Floating Lanterns
Celebrations
The cover glows on a paper lantern, and every photo rises on one of its own.
Party theme
Lantern Party Ideas & Invitations
A lantern party is an evening lit by paper lanterns: strung overhead, carried by guests or floating on water, with the dark doing half the decorating. It suits wedding welcome evenings and rehearsal dinners, Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn gatherings, Diwali parties and anniversaries. Below are lantern invitations where lanterns lift into the night or a red envelope unfolds as guests open them, and ideas for the decorations, food, activities and favors, with safe ways to light it all.
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Then a page effect
Floating Lanterns
The cover glows on a paper lantern, and every photo rises on one of its own.
Lantern party at a glance
- Best for
- Wedding welcome evenings and rehearsal dinners, Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn, Diwali, Ramadan nights, anniversaries
- Colors
- Red and gold for Lunar New Year, warm white and ivory for a wedding, marigold, saffron and pink for Diwali
- What makes it
- Paper lanterns overhead, LED or candle glow, a lit path and a night sky
Lantern party invitation templates
These 4 designs draw the theme and play it as guests open the link. Press a design to watch it live, or Use to open it in the editor with your own details.
Use templateUse
Red Lantern Lunar New Year Website
Websites
A Lunar New Year website with red lanterns, plum blossoms, a reunion dinner and the RSVP built in.
Postcard, Dumpling Party
Paper & post
A red and gold New Year postcard for an afternoon of folding dumplings together.
Lantern party animations
Intros play once as the page opens; effects keep moving behind it while guests read and reply. Put any of them on any design.
Lantern release
Paper lanterns lift off the water after dark, a photo glowing on each, and gather in the night sky over the title.
Use this introLantern rise
Red paper lanterns glow and rise into a night sky, plum blossoms open on a branch and a gold papercut frames the title.
Use this introRed envelope
A red envelope stamped in gold turns over, the flap lifts, gold coins spill and the title rises out on a gilt card under lanterns.
Use this introFanoos lantern
A brass fanoos is lit at dusk, its pierced pattern throws stars of light across the wall, a crescent rises and the title glows beneath.
Use this intro
Lantern party decoration ideas
- Lanterns at three heights. Hang paper lanterns overhead, set smaller ones on the tables and a few along the path; mixed sizes in one or two colors look full without clutter.
- LED inside, not flame. Light paper lanterns with battery LED lights: an open flame in paper is a fire risk, and a breeze makes it worse. Keep spare batteries on hand.
- Skip sky lanterns. Flying sky lanterns can land still burning and are banned in many places and venues, so check local rules first. For a release moment, float LED lanterns on a pool or contained pond and gather them afterward.
- Red and gold for Lunar New Year. Red lanterns, red paper cuts in the windows, couplets beside the door and a vase of plum blossom or pussy willow branches; red stands for luck.
- Diyas and rangoli for Diwali. Clay diyas along the steps and a rangoli at the entrance in colored powder, rice or petals. Keep lit diyas away from saris, curtains and small children, or use LED ones.
Lantern party food ideas
- Dumplings, folded together. For Lunar New Year, a folding table is dinner and activity at once; plan about ten dumplings per adult if they're the main dish, and cook in batches.
- A reunion-dinner table. Lunar New Year dishes carry wishes: a whole fish for abundance, long noodles for long life, spring rolls for wealth and tangerines for luck. Many families leave a little fish uneaten for a surplus in the year ahead.
- Mooncakes and tea. For Mid-Autumn, cut mooncakes into small wedges to share, since they're rich, and serve hot tea and round fruit like pomelo under the full moon.
- Sweets for Diwali. Ladoos, barfi and jalebi beside savory samosas and chakli. If your guests keep Diwali vegetarian, plan the whole menu meat-free.
- Bites for a dim room. At a wedding welcome evening, serve food guests can eat standing in low light, like skewers, bao and small bites, and label allergens in large print, since small cards are hard to read in the dark.
