Tips · 10 min read
How to Host a Great Gatsby Party: The Definitive Host's Guide
The complete host's guide to a Gatsby party: Jazz Age decor, flapper dress code, a period-correct cocktail menu, hot jazz, and the coupes, lowballs and highballs that make 1925 feel real.
Arthur BulotaCo-founder & CEO, Glassique CadeauI have been to Gatsby parties that were costume contests with a cheese board, and they never felt like 1925. I want you to commit to one year and let it govern every choice, because that is what makes a time machine.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me shop@glassiquecadeau.com
Old sport, the champagne is cold and the band is warming up – let's throw the party West Egg would envy.
A Gatsby party is not a costume contest with a cheese board. It's a promise. You're inviting people into the Roaring Twenties – Prohibition-era glamour, live jazz, coupes catching the light. Get the mood right and guests behave differently. They stand taller. They dance. Below is the full host's playbook, from the first invitation to the last pour, built by people who obsess over what goes in the glass and what the glass says.
Set the scene: Jazz Age glamour in one room
Pick your era and never break it. The reference point is 1925 – the year F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann's gold-drenched film came in 2013; there was an earlier Robert Redford version in 1974, if your guests want homework). America was three years into Prohibition, which ran from 1920 to 1933, so every drink at your party carries a whiff of the illegal. That's the fantasy you're selling. The speakeasy. The password. The band that plays too loud.
Lighting does most of the work. Kill the overheads. Use warm lamps, candles, and a few strings of Edison bulbs. Amber light on gold decor reads as 1925 instantly. Honestly, most hosts overspend on props and underspend on dimming the room – flip that ratio.
Best for: apartments and small houses – a single well-lit "speakeasy corner" with a bar cart beats a whole flat done in cheap tinsel.
Invitations and the dress code (flappers and black tie)
Set expectations before anyone arrives. A strong Gatsby party invitation does three things: names the era, states the dress code plainly, and hints at the drinks. Something like: "You are cordially invited to a soirée in the spirit of 1925. Attire: black tie and flapper finery. Champagne will flow."
For dress, give guests an easy on-ramp so nobody feels excluded:
- Women: drop-waist beaded dresses, fringe, long pearl ropes, feathered headbands, T-strap heels, a bold red lip.
- Men: black tie, or a three-piece suit with suspenders, a bow tie, and slicked hair. A newsboy cap works for the speakeasy look.
- The lazy guest: a string of pearls or a feather is enough to belong. Say so on the invite.
Send invitations 3 to 4 weeks out. This is a dress-up party, and people need time to assemble a look. A rushed guest shows up in jeans, and one pair of jeans dents the whole illusion.
Gatsby party decorations: gold, black, feathers, pearls
The palette is non-negotiable. Black, gold, deep emerald, and cream. Add champagne-bubble gold anywhere you can. The visual language of the era was Art Deco – hard geometry, sunbursts, fans, chevrons, symmetry – so lean into pattern over clutter.
A tight decoration checklist that actually reads as 1925:
The 1925 Decoration Checklist
✓ Gold sequin table runners and black tablecloths.
✓ Ostrich feather centerpieces in tall gold vases (varying heights).
✓ Pearl garlands draped along the bar and mantel.
✓ Art Deco fan backdrops behind the drinks station – your photo wall.
✓ Gold chargers, black napkins, a few candelabra.
✓ A "Gatsby's Bar" or "Speakeasy" sign in a Deco typeface.
Your bar is the anchor of the room, so dress it like the star. A mirrored or gold bar cart, Deco-etched glassware, and a bucket of champagne on ice does more than a hundred paper streamers. The Art Deco & Gatsby collection is built for exactly this – geometric cuts and gold detailing that photograph like set dressing. (In our view, one gorgeous bar cart is worth more than a whole box of dollar-store props.)
Best for: the photo-obsessed crowd – build one killer Deco backdrop and the party markets itself on Instagram all night.
The cocktail menu: Jazz Age classics, done right
Resist the urge to offer everything. A great Gatsby bar serves 3 to 4 signature cocktails plus champagne. Fewer choices, faster pours, a more coherent night. Every drink below is genuinely of the era.
Jazz Age Cocktails
French 75gin · lemon · sugar · champagne
Bee's Kneesgin · lemon · honey
Sidecarcognac · orange · lemon
Mint Julepbourbon · mint · sugar
Champagnedry · cold · on arrival
- French 75 – gin, lemon, sugar, topped with champagne. Bright, celebratory, named for a WWI field gun. The signature welcome drink. Serve in a coupe.
- Bee's Knees – gin, lemon, honey syrup. Prohibition bartenders used honey and citrus to mask rough bootleg gin. A true speakeasy drink. Coupe.
- Sidecar – cognac, orange liqueur, lemon. Sharp and grown-up, popularized in Paris in the early 1920s. Coupe, sugared rim optional.
- Mint Julep – bourbon, mint, sugar, crushed ice. The Southern counterpoint for whiskey drinkers. Serve over crushed ice in a lowball.
- Champagne, always – a coupe of something dry, poured the moment guests walk in.
Pre-batch the two most popular cocktails in pitchers (minus any bubbles – add champagne or soda to order). A batched French 75 base means your line never stalls. For the whiskey drinkers, a tray of Old Fashioneds in heavy lowball glasses keeps the men in dinner jackets happy without a bartender working overtime.
Best for: hosts without a hired bartender – batch two, keep champagne cold, and let guests self-serve the third.
