If you’re leaving for Australia, you’ll probably already be thinking about how you’re going to say goodbye to your friends and family. Our farewell goodbye party was on my mind from the moment we decided we were going to make the move abroad because I knew our Australia leaving party was going to be one of the hardest things I was ever going to have to organise and attend.
Organising your Australia-themed party to bid everyone farewell feels like an impossible task. Not only will you be really emotional about going to Australia and leaving everyone behind, but you’ll be swamped with tasks like organising shippers, packing your bags and setting up one-way travel insurance. But even if you’re hoping to avoid it, it’s a good idea to organise a goodbye party because everyone needs a chance to see you one last time before you go and it really does give a sense of closure for everybody and helps you to get ready for the next phase of your adventure.
I was actually feeling a bit torn about our Aussie-themed leaving party – yes, I was so worried I’d be a dribbling mess the entire time as I was feeling so emotional about saying goodbyes, but I also LOVE planning a good party so I was also secretly excited about bringing all of my Australia party ideas to life!
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This article about planning your Australia-themed party covers the following:
Table of Contents
Planning your Australia farewell party: Creating an Australia leaving party to remember
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I think it’s really lovely to have an Australian theme party for your move rather than a plain old boring leaving party without a theme. Having an Australia theme party means you have endless opportunities for Australia props like Australia-themed cakes, Australia theme party decorations, Australian-themed party games, Australia-themed clothes and all of the fun details that will make it a memorable event.
Just like with a wedding, it’s the little details that stand out – people will remember your Australian table decorations and the fun Australia-themed clothing and as it’s so fun it will distract you from feeling too sad about the fact that you’re actually leaving (I speak from experience!).
Whether you plan your whole Australia leaving party yourself like I did, or you ask a friend or family member to plan the Australian party decorations, Australia-theme cake and the Australian props (which really takes the pressure off), read on to learn how you can make sure your Australia leaving party is an event to remember for everyone involved.
I actually found that organising the Aussie theme party myself helped focus my mind and stopped me getting so emotional because I had something to do rather than dwelling about how I was going to feel saying my goodbyes, so although it takes a bit of time to plan your Australia leaving party, I found it really helped me as it kept me busy on the lead up to our move.
Although I’ve suggested you include plenty of Australian theme ideas, it’s also important to keep your Australia farewell party as simple as possible because everyone will be emotional on the day and you’ll be so busy with the packing, shipping and selling your home etc. that you don’t need something too fussy and complicated taking up your headspace.
Your first task is to work out exactly who you want there and what scale the party is going to be. Whether you decide to host an intimate Australian-themed dinner party for a small group of your closest friends and family, or you go to town organising a venue to host a huge Australian-themed party full of beach party decorations, inflatable kangaroos and cork hats – it really doesn’t matter. You can go as simple or as wild with your ideas, but put some serious thought into the planning now so it’s not a mad rush to do it just before you move.
I suggest you grab a pen and paper while reading this article and together we can create a truly memorable goodbye party.
Your Australia leaving do doesn’t need to cost much either – you can put in a single order for most things on Amazon and voila – you have can have everything you need to host your Australia leaving party in a couple of days and for a budget price too.
Having an Australia-themed party really helped to bring our family and friends together to celebrate with us and it gave us a chance to spend some time with the people we love before we made the move to Australia. Our goodbye party was a really important part of the process of moving and leaving our lives behind.
As my hubby and I are from two different parts of the UK, we had farewell parties in both locations so that people didn’t have to travel too far to see us. We just reused the leaving party decorations at both events so hosting two leaving dos didn’t cost us any more money other than the food and drink for each party (and we kept that super simple)!
Grab yourself some fun Australian party props, throw in some Australian-themed party food and some Aussie-themed cakes and Australian games, put up some leaving party decorations and some Australia-themed party decorations (plus maybe come up with a couple of Australian party games!) and you’ll have created the perfect emigration send-off that nobody will forget.
Don’t forget: If people keep asking you what you want for your leaving present, check out this post full of ideas for inspiration or this one about experiences they could buy you! These books also make great leaving gifts too.
Party ideas: Getting the details just right at your Australian-themed leaving party
I feel well qualified to help you plan your Australia-themed party because I worked in event and project management for years before we moved to Australia. One of my roles in the UK involved planning sponsored parties for major television channels including the BBC, the Discovery Channel, and Channel 4 to name a few. The main thing I learned during my time planning these high-profile media parties and coming up with farewell party theme ideas for my own Australia leaving party was that although a great venue really helps, the real trick is in all of the themed party details that you include.
