Love them or hate them, birthdays are something none of us can ignore. And while they may be enjoyable times full of presents, parties and cake when we’re younger, as we get older, many of us try to forget that they’re coming round. But should we be dreading those milestone birthdays such as the big 4-0, 5-0 and so on? Or should we be welcoming them with open arms?
Talking about birthdays and people’s views on them, licensed mental health counselor at St. Vincent Stress Center in Indianapolis, Kimble Richardson, said that it’s all about a state of mind. He also went on to say that there are particular aspects that should be ignored during these milestone birthdays and these are the negative ones. For example, many can feel as though they’re “over the hill” when they reach a particular birthday.
This negativity can stem from the fact that people are likely to look back on their life when they hit an important milestone. They can question how their life is progressing and this might not be as they’d hoped. However, on a positive note, this can be a time when people kick start their lives again, ditching bad habits and improving their health.
Richardson suggests that people can start to get busy and lose focus on what they want out of life. But when they hit their milestone birthday they can ask what it is that they want to do with the rest of their life. Are they in the right career? Do they want to do something that they’ve not done yet? And so on. So, it’s time to celebrate these birthdays and the accomplishments that come with them – and here are a few ideas as to how you can create the perfect party to enjoy these milestone birthdays:
Birthday Party Ideas for Important Milestones
Firstly, you need to make sure you’ve got enough food and drink to go round – having too much is much better than not having enough. After you’ve written out your guest list, try to calculate how much food and drink you’ll need – and don’t forget the ice for the drinks too! Alternatively, if you are planning this party on a budget, you could ask people to bring their own booze and items for the buffet. You might be surprised at how generous people are here! Equally, if you are a guest attending one of these parties, why not take something unique with you, like Hawaiian flowers from With Our Aloha?
And because this party is all about that special someone who’s met an important milestone in their life, there needs to be plenty of photographs on show. This is a great time to dig out those embarrassing snaps from when they were younger, putting them in a collage on the wall or playing them on a loop through the TV.
If you’re having a sit-down meal and you’ve got tables for your guests, you could even allocate each table with an important part of the person’s life (if there are enough milestones to cover the tables). For example, you could have a table that’s the school years, one that’s the college years, and so on, using the photos on each of these tables.
It’s also important that you don’t forget the photography at the actual event either. Once you’ve gone to all of the trouble of organizing this birthday bash, you need to make sure all of the memories are captured for you and your family. You could even hire a videographer, asking them to interview some of the guests about their favorite memories of the birthday boy / girl.
If you’re going all out with the party, you might also want to consider hiring waiters and bar staff to make sure your guests are constantly fed and watered. If you’ve got a long guest list, this will also help to take the pressure off you and will mean you can mingle and socialize without worrying about bringing out the drinks / buffet at certain times.
No party will be complete without some music, so hire a DJ or band to play songs from the era they were born or their favorite era of music. Alternatively, if you are planning your party on a budget you can put together a playlist of all of their favorite songs and have this playing in the background. Then, as the party starts to get into full swing, you can put together a makeshift dancefloor for those guests who want to put their dancing shoes on.
Finally, the most important thing to remember is the guest of honor. This party needs to be centered on what they love in life, what they’ve achieved and all of the experiences they’ve had and will have.
Frank MacMillan is the owner of With Our Aloha and Alii Flowers. Based in Hawaii Frank has been providing fresh Hawaiian flowers to all 50 states since 2007.