The music: this is the part people forget
Silence kills a themed party faster than bad food. The Jazz Age ran on hot jazz – Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller. Build a 4-hour playlist so it never loops, and shape it like a night: swing and Charleston numbers early to get people moving, slower ballads late.
Two upgrades if the budget allows. A live jazz trio (piano, upright bass, a horn) transforms the room – even for the first 90 minutes. Or hand out cheap kazoos and let guests attempt the Charleston. A short dance lesson at 9 p.m. is the single best icebreaker for a crowd that doesn't all know each other.
The glassware that makes it real
Here's the part only a glassware brand will tell you straight. Nothing breaks the 1925 spell faster than a red plastic cup. The right vessel is the difference between "party with a theme" and "we actually traveled back in time." A few things worth knowing:
The coupe – that wide, shallow champagne bowl – is the defining glass of the era. It traces to around 1663 in England, not, as the charming legend claims, to a mold of Marie Antoinette's breast. (That story is a myth. Fun, false, and worth correcting when a guest repeats it.) A coupe holds roughly 5 to 7 ounces, which is perfect for a French 75 or a straight pour of champagne. It's also easy to carry through a crowd and impossible to photograph badly. Stock a set of coupe glasses as your workhorse and you've solved 70% of the night.
"The right vessel is the difference between a party with a theme and a night people swear they time-traveled."
For the purists, the Nick & Nora glass is the deep cut. Named for Nick and Nora Charles, the martini-swilling couple from The Thin Man (1934), it holds about 5 ounces in a tulip bowl that resists spills far better than a coupe. Best for served-up cocktails when guests are dancing. Our Art Deco Nick & Nora set nails the silhouette.
| Glass | Capacity | Pour it for |
|---|---|---|
| Coupe | 5–7 oz | Champagne, French 75, Sidecar, Bee's Knees |
| Nick & Nora | ~5 oz | Served-up cocktails while guests are dancing |
| Lowball | 8–10 oz | Whiskey, Old Fashioneds, the Mint Julep |
| Highball | 10–12 oz | Tom Collins, gin fizzes, anything long and topped with soda |
Then the lowball (also called an Old Fashioned or rocks glass) for anything brown and spirit-forward, and the highball – 10 to 12 ounces – for gin fizzes, Tom Collins, and anything long and topped with soda. The Gatsby lowball set handles the whiskey side of the bar, while champagne coupes carry the celebration.
Round it out with a proper martini glass for the classicists and a snifter for the after-dinner cognac crowd. Browse the full Art Deco cocktail glasses range and match the etching to your decor. A matched set of real crystal costs less than a caterer and you keep it forever – it's the one party expense that pays dividends every New Year's Eve after.
How to host a Gatsby party in 7 steps
Commit to 1925 and send black-and-gold invitations naming the "black tie and flapper" dress code.
Big enough to feel like a Gatsby soirée, small enough that your bar can keep up.
Choose 3 signature cocktails plus champagne, then buy the glassware to match – coupes for champagne cocktails, lowballs for whiskey, highballs for long drinks.
Build one Art Deco photo backdrop and dress the bar cart as the room's centerpiece.
Swap overheads for lamps, candles, and Edison bulbs.
Load a 4-hour hot-jazz playlist or book a live trio for the first 90 minutes.
A drink on arrival sets the tone before anyone can feel awkward.
Shop this guide
All 47 pieces
Bestseller
Perfect for Her
Limited Edition
Limited Edition
Frequently asked questions
What do you serve at a Gatsby party?
Serve Jazz Age cocktails: French 75, Bee's Knees, Sidecar, and a Mint Julep, plus plenty of champagne. Keep the menu to 3 or 4 signatures so your bar stays fast. Champagne coupes are the signature glass of the era.
What should you wear to a Great Gatsby party?
Women wear drop-waist beaded or fringed dresses with long pearl ropes and feathered headbands. Men wear black tie or a three-piece suit with suspenders and a bow tie. At minimum, add pearls or a feather – the dress code is the whole point.
What glasses are used for a Gatsby party?
The coupe is the defining glass, holding about 5 to 7 ounces for champagne and cocktails like the French 75. Add lowball glasses (roughly 8 to 10 oz) for whiskey and highballs (10 to 12 oz) for long drinks. A Nick & Nora glass at about 5 oz is the period-correct upgrade.
Is a coupe glass historically accurate for the 1920s?
Yes. The coupe dates to around 1663 in England and was the standard champagne glass through the Jazz Age. The popular story that it was molded on Marie Antoinette's breast is a myth – the design predates her by over a century.
How many cocktails should I plan per guest?
Plan on 2 to 3 drinks per guest for the first two hours, then 1 per hour after. Pre-batch your two most popular cocktails in pitchers (adding champagne or soda to order) so the line never stalls.
What music sets the mood for a Roaring 20s party?
Hot jazz from the era: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and Fats Waller. Build a 4-hour playlist with upbeat Charleston numbers early and slower ballads late, or book a live jazz trio for the opening stretch.
How far in advance should I send invitations?
Send them 3 to 4 weeks out. Guests need time to source flapper dresses and black tie, and a well-costumed crowd is what makes a Gatsby party feel authentic rather than improvised.
Pair with: the Art Deco & Gatsby collection for a coordinated bar, then build your set from Art Deco coupes (set of 4, 6 oz) for the champagne cocktails and Speakeasy lowballs (set of 4, 9 oz) for the whiskey crowd. Old sport, your guests will remember the glass long after they forget the canapés.
- Lead-free, hand-blown crystal
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee
- Arrives gift-ready in a satin-lined box
