Making a 60th Birthday Party Fun and Memorable

[Clairitek]

I am putting together a 60th birthday party for my father. I think I have food figured out, we are using a combination of a band and DJ and the bar is part of the deal with the space.

What I am looking for are some ideas to make it more interesting or memorable than a regular gathering. I know he would probably enjoy a photobooth stype thing set up. I'm going to use my own camera for that and collect some props and set up a back drop. I'll probably include a white board for people to write messages. I always like seeing that kind of stuff in wedding photos and I think it can translate well to a birthday party.

After that I am out of ideas. Not sure what more I can do but I thought I would ask the smart and savvy PS community to see if I am missing anything.

Thank you!

 

[ame]

I am putting together a 60th birthday party for my father. I think I have food figured out, we are using a combination of a band and DJ and the bar is part of the deal with the space.

What I am looking for are some ideas to make it more interesting or memorable than a regular gathering. I know he would probably enjoy a photobooth stype thing set up. I'm going to use my own camera for that and collect some props and set up a back drop. I'll probably include a white board for people to write messages. I always like seeing that kind of stuff in wedding photos and I think it can translate well to a birthday party.

After that I am out of ideas. Not sure what more I can do but I thought I would ask the smart and savvy PS community to see if I am missing anything.

Thank you!

Honestly the band and photobooth is awesome. If you can "theme" it that would maybe be fun.

 

[marymm]

Any chance you have enough lead time to create a scrapbook to present at the party -- you'd need enough to time to ask each of the invitees to email you a pic w/ caption and/or a couple paragraphs sharing their favorite story of your dad and then put it together -- but it is a great present for your dad, and all the guests will also enjoy taking a look at the scrapbook while at the party. You can even leave the last few pages of the scrapbook blank, so you can include some group photos taken at the birthday party?

We did this for my parents' anniversary - family and friends contributed - and it was a big hit at their party, bringing tears and laughter, and triggering more stories to share. My mom still pulls it out, and us kids always want to see it again whenever we visit my mom.

 

[JewelFreak]

Mary, you said it while I thought it! If you have time, something like that would be wonderful. He'd always remember it. If it were my father, I'd even include pics of his childhood if I had them. Maybe have people describe the occasion when their photo was taken -- that might lead to some good stories & laughs.

Sounds like a terrific party -- can I come??? Love your photo booth idea!

--- Laurie

 

[tammy77]

I was thinking maybe you could do a slideshow? My good friend did that for her DH's retirement party and she said he LOVED it. In fact, he was so touched that he cried!

 

[Enerchi]

This is a variation on Mary's and Laurie's theme that my mother has done twice. She invited people near and far to the milestone event and sent them a photo copy of a page that had the heading "Happy XX event, XXXXXXXX" (Fill in "Happy 6Oth, John Doe") and asked that all return in the postage paid envelope, a memory or a story about the birthday boy. She had them put in a binder initially and then bound later after the event, since some people just brought their stories to the actual party.


Another idea: I know for certain milestone birthdays and anniversaries, here in Canada, you can get a letter of congratulations from the different levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal). Even the Queen - if its a 50th wedding anniversary or a 90th bday (or maybe it's 80? or 100??? dunno - not there yet!). Maybe there is something that you could search out for your area - maybe the President sends a note...??? or the Governor?

Have a great event!

 

[Ally T]

I also like the photo booth idea. For our wedding in 2007, we had a booth with an old Polaroid camera (& someone to take the pictures) who snapped away, developed the pics there & then, before slotting the pics into a special Polaroid album. The people in the pics then got to write a message under their picture. It is still one of my favorite keepsakes from our wedding - action shots of my guests & their heartfelt messages underneath. Sadly Polaroid is no longer, so I think it may take an EBay search, but the photo booth is a great idea

 

[aviastar]

This is a variation on Mary's and Laurie's theme that my mother has done twice. She invited people near and far to the milestone event and sent them a photo copy of a page that had the heading "Happy XX event, XXXXXXXX" (Fill in "Happy 6Oth, John Doe") and asked that all return in the postage paid envelope, a memory or a story about the birthday boy. She had them put in a binder initially and then bound later after the event, since some people just brought their stories to the actual party.


Another idea: I know for certain milestone birthdays and anniversaries, here in Canada, you can get a letter of congratulations from the different levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal). Even the Queen - if its a 50th wedding anniversary or a 90th bday (or maybe it's 80? or 100??? dunno - not there yet!). Maybe there is something that you could search out for your area - maybe the President sends a note...??? or the Governor?

Have a great event!

You can send an invite to Disneyworld and The White House, Mickie and Minnie and the POTUS and First Lady will send you a congrats note!

 

[Clairitek]

I apologize for not responding to everyone's kind replies!

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some ideas. I'm definitely going to put some of the ideas to use. I plan on writing to everyone to ask them for some stories (or to prepare something if they're given a chance to speak).

He is a HUGE Obama fan so I'm also going to send an invite to the White House to get a response back from them.

 

[VRBeauty]

Do you have a theme in mind? Something related to his career or special interests, maybe?

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

This is a variation on Mary's and Laurie's theme that my mother has done twice. She invited people near and far to the milestone event and sent them a photo copy of a page that had the heading "Happy XX event, XXXXXXXX" (Fill in "Happy 6Oth, John Doe") and asked that all return in the postage paid envelope, a memory or a story about the birthday boy. She had them put in a binder initially and then bound later after the event, since some people just brought their stories to the actual party.


Another idea: I know for certain milestone birthdays and anniversaries, here in Canada, you can get a letter of congratulations from the different levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal). Even the Queen - if its a 50th wedding anniversary or a 90th bday (or maybe it's 80? or 100??? dunno - not there yet!). Maybe there is something that you could search out for your area - maybe the President sends a note...??? or the Governor?

Have a great event!

I saw something like this on pintrest and it looked so awesome! Your dad will get to re-live some fond memories and he'll have a sweet little keepsake!

 

[tigian]

I haven't had a chance to read everyone else's responses, but maybe consider buying a poloroid camera. That way your guests can glue their picture in a guestbook and write something for your dad. We did that for our wedding and it is one of the most cherished things from that day.