Lantern party games and activities
- Lantern making. Before dark, guests decorate plain paper lanterns with markers or fold their own from card stock, then light them with LED tea lights. Kids from about five can join with help.
- Floating wishes. Guests write a wish on a slip and tuck it under a floating LED lantern on a pool or fountain; at a wedding, collect the slips for the couple afterward.
- Lantern riddles. Tie a riddle to each lantern and give a small prize for every one solved; guessing lantern riddles is an old Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn game.
- Red envelopes. At Lunar New Year, elders and married couples give red envelopes with crisp new bills to children and younger unmarried guests, handed over with both hands.
- A lantern walk. End the night with everyone carrying a lantern on a stick for a slow loop of the garden or block, kids in front. Use LED lights and keep the route clear of traffic.
Lantern party favor ideas
- Mini paper lanterns. A small folding lantern with an LED tea light for guests to carry home.
- Tangerines in pairs. For Lunar New Year, two tangerines with their leaves on, a wish for luck, in a small red bag.
- A box of sweets. A small box of mithai for Diwali or a single mooncake for Mid-Autumn, tied with ribbon.
- A clay diya. A painted clay diya with a tea light, for guests to light at home.
Lantern party invitation wording
Copy one and change the names, or get more wording ideas.
Wedding welcome evening
Before the vows, a night of lanterns. Join Lena and Arjun for a welcome evening on the lake, Friday, September 10 at 7 PM. Please RSVP by August 20.
Lunar New Year
Happy Lunar New Year. Reunion dinner and dumpling folding at the Wongs', Saturday, February 6 at 5 PM. Wear red and come hungry.
Diwali
Light up Diwali with us. Dinner, diyas and sweets at the Sharmas', Saturday, October 30 at 6 PM. Come in your festive best.
Occasions for a lantern party
Each page has RSVP wording, timing and the questions to ask for that occasion.
How to make a lantern party invitation
- 1Press Use this design on one of the lantern party invitations above. It opens in the editor with its own intro and page effect already on.
- 2Type your title, date, time and place over the sample, and put your own photos where the design has them.
- 3To change the motion, tap Intro and try Lantern release, Lantern rise, Red envelope or Fanoos lantern, or tap Effect and pick Lanterns, Lunar Lanterns, Fireflies or Floating Diyas. Every one is free.
- 4Create the event and share the link by text, email or QR code. Guests watch it play and RSVP on the same page, and you see every reply as it comes in.
Lantern party questions
- Are sky lanterns safe for a party?
- No: a lit sky lantern can come down anywhere still burning, and they're banned in many places and venues. Hang paper lanterns with LED lights, or float LED lanterns on a pool or pond you can clear afterward, and check local rules first.
- When are the lantern festivals?
- Lunar New Year falls between January 21 and February 20 and ends fifteen days later with the Lantern Festival. Mid-Autumn is on the full moon in September or early October, and Diwali in October or November; the dates move each year, so check before you pick yours.
- What colors go with a lantern party?
- Red and gold for Lunar New Year, where red means luck; warm white and ivory for a wedding night; marigold, saffron and pink for Diwali. Keep to one or two colors so the glow carries the look.
- How do you host a lantern night for a wedding?
- Make it the welcome evening or rehearsal dinner: string lanterns over a long table, line the path and end with floating LED lanterns on water. Start about an hour before sunset so photos catch the last light.
- Is a lantern party invitation free?
- Yes. The 4 designs on this page and every intro and page effect are free on every event. A free event takes up to 20 RSVPs; a one-time upgrade per event raises the limit.
- Can guests RSVP to a lantern party invitation without an app?
- Yes. Guests open your link on any phone or computer, watch the invitation play, and reply on the same page with no app or account. Every reply lands on your dashboard.
Send your lantern party invitation
Start from the Floating Lanterns design, change the words and share one link. Guests reply on the page, with no app.