5 Things I learned About Throwing a 40th Birthday Party

I had so much fun working on a friend’s 40th birthday recently. When I started planning things, my first step was of course to scour the internet for ideas. I found that there is not much out there if you are NOT wanting to go the “all black, over the hill” theme. So after researching and diving in, here is what I learned:

KEEP THE HUMOR FOR GUYS AND THE GLAMOR FOR THE GALS – Some women might appreciate a few funny jabs about this age, but not all. I found it super fitting to go the “forty and fabulous” route with my friend. I didn’t come out and use that catch phrase, instead, I just showed it. I used glitter and gold and bright fuchsia. I created a FABULOUS environment to reflect a fabulous person. Also, not too much emphasis on the number 40.
YOU JUST NEED ONE UNIQUE EVENT TO MAKE THIS PARTY EXTRA SPECIAL – My friend has been on a major street taco kick. She is always on the lookout for good street tacos. In fact I’ve gone to three different restaurants with her to get street tacos! For her birthday we had a street taco vendor cater tacos for the evening. It was so fun! It got people talking about the food and trying new things which broke the ice a bit as not all the guests knew each other very well.
ENTERTAINMENT CAN BE KEPT SIMPLE, IF IT IS FOCUSED ON THE BIRTHDAY GUY/GIRL – The internet wasn’t providing me with many ideas on making the party entertaining. I knew that my diverse group wouldn’t be extremely comfortable playing games. Luckily, the husband of the birthday girl was a great public speaker. We collected a few fun memories people had of the birthday girl prior to the party and her husband read them or recounted the stories. Some were hilarious, some sentimental and the last one was just downright tugging at your heart strings. It helped us to get to know the birthday girl better and the crowd was captivated hearing these stories.
MAKING IT A SURPRISE IS THE ICING ON THE CAKE – this party was my second 40th birthday party that was a surprise. When you give them something they aren’t expecting, it becomes a treasured memory, they reflect on for years to come.
PHOTOS AND CHATBOOKS ARE A MUST!! – First of all, if you wind up making it a surprise party, behind the scenes photos of people setting up or party prep are always fun for the birthday girl to see later on. Make sure you take at least 30 great photos of the event. Capture all the family and friends and the important moments like the big surprise or the blowing out of the candles. I have been a customer of Chatbooks for a few years now, and am so pleased with the quality of books they produce with such little effort and cost. I got my 30 favorite photos from the brithday and loaded them into a new chatbook, using the app on my phone. Chatbooks has so many great cover choices, I just chose one that reminded me of the birthday girl and made an awesome photo book in seconds….actually I did the whole thing on the car ride home from the party! Bam! I chose this design by Oh Joy!~ I just love Joy Cho.