40th Birthday – You’re Not Old – You’re Like Fine Wine & Cheese – Better With Age

Having  reached my fortieth year (a milestone birthday), my sister threw me a great party. It was subdued, yet a fantastically wonderful party. My Sister invited my husband and a few of my dearest friends over to celebrate my birthday. The black ad white invitation arrived by mail, asking us to attend a wine and cheese party, and to dress in evening wear attire.

She decorated her home with flowers that coordinated with the wines we were going to taste. The serving table was decorated with flowers such as red roses behind a Merlot wine,  white roses for a Chardonnay wine. It was fragrant and beautiful, her home looked like a fine restaurant. The food was delicious yet simple, the rich cheese, the fresh fruits all served by a waiter dressed in a purple shirt with black pants (purple is my favorite color). The best part was the most decadent seven layer chocolate cake she served for desert.

My sister, always the best hostess, hired a wonderful singer/guitar player who softy played through out the night. As we drank the wines and sampled the cheeses, we swayed to the music even singing along occasionally.  This party is a relaxing way way to celebrate a 40^th birthday. 

Sometimes we think a milestone birthday party means big and grand, but big is not what every 40 year old wants. Some like a more subdued party that is rich in food, drink and close friends and family. My sister gave me what I needed a relaxing celebration of my birthday.  Keep this idea in mind you may have a friend or family member that wants to quietly celebrate their age. This allows you to celebrate their milestone without stressing them out with big party.

Your primary goal when planning for a children’s birthday party is to make sure the birthday child feels special. Your secondary goal is to ensure that everyone has a good time at the party. The entertainment part of a children’s birthday party is a very important part! You want to be sure that the entertainment you have planned is well thought out.

Let’s start off with a little entertainment that doesn’t take a lot of work to get planned. Children usually have a large imagination and just about anything will get their attention. The number one thing to add festivity to the air of a birthday party is music. Play kid-friendly songs, or have a musical DVD playing on a TV in the main party room. Besides the music , children’s party activities always make a party a lot more fun for every child.

Here’s a simple idea that doesn’t cost much to do. You could set up a game room inside your home, or even outdoors. This game room could be arranged with a variety of homemade games that cost very little to do. You could then provide each child that completed or won the game with a “prize”. This could be anything from candy bars to glow sticks, whatever you think would be fun for any child. A couple of homemade games you could set up are soda bottle bowling, or even mining for jewels. Sounds fun!

Need bigger entertainment ideas? One major hit at most children’s parties is to book an entertainer. This could be a standard clown or magician. To change things up a bit, you could even book ”character entertainers” who come as popular TV, movie, or story book characters. But before making your decision to hire an entertainer, you need to be sure of a couple of things. Try to see them in action performing before the party to determine if they are the right entertainer for your child’s party. Another thing is to be sure and let your entertainer know ahead of time if your child is shy. This would prevent the entertainer from asking your child to participate in the show, if you know that’s not what your child would have in mind.

Another entertainment idea that any child is for sure to enjoy is to rent out a “bounce gym” or also known as a bouncer. Kids love them! These bouncers usually tend to cost $150+ per day including delivery and setup. They also come in lots of fun themes. Not only do kids love them but these bounce gyms are even actually good for their bodies. They have fun while doing a little exercise. Talk about two for the price of one!

Regardless of which of these entertaintment ideas you use, your birthday party is sure to be well entertained. Just make sure to have back up plans in case one of your entertainment ideas ends up not being possible. Which is why planning ahead of time is always a good first choice!

Dear Celebration Advisor: I am wanting to give my sister, who is fighting cancer, a surprise birthday dinner party. My husband and I cannot afford to pay for all the guests. On the invitation how would you word it so the guests know that the cost is $15.00 per person to attend. It is a rather awkward thing to ask so I do want to do it in a non-offensive way. Can you help me??? Thanks for your help! Anita

Reply:

This can be a tricky situation. According to Emily Post, you can’t ask guest to essentially pay to attend. It is suggested that you cut the guests list down or find a less expensive venue. However, I don’t necessarily agree that a party can’t be “dutch treat”.

This is how I usually handle those “dutch treat” parties. I don’t send formal invitations. Instead I do my invites by phone or even email. When I send the invitation by email it goes something like this:

Sally’s birthday is Friday May 8th. I am taking her to Godsey’s restaurant for dinner at 7pm. I thought it would be a nice surprise if some of her friends were there to surprise her. I thought you might want to join us. The restaurant is going to reserve an area for our “dutch-treat” get-together. The entrees run anywhere from $15.00-$30.00. Please let me know if you will be joining us.

The most important thing is to keep the tone informal and not to declare host status. If you must send a printed invitation, keep in mind it must still reflect an informal party tone. My suggest is to word the invitation something like this:

This party invitation wording keeps the occasion tone informal. Notice the status of host is not declared in this invitation. When a party is “Dutch treat”, it does not have a host per say. If you feel the need to include the term “dutch treat” on invitation do it at the bottom of the invitation like this

I hope this information will help you plan a wonderful party for your sister. Please keep me posted.