The details are what people remember and, actually, often these are the cheapest parts of the leaving party. It’s all about branding the theme, so make sure you get your Australian-themed party decorations and Australia props just right! This is your chance to create an awesome Aussie farewell party that people will talk about for years!
And a great Aussie farewell party really doesn’t need to cost that much or involve much effort – I promise (we hosted our two leaving parties on a shoestring budget)! Let me show you how…
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Nail your Australia-themed leaving party: What you need to get the Aussie party theme just right
Before we dive into my top tips for your Australian theme party planning, I’ve collated this Australian leaving party shopping list to save you time. These Australia leaving party ideas really will help you create an amazing, atmospheric farewell party to remember.
Whether you’re hosting your Australia them party in a hall or in your home, these Australia party decorations will get you excited about your new life in Aus.
Australia leaving party invitations
You can set the tone of your party by sending out themed leaving party invitations to your Australia leaving party. You don’t need to spend a fortune on these. You can easily pick something like these up on Amazon or look out for a supplier on Etsy or Facebook. You can even create your Aussie party invites for free in Canva and have them printed at the local office store.
Go for something fun, cute and show everybody instantly they’re coming to an Australian theme party to say goodbye and have a final laugh with you.
Capture all of the memories at your Australian leaving party
You will remember this party forever and it might be the last time you’re going to be in the room with all of these incredible friends and family. Make sure you capture as much of the event as you can. A Polaroid camera that takes instant photos is a great addition to the party. You can get your guests share it around and then sign messages for you on the back of the photos. You can then get them to pin the photos on a big board so everyone can see them during the party and as the leaving party night goes on (and more booze flows) the pictures will get sillier and sillier.
If Polaroids aren’t your thing, then invest in a great compact camera that allows you to take amazing pictures and share on the go.
Set up a selfie corner for farewell pictures. A party selfie frame/selfie booth makes a great addition to a farewell party because it means you can capture photos of all of your friends and family having fun. Get them to post their pictures to social media using a chosen hashtag for the event and you’ll be able to see everyone’s shots.
Australia table decorations and leaving party decorations for the party venue
Confetti is an easy way to decorate tables at a party – just scatter the table confetti around the buffet table and the drinks tables. Don’t miss the chance to tie this decoration into your Australian theme – this is a really fun way to add some Australian-themed decorations to the tables.
Flags are always fun at parties – the kids will love them. You can get some small flags for waving or just put them in vases around the venue for some extra party table decorations.
Australia flag bunting makes an excellent leaving party decoration. It’s something you can add to a wall, to the bar or on a buffet table.
Australia-themed decoration party props
Who doesn’t need an inflatable kangaroo or an inflatable croc at their Aussie-themed party?!
And an inflatable beach ball is a must if you’re going with the Aussie beach theme. There are plenty of beach party decorations on Amazon so you can really go to town on this one and you could even buy them in bulk and let your guests take one home with them as a memory of the party. You can find all kinds of beach balls – ones with Australia flags on them, watermelon-themed beach balls and even sea creature beach balls!
An Australia leaving party backdrop is an easy way to decorate your venue. You can find some very cool ones online that would be great mementos of your party. They make a great backdrop for photos.
Leaving cake ideas: Australian cake decorations in the UK or elsewhere on Amazon
It’s easy to get Australian cake toppers and Australian-themed cake decorations in the UK or anywhere else internationally by ordering online. Your local Amazon has loads of possibilities for Australia-themed cake toppers and beach cake toppers to choose from. There are some awesome Australia cupcake toppers, flags and edible emigration cake toppers and even koala toppers. Whether you’re looking for stand up cake toppers, rice paper cupcake toppers or you’re searching for a full Australian flag cake topper for a full-sized cake, Amazon has loads of choice.
There are all kinds of Australia cake decoration options, no matter what your skill level so you can make an Australian-themed cake with ease (my cake decorating skills are non-existent but even I can handle sticking a spike in the top of some cupcakes!).
>> Shop for Australia cake decorations and toppings on Amazon
Way to keep your farewell party memories with these leaving book ideas
Your Australia-themed leaving do is a night to remember for the rest of your lives, so don’t forget to get a scrapbook or leaving book and pass it around on the night so friends and family can leave you a good luck message. I admit, it took me three months before I felt strong enough to read the messages in our leaving book without crying my eyes out but I treasure our leaving party signing book. You could also come up with some prompts or questions that people can answer in your leaving book – like asking them to share a memory from when you first met.
