Is your spouse, your sibling, or your best friend preparing to celebrate a birthday sometime soon? If so, you should consider throwing an adult birthday party for them.
Many adults might tell you that they don’t want a big celebration for their birthday. But according to one recent survey, almost 90% of Americans enjoy when one of their family members or friends goes out of their way to put something together for their special day.
Before you begin planning out a celebration, though, it’s important to learn how to plan a birthday party for adults. As you’ll quickly find out, planning a birthday party for an adult is much different than planning one for a child.
Here are some tips that’ll help you get started.
Begin by Creating a Guest List
When you’re planning a birthday party for a child, creating the guest list for it is usually simple enough. It often consists of everyone in a child’s class at school and a few other family members and friends.
Creating the guest list for a birthday party for an adult isn’t quite as easy! Once you begin working on it, you’ll find that the average adult has a long list of family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and more.
But it’s worth noting that most people don’t expect everyone they know to celebrate their party. Back in 2015, a survey showed that most adults only expect between five and ten people to celebrate with them.
This means that you should keep the guest list for a person’s birthday party on the shorter side. Only invite those people who are closest to the birthday boy or girl to their party.
Choose the Right Day and Time
When you’re trying to figure out how to plan a birthday party for adults, one of the biggest hurdles you’ll face is finding a day and time that works for everyone on the guest list for the party.
Limiting the number of people that you put on the guest list should help to some degree when it comes to choosing the right day and time. But even with a small guest list, it might still be tough to find a day and time that works for everyone.
Connect with those on the guest list and give them several options as far as days and times are concerned. It’ll take some work on your part, but you should be able to nail down a date that works for everyone.
Pick Out the Perfect Venue
You can hold a birthday party for an adult almost anywhere. Many people choose to hold adult birthday parties:
- In their homes
- At bars or restaurants
- At parks
It might be worth your while to think outside the box when planning an adult birthday party. Try to choose a venue that matches up with the birthday boy or girl’s interests.
For example, you can plan a party at, say, an arcade for someone who loves playing video games. It’ll make everyone at the party feel like a kid again.
Order the Birthday Boy or Girl’s Favorite Foods
No matter where you choose to hold a birthday party for an adult, one of the most important aspects of the entire party is going to be the food that you order for it.
Ordering up some pizzas will be simple enough. But if you want to make the party extra special, it’s a good idea to order the birthday boy or girl’s favorite foods instead.
You might even want to spring for a caterer and have them make foods that you know the birthday boy or girl will love. It’ll put the party over the top and ensure everyone goes home full.
Make Sure There’s a Cake!
Regardless of which kinds of foods you have at an adult birthday party, there needs to be a cake served at some point! You can’t have a birthday party without a cake, right?
Go all out and have the birthday boy or girl blow out candles on the cake, too. Surveys have suggested that more than 60% of people enjoy doing this—even as they start to get up there in age.
Go in Together on One Big Gift
Kids love receiving lots of presents at their birthday parties. Quantity over quality seems to work best for them.
But that’s not the case for adults. Most adults don’t need or want a bunch of presents from their family members and friends on their birthday.
If you’re going to get the birthday boy or girl a gift, it’s smart to get everyone to go in together on one big gift. A gift certificate to a nice restaurant or tickets to a play or a sporting event might be the best way to go.
Think About Making It a Surprise Party
There are some people who hate surprises. If you suspect the birthday boy or girl might be one of them, don’t make their birthday party a surprise party.
But if you think it’ll help make their birthday party even more special than it already is, think about surprising the birthday boy or girl. They might end up appreciating the surprise more than anything else.
Learn How to Plan a Birthday Party for Adults Before Doing It
In theory, you might think that planning a birthday party for an adult would be way easier than planning one for a child. But once you start doing it, you’ll see that adult birthday parties are no picnic.
The key is to learn how to plan a birthday party for adults before you get started. By following the advice found here, you’ll make the entire experience a lot less stressful on yourself and others.
You’ll also make the birthday boy or girl so happy. They’ll appreciate you taking so much time to put together the plans for their party.
Take a look at some of the other articles on our blog to find more tips on throwing a successful birthday party.