21^st birthday parties are a pretty big deal! I had been thinking of throwing a party for a family member who is about to turn 21, but didn’t want to do the standard “bar scene”, which most party ideas consist of. She is pretty classy and has a variety of great friends, so I decided I would throw a party for her at a local venue that could accommodate several guests. For the party, I wanted to do something original and creative to the serve the traditional alcoholic beverage, but I didn’t want to go way over my limited budget. A champagne fountain was the answer to my wishes.

Champagne fountains are a beautiful, innovative way to serve drinks without having to hire a wait staff or a bartender. She loved it, as did her guests! Even if I had decided to Read the rest of 21st Birthday Party Ideas- Champagne Fountain »

A party isn’t really a party without food … at least not in my book. Maybe I’m food obsessed. When ever I receive an invitation to a party, I always wonder what types of yummy food they will serve. Now I know I’m not the only one who thinks about these things; you know you do too. Whenever I host a party, I try my best to incorporate as many foods as possible or at least some interesting combinations.

A New Twist On Birthday Or Theme Party Food Ideas

One of my go to places for unique food ideas and twists on old stand-bys is my local caterers. These guys Read the rest of 3 Great Party Food Ideas »

As kids, birthday parties were exciting and elaborate with friends, cake, and lots of fun. It seems that as our age goes up (along with our stress level) the birthday parties get less exciting from year to year. But this does not have to be the case. A 50th Birthday is a pretty big deal, and is worthy of a party that surpasses even those as kids. “What kind of party ideas are appropriate for a 50^th birthday party?” you may ask, more than you think!  Depending on the birthday honoree’s personality, the type of party you host could range from a elegant dinner party to elaborate formal affair.

Quick Ideas For A 50th Birthday Party

• Renting out a restaurant is a simple way to fill a room with friends and family, have a nice dinner and socialize without having to play host and serve people.  Be sure to select a restaurant with a party trained bar & wait staff.
• Another great 50^th birthday party idea is to rent out a party room. This venue is allows for more than just food and catering.  With room for entertainment, you can kick it up a notch.  Make it a  dance party with a DJ or a band for entertainment or hire a comedian or magician to entertain the birthday honoree and guests.
• Turn your home in to a hot spot.  Rent extra tables and dining chairs, hire a caterer, set up a champagne fountain and turn your home into fabulous birthday gala destination.

50th Birthday Party Theme
A theme could be incorporated into all of above ideas as well especially an “Over the Hill” theme. Black seems to be the trend for “Over the Hill” parties and is always appropriate for this age. Black balloon bouquets, streamers and even black fabric draped from the ceiling are all great decorating ideas.  These decorating tools will help pull the “Over the Hill” party theme together.

Special Tribute For A 50th Birthday Party
Ask guests for only one gift: a few words. As guests arrive have them write something about the honoree. During the birthday toast read the guests’ comments out loud. These words of kindness create a memorable moment for all to remember regardless of how comical or elegant the event.

Creating a memorable and fabulous 50th birthday party takes a little planning but in the end it will be well worth it.

Throw your child a puppet birthday party.
This party works best for children 5 and 10 years of age.

Lay out all of the supplies for this birthday party before children arrive. Have tables ready with all the materials needed to make hand puppets. On each table place different colored felt, markers, different colored yarns, glitter and glue on eyes to make the hand puppets. Adults should be available to help the Read the rest of Puppet Birthday Party Theme »

Last year we threw my niece, who was turning 6, a bouncing princess party. We rented a bounce castle house. Inflatable rentals are great and you can get packages that come with other games for the kids. We selected a bubble machine to go with our castle. All the kids had a great time jumping in the inflatable castle and catching bubbles.

Princess theme party items were easy to find at our local party supply store. The store had matching princess plates, napkins and table cloths. We even found little princess themed purses at our party supply Read the rest of Bouncing Princess Party Theme »

When throwing a birthday party, decorations and details are very important. Utilizing color and making it the base of your party is the easiest theme you can choose. It can revolve around sport team colors, school colors, or the birthday person’s favorite colors.

Choose one or two favorite colors of the birthday man or women. Start with decorating with crepe paper. String crepe paper from each of the four corners of your room to make a crepe paper canopy. To the center Read the rest of Color Me Surpised Birthday Party Theme »

This is a very versatile party theme. It great for childrens parties, adult parties or birthday parties and involves something everyone loves – cheeseburgers.

The Cheeseburger in Paradise party theme for children is easy and takes minimal planning. Send kids party invitations in the shape of a cheeseburger. Before guests arrive, place a Welcome to Paradise sign in the front yard. Upon arrival give each child a cheeseburger-shaped goody bag that includes party favors; like Read the rest of Cheeseburger In Paradise »