Australian themed dress up ideas
Next up it’s time to invest in your Australia-themed party costumes!
If you’re not in the mood for an Australian flag dress, you can get a t-shirt instead. This is waaay more my kind of style to team with a pair of Converse and jeans!
An Australia-themed party is absolutely not a real Australia-themed party without a silly corked hat!!
Planning your leaving party venue for your Australia leaving party
You’ve sorted the Aussie leaving party decorations, next you need to decide on a venue for your farewell party. There are lots of things to consider when choosing a leaving party venue for your Australia party.
Hosting your Australian farewell party at somebody’s home
If you’ve decided to have your Australian farewell party at your home or someone else’s home, these are some questions to ask:
- Can you fit everybody in that you want to invite?
- What will you do if it rains?
- Who is providing the food and drink?
- Will you need to buy paper plates, plastic cutlery and paper party cups?
- Can you play music?
- Will you bring in any entertainment?
- What is parking like in the area?
- Will you have enough chairs and tables?
Hiring a venue
If you’re hiring a venue for your Australia leaving party, here is a list of questions to consider:
- How many people will be attending and can you comfortably fit your guests within the fire limit of the room?
- Does the venue have indoor and outdoor areas?
- Are the outdoor areas under cover?
- Can you bring your own catering or is their catering option affordable?
- Can you bring in alcohol, will you have a paying bar for guests or will you put some money behind the bar to buy people a round of drinks?
- Does the venue have any access issues for any of your guests – stairs without a lift which might make it difficult for elderly guests etc.?
- Can you bring in any entertainment (if this is something you want)? Music? Fun activities for the kids to do? Face painters? Bouncy castle hire?
- If you are expecting a lot of children, is the venue suitable for this – is the outdoor area fenced in?
- Where and when will the food be served?
- How early can you access the venue to set up?
- How much time will you have to close down the party?
- What date do they need you to confirm numbers by?
- How much deposit is required and when do you need to pay the balance?
- What day of the week will suit everybody the best – Do you want people to come on their weekend off or head over straight after work on a week day?
- Is the room available when you want it?
What type of leaving parties did we choose?
We actually went for a bit of a mix for our farewell Australian party seeing as we had friends and family down south and up north. We held one in a local pub where we had a room reserved that spilled out into a beer garden where there was a bouncy castle. It was the perfect venue for a summer’s afternoon/evening. We used the pub’s catering so we just had to turn up and throw out some decorations and it was very low stress with no clearing up required! My in laws also hosted a little party for immediate family at their house. For my northern leaving party, my brother played host and we just had a simple BBQ garden party. So three parties in total, and we used the same Australian decorations for all of them and kept it all simple.
I have amazing memories of our leaving parties and I’m so glad I spent a bit of time and effort planning them out like I did.
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Australian party food to match your Australian party theme
The easiest of all Australian party foods has to be fairy bread. What is fairy bread, I hear you cry? Well, it’s just white bread, buttered and covered in sprinkles. Seriously, Aussies go crazy for it and you won’t find a kids’ party in Australia without it. You also can’t get much more Aussie than a sausage sizzle, so fire up a bbq, grab a loaf of white bread and some ketchup (but remember to call it red sauce because you’re heading to Aus and everyone still laughs at me when I ask for ketchup over here!) and you’ve got your super simple Aussie party food sorted.
Don’t forget to serve up some wedges of watermelon (as this is ALWAYS found at parties) and if you fancy baking you can’t go wrong with some Anzac cookies and lamingtons (little sponge cakes coated in chocolate and coconut). The food at your Australia leaving party doesn’t need to be complicated and your guests will enjoy sampling some traditional Aussie party snacks too. (If you want to read about more Australian traditions, check out this post).
If you’re getting ready to move, are you aware of the costs of moving to Australia?
Australia-themed party ideas
Your leaving party guests will love it if you make a bit of effort and brand your Aussie leaving party with relevant Australian party decorations, Australian party banners and Australian party food. It will be so much fun for everyone and your farewell party really doesn’t need to cost much to throw in some Australian party novelties, Australian props and Australian party food to make your Australian themed party one to remember. It’s a day you’ll look back on for the rest of your life, so make the effort to create the ultimate Australian leaving party!
Has anyone asked you what you want for leaving gifts yet? If so, this post has some great ideas about experiences people can buy you and this one covers portable gifts you can take with you on your adventure!
Click here to get access to my FREE Resource library. This is where you’ll find lots of PDFs and downloads to make your move easier.
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