Celebrating those Milestone Birthdays in Style: All About FIFTY
Paperia | December 2014
This week in our milestone birthday celebration series it is all about fifty – and you know what that means! Get those dancing shoes on and get ready to make that timeless trek over the hill.
Turning Fifty
By age fifty, people have amassed a great amount of wisdom from accumulated life experience. It’s common for them to be enjoying the peak of their career. They may have college-aged children, married children, or even grandchildren! And, they’re very likely to be established in their community, have enduring relationships with friends and colleagues, and be very comfortable with who they are and what they stand for.
Sounds like all great things – but, fifty can be a challenging birthday for some. Certain people view it as the “point of no return” or the beginning of the “downward descent.” Turning fifty has certainly triggered many a mid-life crisis and rationalized a good number of Porsche purchases. So, if your guest of honor is struggling with their 50th year, isn’t that all the more reason to make it memorable?!
Here are some possible themes for a 50th birthday party:
Over the Hill
- Disclaimer: your guest of honor has to have a REALLY good sense of humor to go this route! If you’re sure they would enjoy laughing at themself, then you can go to town with all sorts of depreciating fanfare. While it might seem grotesque, popular paraphernalia for a classic Over the Hill bash includes: tombstone-shaped cookies adorned with “Here lies your Youth,” bedpan-shaped snack trays, nametags that read “I’m Old Fart’s Friend ____,” a dirt cake (made of crumbled oreos) with the saying “Old as Dirt,” and pill bottle party favors filled with M&Ms. Consider gag-gifting the guest of honor with a walking cane that has a horn and rearview mirror. Did I mention that they have to have a really, really good sense of humor?
- Invite Tip: this theme lends itself well to a tombstone-shaped invitation, one actually depicting a hill, or a glitzy black-and-silver style invite with “Over the Hill” displayed in bold.
Casino Night
- A casino night party can be tons of fun for all! Set up game stations throughout your venue – some essential posts include poker, blackjack, and roulette. You can rent the necessary equipment through a party rental retailer, including chips, cards, and markers. Be sure to hire dealers or recruit your children’s’ friends to work the tables – a knowledgeable gaming staff can teach your guests the rules of unfamiliar games. Have fun with the décor – you can make hanging banners by streaming playing cards together or filling glass vases with poker chips. Cigars, dice, and tickets are also great accents!
- Invite Tip: An invitation in the shape of a playing card, or one with a backdrop of a poker table certainly fits the bill. Another fun option is an invitation with the iconic Las Vegas sign – it could read: “Welcome to Bill’s fabulous 50th Las Vegas bash!” Or you can go with a red, black, and white color scheme and highlight how this will be one 50th birthday celebration where everybody wins big!
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