Are you planning an 80th birthday party for someone who is full of life? So don’t give them a typical, quiet, age-appropriate celebration. Instead, make this special occasion lively, fun, and memorable. Here are five unique ideas to consider.
1. Take a real trip down memory lane. This party idea hits the streets to remember. Gather your guests in a rented limousine, rented bus or motorcade and take a tour of significant places in the life of the guest of honor. Start with the house he lived in as a child and travel to the places where he went to school, worked, lived, attended church, shopped, and socialized with friends.
Make a flyer with a map that highlights each of the stops. Include old photos of those places, if you can find them. Distribute copies to all attendees. Encourage the celebrant to share memories about these places. Arrange for the tour to end at a restaurant that means something special to the guest of honor for dinner with all of their friends and loved ones.
2. Dance to your music. Most people have a soft spot for the music they grew up with. If the guest of honor is still humming songs from her youth, he throws a throwback birthday party. Whether he prefers big bands, ballads, or ’50s rock, play songs from that era. Decorate to match the time frame. If he is an energetic old man in his eighties, you may be able to persuade him to demonstrate some dance moves. Even for those who don’t dance, it’s still a lively atmosphere.
3. Make it about what you like. A party with balloons and cake is nice. But you can go beyond the generic and customize this 80th birthday party with your interests. If you’ve always loved fishing, plan a lakeside picnic where you can fish with some of the guests. If you’re known for your culinary creations, hire a chef to do a cooking demo and ask everyone to bring you a free cookbook. Do you love to travel to tropical places? Then have a luau. Are you a sports fan? Then decorate with your favorite team and play sports trivia.
You can base the party on your favorite TV show, hobby, location, beloved pets, or whatever catches the attention and affection of the guest of honor. When you create a celebration around a theme, you have entertainment built in and show that you care about what interests you.
4. Bring back the old gang. Locate missing persons from the celebrant’s life. Are there old friends, neighbors, and co-workers that the guest of honor has lost touch with over the years? Well, it’s easier than ever to find people who have drifted away.
If you can’t locate someone in the phone book or by asking who might know the person, try the Internet. Check your name on Google and try websites like Classmates and Facebook to see your presence. You can also try looking for known relatives. If you find someone related, they may be able to point you in the right direction. This 80th birthday party could be a nice reunion that would restore some long-lost friendships.
5. Have an adventure. What did George HW Bush do to celebrate his 80th birthday? He jumped out of a plane! He also went skydiving to commemorate his 75th and 85th birthday. While his guest of honor may not have that on her to-do list, there may be something else she’d love to try. Ask him.
An adventure doesn’t have to be big and scary; simply something the celebrant wants to experience. It could be as simple as a trip to a new restaurant, a dinner cruise, tickets to a play, or a trip to the beach or zoo. But he or she may surprise you. Find out if they have any unfulfilled dreams and see what you can do to make them happen.
Therefore, go beyond the ordinary and traditional. Give your favorite octogenarian a unique celebration, designed to reflect his personality. Make it an 80th birthday party to remember!