80th Birthday Party Ideas

Getting the Ball Rolling

As you start to plan this celebration, talk with the guest of honor to see if they have any requests. Work with them to create the guest list. It is their day, so you want to make sure that everyone they want to be there is there. Some things you will need to figure out together is what kind of party this will be. Will it be a classy sophisticated dinner? A casual luncheon? Will it be a bigger party event, perhaps with something fun like a 20’s or 30’s decade themed party? If you do choose to go with a theme, consider and discuss with the birthday person their interests, hobbies, favorite celebrities, colors, flowers, etc. Other fun theme ideas would be a casino night or perhaps a murder mystery event! There are a variety of possibilities. Once you’ve settled on the general idea behind the party, putting the rest of the pieces together will be easier because you’ll have direction.

Next you need to figure out the budget for the party. If you are planning it alone, but do not have a big enough personal budget, do not be afraid to ask friends and family if they would like to pitch in to help make the party more memorable. You’ll find that many are willing to help, and if you can get enough contributors, you can develop a decent budget! Once you’ve decided on a budget, choose the time, date, location and guest list. Then get the invitations out as soon as you can so you will know how many guests to plan for. Use your home computer to print the invitations or have a professional invitation service design and print them. If you selected a theme, draw that into the invitations so that the guests will be intrigued and be even more excited about the big celebration!

Food and Drink

When it comes to food and beverages, you can choose to handle the menu yourself or hire a caterer. Base the menu off the birthday person’s favorite foods or snacks. If you hire a caterer, tell them your ideas and theme and they can help create the best menu possible. Do not forget to consider if your guest of honor has any allergies or foods that they have trouble eating and make sure the caterer is aware of these. Before talking with the caterer, decide if you’d rather sit down to dinner, have a buffet or just provide a waitstaff to walk around with hors d’oeuvres and beverages. Since many of the guest will likely be adults, you may wish to provide alcoholic beverages for the party guests. If the catering or waitstaff company does not provide one, you may want to hire a professional bartender. Or to spice things up a little, hire a flair bartender! Your guests can be entertained by juggling, flipping and magic tricks while also enjoying professionally mixed drinks!

What would be the perfect entertainment?

Entertainment is an important party of any celebration. When choosing the entertainment consider your location, the style of event you are having and the preferences of the guest of honor. If you’ve chosen to have the party be a private dinner or small class event, then perhaps elegant background music would be the best choice. You can go with a pianist, violinist or a classical ensemble. For a more upbeat party, perhaps the best choice would be a cover band, jazz band, party band or just bring in a DJ. Some other great options would be comedians, magicians or hypnotists. Everyone loves to laugh and be amazed, so either of these choices would make the party a hit!

If your budget allows, a very popular idea would be to bring in a tribute band or celebrity impersonator! You can find some to fit a variety of tastes from Frank Sinatra Impersonators to Beatles Tribute Bands to Elvis Impersonators. Along these lines, you can also consider hiring a Marilyn Monroe impersonator to sing her breathy rendition of "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to your male birthday honoree! If the birthday star has a favorite celebrity, you may be able to track down an impersonator of that particular person. A surprise from their favorite celebrity would make for a sure-fire unforgettable birthday!

Don’t forget the decorations!

It’s important to set the scene of the party with proper decorations. Party decor is particularly important if you did choose to have a specific theme for the event. You want to do your best to create the correct atmosphere for your party theme, without making the decor the whole focus. If you did not choose to have a specific theme, then consider classy generic decor such as balloons and/or floral arrangements. If you have room for it in your budget, it is a good idea to also provide party favors. This is a great way of thanking the guests for coming and gives them something to remember the event by. The party favor could be a collectible glass, a goody bag of candy or some other souvenir that matches the theme of the vent. If the venue you’ve chosen for the party does not provide the necessary equipment, you will want to contact a local party rental store to provide tables, chairs and linens.

And last but certainly not least, it is very important not to forget pictures! If you can afford it, you could hire a professional photographer to capture all the special moments at the birthday party. If you cannot afford a professional, make sure either you have a camera handy or designate a friend or family member to be in charge of photographs. If your event is as great as we know it is going to be, you’ll definitely want to make sure everyone will remember it forever. Plus, you can always make a scrapbook of it later to give as a follow-up gift.

If all of this still sounds like a lot to take on, hiring an event planner is always an option. However, with the right resources you can do it yourself and have fun doing it! GigSalad is here to help you every step of the way as your one stop shop for all your birthday party planning needs.