Wasn't it a couple of years back that someone did a horse theme for an event? I think it was held in a former stable.

Anyway, look up gala theme events on pinterest...there are lots of ideas there. One I liked was fire and ice. They make those super inexpensive battery powered light strings that can be put in glass containers....

Or how about an Alice in Wonderland theme...anything with Harry Potter...magic? Black magic? 30s Hollywood...art/deco...black and white theme? Rain forest or jungle? Vegas? Pirates of the caribbean?

You could always just theme it in colors...like black and white or blue and white or black and red ...

Star Wars

Or maybe a 50s themed party? Anyone have old 45s around??

Anchors Away with navy and white and sailor and boat themes? Maybe some semaphores....

willy wonka and the chocolate factory? Candy center pieces, a chocolate fountain for dessert. . . .

I like seasonal, especially Annie's blue and white if it is winter. What about 60's Mad Men type of decor? Farm/country?

I didn't think any of the Middle Eastern themes were a good idea.

Starry Nights?

(Actually, Morocco is pretty far from the Middle East, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Spain.)

I go to a similar event every year for a local child abuse prevention organization. They have done a masquerade ball, disco night, casino night, wild west, beach luau, and superheroes-- there are more that I can't remember right now. I think people most enjoyed the casino night and the luau.

bp, you are assuming people know geography! JLC has lots of good ideas.

The idea of a theme is to be unified. I agree with Annie about using just color. Does the charity have a color on their logo? I like black/white/or a combination of both for people to wear. Then mostly white with black touches for the tables.

In view of what is happening in the world today, keeping even a charity event simple is the right thing to do.

Ooh, I like the color theme. Touch of Gold? (Imagining chocolate bars wrapped in gold foil!) And you could use so many different types of decorations transformed with a can of gold metallic spray paint.

Silver Screen? Combination of silver/black-and-white and cinema

Broadway Bound?

When I worked for a city library system we had a ball every year in the grand central library. It was always a literary theme. Maybe children's books? Happy ones. You could even decorate each table with a different story theme. If you use actual books for the centerpiece you could donate them later.

You could do an innocence theme where you just use white decorations and the guests are asked to dress all in white. We have a local event like that that does the same theme every year and people seem to look forward to it. They also use lots of clear lights to make it magical.

How strict is your "strict budget"? Have you already planned to provide entertainment for the evening, whether with music or a performance of some sort? Part of my job entails event planning, and we've found that our casino nights always go over very well. There are companies that will come in and "run the show" for you, setting up their tables, providing dealers that engage with your guests, conducting the prize/raffle drawings after cash out if desired. I'm not a gambler myself, but it never fails to make me smile to see all of our folks gathered 'round the tables enjoying themselves at the games. We often request that the dealers wear casual western clothing, which makes it easy to theme the rest of our event in that direction (BBQ "chuckwagon" dinner, sunflowers in Mason jars for centerpieces along with little bales of hay and red-checkered table linens). The casino companies tend to be very affordable for all that you get. Lots of bang for the buck.

Our most recent event was themed as an indoor "backyard BBQ", and we turned a hotel ballroom into a "backyard" with outdoor party lights strung up, lounge-seating areas with old-fashioned webbed lawn chairs and ice chests as tables. We brought in games like horseshoes and cornhole toss. We worked with a company that set up table rounds as well as picnic tables, which was a lot of fun. Of course, when you hire a company to handle your décor you do run into considerable expense, but this could definitely be duplicated on a smaller budget I'd think.

We've also done a roaring 20s theme, disco night (a total blast! Everyone dressed the part and we had an amazing band playing all the old songs that people danced to), a luau (our décor company brought in so many gorgeous live flowers, but I shudder to think what all of that cost us), and we may go with an 80s theme for an upcoming event.

Okay we have a new theme - An Evening in Camelot.

I had already purchased purple vases that can't be returned, so we will use a regal purple and gold color theme. Last year we made this for the entry to the event, and we can make a different top piece to resemble a castle and repaint the whole thing.

Sounds perfect!

You'll need round tables for the Knights. I think the theme will certainly provide plenty of creative opportunities. I hope you show us the end result.

And I'm picturing a chivalric coat of arms instead of " club 25" in the circle. Have fun with this! Does your local high school or college have a madrigal choir? Perhaps they could be the "antechamber" entertainment, as guests arrive and check in, get their place cards, sign up for silent auction(if you have one), etc. Or even stroll and sing?