The Best Princess Birthday Party Ideas (Disney Theme)

When my daughter turned three, all she wanted was a princess-themed birthday party. I frantically started Pinterest-ing (is that a word?) princess party ideas as I had absolutely zero clue what I was doing.

We ended up with a beautiful Disney-themed party full of dresses, magical party favors, and an on-theme menu (lookin’ at you, fairy dust pretzel wands!).

Here’s your ultimate guide to throwing an incredible princess party for the little girl in your life. Let’s begin our royal celebration!

Princess Party Invitations

Before I planned anything else, I knew I had to get the birthday invitations done.

I ended up ordering from Minted. They have an amazing princess-themed party invitation, and I love that you can upload your address list, and they print them on all your envelopes.

That saves so much time, though you still have to stamp and mail them once they arrive.

Princess-Themed Food Ideas

I decided to have the party at 11 a.m. to better accommodate my kids’ sleep schedules. They nap around 1 p.m., so a lunchtime party seemed perfect.

Here’s a look at what we had on our food table.

1. “Frozen” Sandwiches

As soon as I decided on a princess theme, I knew I wanted to have sandwiches.

Cue Frozen: “I mean it’s crazy – what? We finish each other’s… sandwiches! That’s what I was gonna say!”

I decided to make chicken salad sandwiches, and at the last minute, my fantastic in-laws picked up a Honeybaked ham so there’d be another option.

My husband even made a little sign to tie in the sandwich line from the Frozen song, but I’ll get to that in the decorations section.

2. Fairy Pretzel Wands

For some sweet treats, I made fairy pretzel wands, which are just long pretzels dipped in white melting chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. I did this with my daughter the night before, which was so much fun; she had a blast! 

Definitely splurge on the Ghiradelli white melting chocolate, though. The generic one was nowhere near as good (we bought and compared both).

3. Cinderella’s Castle Salad

We also made Cinderella’s Castle Salad – that’s right, a direct copy of the salad on the menu at Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World.

It included mixed greens, toasted pumpkin seeds, riesling-marinated golden raisins, pink lady apples (that we mixed with lemon juice so it wouldn’t turn brown), and balsamic vinaigrette. 

I used the balsamic vinaigrette recipe from Barefeet in the Kitchen. Homemade dressing is always the best, and because this has Dijon mustard in it, the oil doesn’t separate.

4. Mac & Cheese

Because there would be kids, I made sure to have Mac & Cheese on the menu. I like making Mac & Cheese using the roux method, and I used this recipe to make sure I got the proportions right. I didn’t end up baking the Mac & Cheese since we had other things in the oven, but you certainly could!

5. Dips

We made two dips – a Jalapeno Popper Dip in the Slow Cooker (SO GOOD!) and my mother-in-law’s famous Crab Dip.

Here’s her dip recipe:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• ½ c. mayo
• ¾ c. sour cream
• 1 ¼ c. shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ tsp. Ground mustard
• 1 tsp. Lemon juice
• 1 ¾ tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lb. lump crab meat
• 2 dashes hot sauce

Combine all ingredients. Bake at 375º F for 25 minutes.

6. Princess-Pink Macarons

Finally, we made macarons. I thought macarons felt right for a princess party, and if you’ve never made them before, it looks more intimidating than it is. It’s not a walk in the park, but it’s doable!

Plus, so many people commented on how good they were.

7. Shirley Temple Bar

I usually do some sort of special cocktail at our parties, but since this was a lunchtime party, I figured we’d stick to beer, wine, and hard seltzers.

Instead, the special drink of the day was a Shirley Temple bar, perfect for the princess theme. We set out Sprite, grenadine, and maraschino cherries. And hey, you could slip some vodka or rum in that if you had to. 😉 

Princess Birthday Cake Ideas

I try to save money as much as possible, but this time, I decided the one thing I’d splurge on would be the cake.

I’ll share the cake we got along with some other really cute ideas!

1. Princess Crown Cake

I got several quotes in my area for a princess-themed cake that would feed at least 20 people, and I settled on a two-tiered cake from a local baker. The cost was $225, which seemed like a lot to me, but it was so worth it.

It was beautiful and so delicious. We got vanilla on the bottom and strawberry on the top.

2. Disney Castle Cake

This brightly-colored cake has an adorable Disney castle nestled on top. I also couldn’t miss those baby pink macarons!

3. Princess Dress Cake

These princess dresses are such a great idea for a birthday cake. It turns the 2D photo into 3D, which is such a neat effect.

If you’re doing a true Disney princess birthday party, this type of cake is a must!

4. Elsa Cake

I love the design on this Elsa cake – the cake itself is her dress, which again, is such a unique effect!

5. Princess Crown Sheet Cake

This sheet cake design is something you can do on your own, which I love.

6. Princess Dress Cupcakes

You could opt to go the cupcake route, but you don’t have to sacrifice a stunning design. Create the shape of a dress with your cupcakes and do pretty pink icing swirls on top.

You can even pick up some cupcakes from the grocery store to save on time.

7. Castle Cake

This is the other cake I had my eye on for my daughter’s party. However, the price for this one came back above what I was willing to spend. But if you have the budget, my gosh, this is gorgeous!

8. Princess Cake Pops

My kids are obsessed with cake pops – I love this twist on a classic cake. You might still need a smaller cake if you want to blow out the candles, but this makes serving super easy, and toddlers would love it.

