Here's a theme party idea that will work until December 31, 2000, the true start of the new millennium: Organize a costume party in which attendees come dressed as someone famous from the 20th century.
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts did just that for its Insurance and Financial Services Roundtable fam this past August at the Hyatt Regency Kauai. People will be talking about it long into the next century.
Organizers sent attendees a detailed form beforehand and asked them to fill in their measurements. Guests were also instructed to bring only black dress shoes for the final banquet. No one knew until the evening before the banquet exactly what the theme of the event would be (Millennium Madness, of course!) or what they would be wearing. That's when costumes were delivered to each guest room, complete with instructions attached describing the costume and how to wear it.
Some couples had same-era costumes; others didn't. The four Beatles from Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band were there, as were flappers, hippies, hip hop artists, Marilyn Monroe, W.C. Fields, Sherlock Holmes, Austin Powers, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, and other assorted characters. A band played tunes from the last half of the century, with a heavy sprinkling from the 1970s and '80s. For mementos, a professional photographer took photographs and developed them on the spot, smartly framed with the Millennium Madness logo.
