Mexican Decorating Ideas

If you have a yearning for the beaches of Cabo, the sites of Cuernavaca, or the mole of Oaxaca, take a figurative trip south of the border with a Mexican Fiesta themed party. And we're here to get your creative juices flowing, so you can fashion a fun and memorable event for you and your guests.

A Mexican Fiesta is all about color! In addition to highlights of Mexico's national colors of red, green, and white, the next step is to choose a palette of dominant colors for your event. 

For inspiration, consider Mexico's landscape of year-round blooming flowers, colorful Mexican tile and dress, or simply the color variations in a Mexican blanket. For best results, start by selecting six colors to repeat throughout the party area; here are 3 suggestions:

*When using SUBTLE colors, add interest by substituting one (1) color with a corresponding FESTIVE option; for example, use purple instead of lavender or fuchsia instead of pastel pink.

Bienvenido! Entrance & Foyer

• Make a great first impression and set the tone for your event with a jubilant & welcoming entrance:
• Line the walkway with colored ribbons or strips of fabric on stakes
• Flank the front door with hanging chili pepper ristras and/or sombreros
• Kick it up a notch with flower or tissue pom poms hanging from tree limbs

• Drape red, white & green bunting on fence and/or porch railings
• Wrap balusters, columns, fence posts/rails, and/or tree trunks in fabric strips of different festive colors
• Hoist a Mexican flag or banner above the front door
• Light the trees & walkway with hanging colored tealight lanterns or string lights


• Construct an old Mexican town vignette in the foyer:



• Arrange hay bales, weathered fence posts, old crates, cow skulls, & wagon wheels as props
• Cutout & paint a cactus from cardboard for the wall and/or foam board to stand up, DIY here
• Make poster or cardboard saloon doors for the entryway
• Scatter hay or straw (sparingly) on the floor and walkway
• Set-up a directional signpost with rustic or fiesta colored arrows to Mexican towns & points of interest
• Paint a "La Cantina" sign for the entrance to the party area
• Frame the doorway with an arch of painted stone blocks or tile

Give 'em a Sign

• Harmonize your decor by repeating distinctive Mexican icons, symbols and motifs, such as:
• Sombreros
• Cacti
• Aztec suns
• Pinatas
• Donkeys
• Tacos
• Maracas
• Tequila
• Ceramic pots
• Margaritas
• Mexican puppets
• Paper/tissue flowers
• Serapes
• Mariachi bands
• Sugar skulls
• Chili peppers
• Geckos
• Papel picado
• Guitars
• Cow skulls
• Mexican flags
• Charro cowboys
• Parrots
• Aztec temples
• Corona

Show Your Colors

• Highlight your selected colors throughout the party area:
• Neutralize the background with white, beige, & black to make your colors stand out 
• Remove competing colors and objects that distract from your chosen palette
  
• Repeat each color at least 5 times to maximize the effect

Fly High

• Start at the top with hanging multicolored decorations, specifically:

• Stretch papel picado (perforated paper) banners
• Suspend round paper lanterns in varying sizes & heights
• Alternate: Use white paper lanterns or metal rings with hanging colored ribbons

• Intermix swaths of fabric
• Fluff tissue or tulle puff balls
• Crisscross flag or pennant banners
• Make flower balls, DIY here

• Dangle ceiling swirls
• Hang folded serapes and/or serape placemats
• Tie bandanas end-to-end
• Open parasols upside down
• String banners of Mexican flags

• Also, decorate with cascading vines and flowering plants
• Hang Mexican marionette puppets over the bar or serving table

Up the Walls

• Enhance the background with wall decorations, trimmings, and backdrops:
• Add one or two bands of vertical stripes by attaching serape runners to the wall

• Print and frame over-sized Loteria cards
• Frame serape placemats and/or papel picado
• Create a multicolored backdrop of circles and stripes with:

• Circles: Over-sized paper flowers and/or round fans 
• Stripes: Serapes, striped fabric, streamers, ribbons, strips of cloth, or swaths of tulle
• Arrange colored hats or sombreros in the shape of flowers
• Make a garden of paper flowers
• Cutout and paint cardboard Saguaro cacti

