There are various landmark birthdays, such as a sixteenth, eighteenth, twenty-first, or thirtieth; however, the fiftieth birthday is extraordinary. Why is this? Well, it is the first of the significant dates where you are likely to have grown-up or older children and your parents around at the same time. This means that you are getting the broadest possible range of family generations. Also, for most of us, we are more than halfway through our lives, as even with life expectancy rising, making it to one hundred years old is still not the norm.
With this in mind, we will look at how to plan the best possible fiftieth birthday party in a way that keeps both the older and younger generations happy and entertained.
Make a Guest List
The obvious place to start when organizing any event is to consider the guest list. There are two essential reasons for doing this. Firstly, we need to know the size of the event which we are planning so that we can accurately prepare all the other aspects of the party. Secondly, we need to know what the demographics of the crowd are? This will influence the vibe and style of the evening. We should write down everyone we want to go, then assess if this is too many for our budget? Once we send the invites out and receive responses, we will also get an idea of how many will turn up.
Choose a Venue
The choice of venue for the party in many ways influences all the other decisions you are going to make. For this reason, this must be an early decision. If it is a more intimate affair, then you could use the family home, if it’s big enough. Otherwise, we are looking at hiring a venue, and the choices may seem endless. It’s a good idea first to narrow down some of the things you need; is it to be catered or with provided entertainment? Or only just a space for you to use as you see fit? Make some inquiries and score each place on price and facilities to make an easier decision.
Food & Drink
As we just discussed, you may get a catered venue that sorted this out for you; otherwise, you need to arrange it yourself. This means either getting a caterer in or preparing a large banquet yourself. Caterers come in a range of styles and budgets, and you may want to make it really specific if the guest of honor has a favorite. Alternatively, there is the option of preparing yourself, buy in supplies, this is best done in bulk, if you look to buy say, your chicken wholesale then go to somewhere like poultryeu.eu to get a bulk discount on quality produce.
Entertainment
The choice of entertainment is an important decision. Even deciding whether to have live entertainment is a decision. You could opt for only playing music through the venue’s sound system if it has one. Other ideas include a live band, a DJ, cabaret entertainers, I know of one friend who even hired a magician for her husband’s birthday. The decision needs to be carefully balanced as you will, most likely, have a wide range of ages and preferences in the room.
Surprise?
Do you go for a surprise party or not? This is a big question. The main point to consider here should be whether the guest of honor would want this? Other considerations include how discreet the guests are, would they be able to keep this a secret until it is time? There is planning involved as well; you will need to have a cover story and be sure that they will go with it as it would be a disaster if they declined to go out that night.
How to Document the Memory
It would be nice to have something to remember the event by as it’s such a milestone. A gift can be very touching if they are a drinker, maybe a beautiful glass and decanter set with a malt or vintage bottle of something nice. It would be helpful as well to include a guest book where everyone can leave a touching message that can be read back again later. You could hire the services of a professional photographer or videographer that would capture the moment forever, and with how connected we all are these days, it could even be broadcast online for those who couldn’t make it.