Throw a birthday party the special senior in your life will remember.
Seniors hold a special place in the lives of their families and friends, who will want to honor them on their birthdays. Depending on the senior's age, level of activity and preferences, a birthday event can be as simple as a family gathering at home or an intimate dinner out. Milestone birthdays, such as 60, 70 and 80, are occasions for bigger celebrations, possibly with friends and family coming from out of town. Whatever the plans, there are many ways to place emphasize the nice memories the birthday honoree has accumulated. Does this Spark an idea?
Good Old Days
Host a "Good Old Days" theme party for a special senior birthday celebration. Pick a decade the honoree will enjoy reliving, such as the decade she got married and started having children. Then have everyone come dressed in the fashion of that decade and play tunes of the era. Select the honoree's favorite musicians, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin or Bing Crosby or big band music from the 1940s or 1950s. You can even find programs from the radio era on CD or in MP3 format from sites like OTRcat.com. Perhaps have a singalong around the piano. If the birthday honoree enjoys showing off her dancing skills, clear some space in the living room. For a milestone birthday, book a hotel event room and hire a band.
Trip Through Time
Base a party around a trip through the senior's life. Get out the family photo albums and shoeboxes of black and white photos. Select the ones representing milestones: different houses, new children and grandchildren, pets, family vacations, favorite cars. Get copies made and put together a photo album to present to the honoree, or have the nondigital photos scanned and create a digital slideshow with some of the honoree's favorite songs from the different eras. You can either purchase DVD digital slideshow software or use a professional service. Make the event into a celebration of all the different things the honoree has seen, done and accomplished, though the hair and clothing styles from different eras can also introduce a note of humor. Have the honoree tell the guests the stories behind the photos for a birthday everyone will remember.
Personal Memories
Unlike the Trip Through Time party, which recollects the events of the senior's life, a birthday celebration based around personal memories focuses on the impact the senior has had on the lives of others. Friends and family can put together a scrapbook of captioned photos and poems about the honoree that speak to the special place she holds in their lives. Younger family members can include their own artwork. Present the scrapbook at the party and take the honoree through those years. Guests can tell anecdotes related to the photos to share with the honoree and each other. Plus, the honoree gets a keepsake on her importance to family and friends.
Tags: birthday celebration, birthday honoree, different eras, digital slideshow, from different, from different eras