address book. You can get a lot of ideas just by browsing the dollar store.

After the party, don’t forget to send each guest a list of movie/video/tv show want-to-sees along with a picture of herself on the red carpet.  Receiving extra items after the party can only add to the goodwill and special memories.

Finally, remember: Reconnecting with the important people in your life doesn’t have to be a big production. It can be something as simple as watching a televised awards show with your friends. You can even throw something together at the last minute, and you’ll still be glad you did.  Please let us know how your awards-show mania celebration turns out or if you’ve hosted something similar before.  And stay tuned to GirlfriendCelebrations.com for our next big party plan!