I can't say enough how important it is to think outside the box when planning a fabulous event! I recently watched Party Monsters Cabo and it was the episode with Carmen Electra; I was absolutely mortified at the party that was planned for the love of her life...zero creativity! Below is a list of my favorite theme ideas for 2009 and 2010.
Favorite Themes:
Carnival - not the typical "Carnival" themed event with lions and tigers and bears o'my (in red, yellow, greens and blues); but the event C&C would have planned for Carmen would have had the following...live statues body painted, aerial artists (Picture - CIRQUE DU SOLEIL), haute lounge furniture, lighted bars, themed food stations, fabulous lighting and decor and a NY Style DJ, which is just the beginning. Def. a favorite of mine!
Hollywood - again, not the typical "Hollywood" themed event in gold/black and film reels, but I would totally take the "White Party/Hollywood" theme to a whole new level. Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and yes; Michelle Obama eat your heart out... feathers, white leather lounge furniture, fabulous black and white decor,couture fashion show, hundreds of candles in glassware and light boxes...and so much more!
James Bond - Bond girls, Bond girls and more Bond girls...Black Tie is a must for this event and a personal favorite of mine! So, much I did my husband's 40th birthday in this theme...Casino Royale Style. (of course, I am partial to Black, White and a just a hint of red - 100's of Red Roses!)
Wonders of the World - I could literally create a blog just on this theme...What's important to know if you are going to do this theme is to do a lot of research on each of the countries (or country) you are choosing to feature. Not just on the countries cuisine or what type of "themed" decor you should do, but on the countries customs and make the event as authentic as you possible can! Your guests should feel as though they landed on another countries soil.
Masquerade Ball or bal masqué - This is def. my all time favorite and yes C&C will host an event that has this theme before I hang up my planning gloves - My Pledge to Chicago! I have seen pictures of different masquerade balls and I have to say how disappointing they were. My event would have hand delivered custom scroll invitations by masked men in tuxedos, luxurious linen and gold details for the rentals, masked piano player welcoming guests through the hall to the great room, custom favors flown in from Venice or designed to reflect such and so much more!
Best advice when planning a themed event, research! Think about the five senses when planning your event. Visually, how does every detail look? Does the food/drink taste authentic to the country etc.
A couple of years ago, when a dear family friend of mine was getting married and I was in the wedding, I couldn't figure out what to buy him and his future wife as a wedding gift. After I became acquainted with Kolo, I came up with the brilliant idea of putting together a recipe book. It took me months to collect old family recipes from my mother (since the groom's family and my family grew up together), his mother, the bride's mother, and even some new recipes of my own. I typed up each recipe on an off-white card stock and put it into the recipe book. In the end, I had over 100 recipes in the book, but made sure to leave a handful of pages blank at the end so they could add recipes of their own as well! I even bought some stamps and printed, "Dean Family Recipe Book" on the front cover to make it more personalized:) The bride and groom loved the book and are still using it years later. The present was so affordable and really personal! 
Any time I've visited a Vosges boutique or their corporate headquarters, everyone has been insanely warm, friendly, and bubbly! It must be because of all the chocolate they get to eat:) AND, the best part of going in person is that each boutique offers enough free samples of chocolate to make a meal out of it and the headquarters were no different; they gave me a FREE LARGE Creole Exotic candy bar to eat while I waited! The chocolate was every bit as good as it sounds and even better! 
Not only do they offer large candy bars, but they also sell miniature candy bars in case you can't handle a large bar. Some of their varieties include Red Fire Exotic, Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon, and Black Pearl Exptic...just to name a few. If you can't decide which candy bar to choose, then you can always purchase their "Mini Exotic Candy Bar Library" to sample all of them! This would be a perfect gift for any chocolate lover:)
I especially LOVE their custom "Spread the Love" labels that can be used for jam jars. They are the perfect favor to give to your guests, especially if you made the jam yourself:) The labels can be customized to match your event colors as well. The prices are really reasonable as well and retail for $15 for 12 labels, making it practically a steal. They have the labels displayed on small mason jars with fabric as the cover and tied with rope. Changing the fabric cover and rope would definitely vary the look of the jars, making it more personalized. Recently I've been obcessed with red and white toile, so I would use toile with white ribbon to give it make it my own:)
Another great item they offer is their "BBQ Cutlery Packets!" Instead of individually wrapping your guests' silverware up in cloth or paper napkins, you could spice it up and use these paper bags with sayings that include, "Good Grub", "Chow Down", or "Dee-Lish." If you were serving barbeque ribs or something messy, these packets would be perfect for holding moist towlettes as well as paper napkins in them. The prices on these packets are the same as the jar labels at $15 for 12 packets.
