Thursday 6 November 2008

Come With The Life Of The Party, Y'all

My mom is having a significant-ends-in-zero birthday this month. My family is planning a surprise party for her. So far we've sent out the invitations and drafted a preliminary grocery list. We're a bit behind in the actual planning part though, especially since the party is in 9 days. Uh yeah, NINE DAYS.

Here's where you lovelies come in. I need some ideas, some party planning GOLD if you will, to take this party from "thoughtful" to "bitchin'!" Keep in mind that it's an afternoon party of mostly older people (we're talking the 50 - 65 age set) so jello shots and strip poker are (probably) out of the question.

Turtle has the decorations down and Bow is in charge of making a guestbook where people can write messages to my mom. I'm making hot pepper jelly (because our mom is such a hottie!) for the party favours (even though after making over 100 jars of jam for our wedding favours I pledged to never make jam again.) Other than that, we've got nothing.

Help us out! Quickly! We don't have much time left.

13 comments:

  1. Along the lines of the guest book, this is an idea we used for my grand-parents' 50th wedding anniversary years ago, but it's easy transferable to a big birthday.

    Solicit stories/memories about your mom from guests who attend the birthday party as well as those who don't. Maybe even extend the invitation to her co-workers or other friends/family who were not invited (you can easily cover this one by saying you will be having a small party for family, but would like to include as many people as possible). Send each of these people a blank card (can also have simple adorations on the top or as a border). Have the items mailed (or emailed!) and place the cards in a decorative box. In our case, let's say we had 50 people who contributed, but only 10 at the party ... we each read our favorite card and then left the rest for my grandparents to read on their own time. It's a really memorable gift that keeps on giving.

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  2. Karaoke machines are always a fun way to pass the time. It gets people up and singing/dancing.

    You could do a photo guestbook where the guests write something funny on a white board and take a picture. Then you can put it in an album for your mom.

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  3. I am not even kidding when I say that my Mom's 50th birthday did include jello shots.

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  4. Nilsa's idea is great. I did a similar thing for my parents' 25th anniversary. Coincidentally that subject is my blog post for tomorrow. :)

    If I come up with anything fantastic, I'll let you know. Otherwise my brain is drawing a huge blank.

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  5. awesome music from back when your mom was in her wild and crazy days (if she had them LOL)...

    and an ice luge! even adults like ice luges!

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  6. I echo the idea about the music, play all music from your mom's youth (especially if it's stuff from the late 60s/early 70s).

    Also, maybe make up a game with facts about your mom and the guest who gets the most answers right wins a prize?

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  7. um how about putting together a scrap book or something for her? er or like a photo board of your mom over the years? i did one for my mom at her birthday last year and she loved it.

    good luck!

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  8. -open mic for stories
    -get people to write their favourite memories, etc, on a poster board
    -photo collage to display
    -treasure/scavenger hunt for her to follow (this takes planning and might not work)
    I also googled adult party games and apparently it's not all about sex!
    http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gameliststd.asp?type=adultal&catname=ADULT+PARTY+GAMES+A-L

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  9. I LOVE mle's idea about a trivia-themed (and possibly drinking-) game based on your mom's life! If she's turning 60, have 6 Categories, one for each decade. And maybe have special questions for your mom--stuff she SHOULD know, but may have forgotten over the years. Maybe stuff about you guys--her kids. Maybe stuff about her wedding day--obviously get some ideas from your dad in that category.

    And also? Jello shots.

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  10. http://www.partygamecentral.com/

    this is a smaller link of the site!

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  11. you should set up an assisted living style party..where everyone pretends to be much older than they really are. break out the walker. and maybe a cane. play some shuffleboard and bingo. serve all soft food, like mashed potatoes. have prunes for appetizers. wear knee socks with shorts and really white shoes.

    you get the idea. would your mom find humor in that?

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  12. i love the decade-by-decade trivia game!! or post old pictures of her wearing awesome 60/70s-era clothes and have people guess what year the picture was taken? :-)

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