A Jane Austen birthday party is a fun theme for older girls. With the regency era gowns and up dos, this is not just a costume party...it's an event!

Jane Austen novels are found on nearly all young women's book shelves. The movies are a joy to watch, and young ladies love analyzing the characters and thinking about whom they are most like.

As girls mature and begin to experience society outside their own homes, the stories take on more meaning and become even more enjoyable as no one can capture the intimate relationships between neighbors and human nature in general the way Jane Austen can.

Our favorite Jane Austen movies are the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. There is way too much cleavage but Colin Firth is the best Mr. Darcy ever and the movie is almost word for word to the book.

Like a tea party, floral patterns, pinks, and whites are perfect for the Regency era feel. Decorate your party space with:

• White Balloons
• Pink and Black Streamers
• Floral patterns for pillows and linens
• Lace accents
• Black busts and candelabras are very recognizable 
• Regency era paraphernalia. Incorporating them and making black part of the color scheme is a simple and affordable way to make this party feel very elegant.

Lace and lace doilies spread under the food is also a nice touch. The tea cups themselves lend to the overall feel of this party.

If time and space allows, quotes from your favorite Jane Austen novels adds a very special touch. Print these quotes out on white paper and mount them on black paper.

On to the food: A cake that tastes delicious with tea is our adaption to All Day I Dream about Food's coconut lemon curd cake. That served with fruit, vanilla ice-cream and tea is perfect for your Jane Austen birthday party. You can serve this cake whether the occasion is a birthday or not.

Some cheese and salami is always a welcome treat served as guests arrive. Save the cake for after the games and when tea is served.

Any games that are appropriate for tea parties work well for a Jane Austen birthday party.

Musical chairs to music from the movie Emma and the tea bag toss are musts. Some sort of trivia game is nice as an ice breaker too. All these games are explained on our tea party page.

This game is really fun, especially because everyone goes home with a gift. The object is to get the gift that looks like the most fun to own! This game is best played when no other prize awarded games are played. You will need: 

• A gift for as many people as are attending, already gift wrapped in colors or patterns matching your theme. Make these gifts as attractive as possible.
• 2 decks of cards

Have all the gifts on a table for all to see.

Stand in a circle in the middle of the room, leaving space in the middle.

Take one deck of cards and deal them all out. (any leftover cards can be taken out, but they must be taken out of the other deck as well). Taking your other deck, read the first card. The person that has that card can go grab a gift and set it in a pile at her feet.

Repeat until all the gifts are off the table. Now the everyone can start taking gifts from each other's piles. When all the deck has been gone through, the remaining gifts in your pile is yours.

Warning: This may insight giggles as well.