We are going to have a dump truck/construction theme for Tillman's party.
Do you think it's tacky/cheap to only have small napkins and small plates with the theme on them and then just regular or solid colored plates for the food (no cups, because are doing capri suns and bottled water)? $$ wise, this is really the only option, so I'm hoping the answer is that this is fine. I don't want to spend the whole decor budget on paper plates. Also, is it okay to only have enough theme things for the kids and expect the adults to use regular or solid color?
What does a "snack size" plate mean to you? I found a website with really good prices on paper products, but the description is lacking. They have plates on there that say snack size. I was originally thinking like cake plate size, but I googled and (although not the same design), the ones that came up were 7". I would consider that like a lunch plate.

Re: party paper products questions
I think it's absoutely OK to do plain along with your theme. THink of a kids room. You wouldn't get everything in the same theme, things look best with just a few accents, so you are perfectly right in your thinking here!
Can you get the other non themed plates etc... in matching colors? I'm sure it will not even be noticed!
***I've GOT to start planning Miss A's b-day too! I think her's and Tillman's are on the same day. I've got a theme picked out, but that's about it so far. lol Good for you for being on top of things!
I think themed plates are where a lot of money gets wasted...there's going to be food on them, so it's not like people are going to see them a bunch, so supplementing with solid colors carries the look without being too theme-y. Some designer on HGTV said that just because it comes with the set, doesn't mean you have to use (buy) it, and I thought that it was pretty smart.
Smaller plates work fine for me...lunch or dessert plate sizes take up less room when people set them down, and help prevent taking too much food in the first round and then wasting it (seems to happen a lot at the functions I go to...but then maybe the food's not that great
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No, I actually prefer to do that, to mix solid colored tableware with a few items of the printed stuff. It's sensory overload for me to have all the tableware with prints all over them. I'll usually only do napkins or cups in a print, if that. Generally I do all solids for tableware and let the decorative stuff carry the theme.
Snack size I would think as the 7" dessert/salad plate size. Probably good for cake, but I'd do larger plates for food.