9. Unique Princess Dress Cake

I adore this take on a princess dress cake. The Snow White color scheme is 🤌

10. Pink Swirls Cake

This pink swirls cake is definitely one you could attempt at home. I did one like it for my daughter’s first birthday, and it was easier than it looks. You just need a piping bag with a tip.

Princess Party Favors

I always like having party favor bags for our little guests – the kids get so excited about taking something home with them.

You don’t have to spend a lot on goodie bags, either – I spent a total of $56.99 on mine (I made 15 bags total).

The exact items I ordered aren’t available anymore, but I found close (and even better) alternatives:

• Princess bags
• Bubbles
• Pixie sticks (a.k.a Pixie dust!)
• Ring pops
• Princess play packs

I think they turned out really cute!

Princess Birthday Party Decorations

The decorations for this princess-themed birthday bash were definitely a group effort.

My mom made this incredible birthday banner on her Cricut, my husband did some woodworking to make a sign to go with our sandwiches, and my dad was even blowing up balloons for hours on the morning of the party.

Shout out to my family!

I’ll take you through all the decor for the party, including the party banner, balloon arch, princess dresses on a rack, Frozen sandwiches sign, ingredient cards with place card holders, and more.

We Finish Each Other’s Sandwiches Wood Decor

I wanted to have some kind of sign to tie in the Frozen lyric, “We finish each other’s… sandwiches!”

Yes, I could’ve just typed it out and printed it, but I’m lucky to have a husband who loves a good woodworking challenge. First, he designed the sign using his CNC software.

Then, he used his CNC machine (brand is Onefinity) to cut out the letters.

Here is a picture after it was cut, but before sanding and staining:

And here is the final result!

DIY Princess Birthday Party Banner

The birthday party banner was a labor of love.

My mom is a master on the Cricut, and she made this amazing Happy Birthday banner along with these intricate dress cut-outs featuring all the Disney princess dresses.

The Happy Birthday Banner uses a free SVG cut file from Gina C. Creates.

And the princess dress cut-outs are made from these princess dress templates.

She got some glitter paper from Hobby Lobby.

She did her thing on the Cricut to make all these lovely dresses. Because they turned out so amazing, she decided to turn them into a book rather than stringing them into a banner. You could do either one, but they are definitely something to treasure!!

For some of the embellishments, she took a bag, put the small pieces face down in it, and sprayed them lightly with spray adhesive.

She spent days fussing over this and said she loved every second of it!

If you are not a Cricut person, you can find similar princess banners on Amazon.

Princess Balloon Arch

I found this DIY balloon arch on Amazon and decided to go with it versus spending around $100 from a local balloon shop.

I was so busy making food the morning of the party that I put my dad in charge of it, and he was blowing up these balloons for probably two hours straight. The assembly of it was also confusing, so we ended up just creating our own arch on our wall.

Make sure you have balloon tape, which will allow you to stick balloons to the wall and make your own balloon design.

Bonus – the kids loved playing with the balloons!

Princess Dresses on a Rack

My daughter already had many princess toys and dresses, so I thought it made sense to use those to add some decor to the party.

I bought a small clothing rack and displayed her dresses next to our gift table. Some other girls there put some on, so it served two purposes as the little princesses played dress-up.

Special Cake Stands

I also ordered two special cake stands to display the macarons and whatever else needed to be set out.

They are both from the Pioneer Woman, but they are no longer in stock. Any cute cake stand will do – here are some great options from Amazon.

Ingredient Cards with Place Card Holders

If I have time, I try to make ingredient cards and display them on place card holders.

They’re cute, they let people know what each item is, and they also help if someone has a food allergy and needs to know what’s in each dish.

I use Canva to design them (it’s free), and I use the “Pinot Noir Label” text design. I print them on thick, 80lb paper and stick them into a custom place card holder my husband made with scrap wood.

You can find similar place card holders on Amazon (I like this rustic wood option, but perhaps this one is more princess-y).

For our last party, I used regular paper and laminated each one, but this time around, I found that printing them on thicker paper allowed me to cut the laminating step.

People always comment on how cute and handy they are!

Beauty and the Beast Rose

When we go to Disney World, I always love going to the Be Our Guest Restaurant. The way they display the rose in the far dining room is so cool.

I found this one on Amazon, and while it is a little pricier than I was hoping (around $65 when I bought it), I read pretty poor reviews of cheaper versions and decided to splurge. This one is made of a real rose that has been preserved. It is really high quality, and we just use it as regular decor in our house now that the party is over.

Princess Birthday Party Activity Ideas

I was whooped when I figured out everything I’ve mentioned in this article. I didn’t plan any special activities, and everything turned out perfectly fine.

The kids all ate and played with the toys in our living room while the adults ate and mingled, and we quickly went right into the party stuff, like opening presents, singing Happy Birthday, and eating cake.

After that, some people left, and those who stayed hopped in our pool. We had a nice, relaxing afternoon on our patio.

However, I found some adorable princess-themed activities I would’ve loved to do if I had the time and energy left:

• Assemble a princess crown craft
• Making your own wand or shield craft
• Beauty bar with jewelry, perfume, and lip gloss
• Olaf snowball toss game
• Fairy princess treasure hunt

You can get more princess party inspiration on my Pinterest page.

Related: Top 10 Fun Montessori Play Silks Activity Ideas

Conclusion

I hope this helps you in your quest to have the perfect Princess party!

If you’re anything like me, you’ll panic in the days leading up to the party and start spending money on frivolous things to make sure the party is amazing. Resist the urge – all your birthday girl needs is you.

Happy partying!

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