Serve 'em Right

• Fire up your food service with unique details at appetizer spreads, self-serve buffets, salsa bars, dessert tables, and hors d'oeuvre trays:
• Build tiers with down-turned terracotta flower pots topped with their saucers (Photo: Molly Winn)

• Trim serving dishes with pom pom fringe
• Use colored serveware including cake stands, beverage tubs, baskets, and utensil holders

• Cascade chips and/or breads from overturned baskets
• Border the table with overhanging serapes individually gathered and tied with a paper flower
• Alternately, border the table with Mexican flags or papel picado 
• Tie a colored bow onto each chafing dish handle

• Serve salsa and/or toppings in giant margarita glasses and/or mocajetes
• Decorate food with solid-color or Mexican flag toothpicks and mini papel picado banners
• Elevate a sombrero with a cake stand and fill with chips
• Include a mini Mexican themed centerpiece on serving trays

Raise the Bar

• Lift spirits with extra fun touches and embellishments in cocktails and at the bar:
• Dress-up beers in mini serape ponchos and charro sombreros
• Skewer garnishes with Mexican flag toothpicks

• Fill a margarita glass with hot tamale cinnamon candies
• Rusticize the bar with weathered tin or galvanized metal
• Make your own bar with a wood-grain tablecover, table skirt, & stand-alone shelf covered by a serape
• For an old west look, hang a full length mirror horizontally behind the bar
• Optionally, add a small shelf below

• Hang Mexican themed string lights around the bartop, under the overhang, or behind the bar
• Pass margarita or cactus Jell-o shots, recipe here

Focal Points & Centerpieces

• Create a scene with vases, centerpieces, focal points, and accents:

• Cultivate a focal point or centerpiece of potted cacti; adjust heights with risers underneath a serape
• Fill separate glass vases with 
• Cut limes, oranges, or lemons
• Ball cactus or maracas
• Party beads in different colors
• Chili or bell peppers
• Repurpose mocajetes as centerpiece vases
• Use ceramic & glass jugs as vases

• Optionally, wrap in colored fabric or papel picado
• Frame a focal point or doorway with an arch of paper flowers
• Paint the inside of clear glass beer, tequila, & margarita mix bottles or jars in different colors and use as vases
• Alternately, fill clear glass bottles with colored water or fairy lights
• Use a pinata as a centerpiece or to hold a flower arrangement
• For a whimsical touch, make a Mexican centerpiece with a sombrero, poncho, eyes & mustache on a round glass vase

Light it Up

• Give your event that magic touch with an extra beam of brilliance:

• String colored or white lights along papel picado, pennant, and/or flag banners


• Add fairy lights to Corona and Patron bottles

• Decorate with Mexican theme string lights, such as cactus, margaritas, cow skulls, chili peppers, parrots, pinatas & sugar skulls
• Assemble papel picado luminaries, DIY here
• Make bell pepper tealight candles, DIY here
• Set out cactus candlesticks or neon lights

• Uplight walls and focal points with colored lights
• Float candles in vases filled with water and chili peppers or limes
• Include submersible colored floral lights in vases
• Light Mexican religious saint candles
• Use colored glow sticks on walkways or floating in the pool

Reception, Banquet & Dinner Table Settings

• Bring your style to the table with coordinated color and details:

• For rectangular tables, use different or multi-color place settings on a solid tablecover with serape table runners
• Make flower pot sombrero placecard holders, DIY here
• Wrap napkins with mini paper flower rings
• Use papel picado or serape placemats
• Loop colored party bead necklaces as napkin rings

Take it Outside

• Use Spanish-language cans for vases or utensil holders

• Make couches with serape blankets over hay bales

Favorite Things

• Give thanks with thoughtful party favors:
• Bottles of hot sauce
• Maraca tied with a paper flower
• Potted cactus
• Chili pepper and/or cactus cheese spreaders
• Sun shaped soap