No Stopping This Buck: How to Throw a Classy 80th Birthday Party... with a Theme!
I was so fortunate to get to celebrate my grandparents' 80th birthdays last year- Grandpa's in September, and Grandma's the following August. It doesn't take a blowout bash to make them happy. For Grandpa we had just what he wanted: his entire family, from his 2 siblings to his 3 children to his 10 grandchildren and all of their significant others, in one room.
Even though a dinner with his favorite people would have been enough, we couldn't just stop there! With his love of hunting and fishing, I knew it wouldn't be hard to jazz up the big event. Using the hunting and fishing theme, we were able to add a few special details that made the evening more personal for Grandpa.
1. Place Cards
Custom trout place cards set the tone for the evening. Each had the guest's name handwritten and welcomed them to their seats. The watercolor style illustration and heavy cardstock ensured the evening remained upscale, never juveline, while incorporating the theme.
Visit Etsy to find these and other great place cards! Trout Place Cards
2. Custom Keepsake
A night as special as this should be remembered, and when everyone is together, gathering handwritten notes can be a priceless gift. Yet large sign-in boards can be cumbersome and sign-in books better serve larger events but might not be filled by a more intimate evening such as this. A special shadow-box frame was the perfect solution for a custom keepsake that was even able to incorporate the theme. Rather than a blank slate for people to write on, the use of small individual tags allowed people to write at their own pace rather than waiting their turn, and took the pressure off if a mistake was made or a rewrite was needed.
What You'll Need:
- A Shadow Frame that opens with a hinge and has a pinboard back
- Pins, Tags, and Sharpies
Make it Your Own:
To incorporate the theme, we used fishing scrapbook paper from Michaels and Deer Die-Cut Tags from Etsy.
Don't Forget:
We added 'Happy Birthday Harold!" and '80' stickers so that Grandpa would always remember that this was done in honor of his 80th birthday.
3. Let Them Eat Cake!
No birthday in our family is complete without Grandma's homemade birthday cake. Even though Grandma's cake never gets old, we still wanted a way to make this very special 80th cake stand out. We topped them it off with some adorable deer cake toppers to bring in our theme. After all, these toppers aren't just for cupcakes- these cutouts on toothpicks can be used for desserts of all kind! Who needs 80 candles anyway?!
Grandpa always taught us that family is everything. It was wonderful to celebrate this milestone with him. The little details made the party fun and special, but being surrounded by his family made him happiest of all!
Do you have an upcoming celebration to plan? We can help you design special details to make it a personal and memorable event! We're All Ears!
