For my now-husband's 30th birthday, I wanted to throw a party unique to him and his interests. As he was born in Montego Bay, I chose to have a Jamaican theme for the festivities. This party would not have been possible without the assistance of my good friend Jenny!
Invitations: The planning began with the invitations: personal travel itineraries for each guest that outlined the details of the event. These were printed as brochures and mailed out in envelopes to the guests about a month before the party.
Guests were encouraged to wear island attire, and I had a contest where the birthday boy picked his the best-dressed person to win a pair of movie passes. Below are just a few of them!
Decorations: 
Obviously we went with a red, green, and yellow theme for the Rasta effect. I decorated our condo with balloons and streamers of the three colours, along with large blow-up palm trees and some other island decorations from the party store. I had palm tree cutouts of various sizes that I taped to the walls, an authentic Jamaican table cloth from a co-worker, and a picture collage of the birthday boy throughout the years.
Obviously we went with a red, green, and yellow theme for the Rasta effect. I decorated our condo with balloons and streamers of the three colours, along with large blow-up palm trees and some other island decorations from the party store. I had palm tree cutouts of various sizes that I taped to the walls, an authentic Jamaican table cloth from a co-worker, and a picture collage of the birthday boy throughout the years.Other small details: umbrella straws, tropical stir sticks, ganja leaves...
Games and Prizes: We had two quizzes throughtout the night: one quiz focused on the history of Jamaica and one was about the birthday boy. The winner of each quiz was awarded a prize. There was also a door prize draw at the end of the party. All of these prizes were summer themed -- a BBQ book and toolset, some daquiri glasses and a recipe book for cocktails, Jamican rum, etc.
Winners of the costume prize: The Jamaican Bobsled Team!
Miscellaneous: In the upstairs den, I set up our video camera on a tripod and created a sign telling guests to record their personal messages to the birthday boy. The setup was complete with a palm tree in the background, a sun umbrella, and two sunhats for people to wear during the recording.
I also had a guest book created by a friend, where people could sign their birthday wishes.
Throughout the party, you could hear the relaxing tunes of Bob Marley and other Jamaican musicians.
Food and Drink: I had the party catered by a local Jamaican restaurant: we had jerk chicken, rice and peas, beef patties, cole slaw, bread, and fruit.
I had a friend make an amazing birthday cake decorated like the Jamaican flag.
To drink, I made a rum punch and also served Red Stripe beer, wine, ginger beer, and various tropical juices.
Parting Gift: Each person got a jar of home-made jerk rub spice, made by me and a friend. These were adorned with labels showing the name of the event and the date.
