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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Need some Nestie Help - 60th Birthday Party Planning Ideas?
My mom's 60th is coming up and I'm throwing her a ladies brunch. It's a mix of women where some don't know each other and there will be a range of ages there. So, I was trying to come up with some activities or conversation pieces as well as a general theme for the party.
Here are some of my ideas so far but I'm having trouble tying everything together:
1. I was thinking of putting her high school portrait on the invitation and saying something like "Brenda is turning 60. Come celebrate with friends she's made over the years" or something to that effect. She's inviting some friends she's known for decades as well as some newer friends that she's met in recent years.
2. I was planning to make a slideshow of photos of her from her childhood/teenage years that I would have running in a loop on the big screen TV in the living room. I thought that would be good as something to have in the background that people can look at or as a conversation starter (especially in those awkward moments when people are arriving and some don't know each other).
3. I was thinking for the music to do a mix of music from her high school days which would be the late 60's.
4. I plan to do placecards and maybe print out some other little items to go with the theme but I don't really have a theme. Maybe I could make a little logo type graphic of her high school photo that says "Brenda's Turning 60" and put that on the placecards, etc.?
5. I wouldn't mind doing a little game of some sort but I have no idea what I would do for an adult party like this.
6. I wanted to have a moment at the early part of the party where each person says how they met her and what they appreciate about her. I'm expecting about 10-12 people. I was thinking about emailing people back when they RSVP to let them know we'd be doing this so they could think about what they want to say beforehand. But then I don't know if that will make people nervous about speaking and so I'm wondering if I should just do it on the fly and let people speak as they want.
So, that's what I've got so far. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas from parties you've been to. Also, if you know of any blogs or articles that have good ideas, feel free to link to those. Feel free to also tell me if any of the above ideas are cheesy.
My other question is how to handle gifts. My mom does not want people to bring gifts. I know you aren't supposed to mention gifts on the invite but is that now okay and how would I word it? Or, should I tell people when they RSVP via email not to bring gifts?
Any ideas, suggestions, etc. would be much appreciated.
Re: Need some Nestie Help - 60th Birthday Party Planning Ideas?
I saw this idea recently on a blog I read and I thought it was pretty cool: Sixty Years of Memories
Re: gifts, I think it's OK to say "Your presence is all the gift we need" or something similar.
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
I love this idea: http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories
which is kinda like your #6 option -- and your mom will have the handwritten notes forever....
As for gifts -- I think in this case you can say no gifts, please (folks know she's 60 and doesn't need more "stuff") but perhaps you'd like to suggest a donation to her favorite chaity has been made (that can be your gift....).... like, "In lieu of gifts, a donation to XXX has been made in XXX's honor." and then folks know that's your mom's charity of choice and they can make their own donations, if they want.
I love the slide show.music at the same time thing.....as folks are arriving, that's a great conversation starter!
on the placecard, what if you include some snippet of how they know your mom? Like, Mary is Brenda's little sister. Susan met Brenda in high school. Etc - since not everyone knows everyone else, when they are seated, they will be able to read each other's placecards and make the connections. (or, this can be used for nametags...)
i wouldn't worry about games... sounds like you have a lot of other things going on (esp if people speak to how they met your mom, or their favorite memory of her).
"What is a week-end?"
For the slideshow, would it be possible to ask all invitees to send you their favorite photograph of them with your mom, so that everyone feels included? That would continue the theme of the friends she's made over the years.
The theme seems like "over the years", so if you were going to make placecards with a theme, maybe ask your mom what her favorite memory with each person is, and have that be in quotations under their names. That would be a sweet keepsake for each guest too. It would also be a conversation starter.
As for games, a game that was played at my bridal shower, and one that I've led at other bridal showers is called "Purse Power" and doesn't have to be a "bridal shower" game, necessarily. Basically you have a list with points of whatever you have in your purse, and whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins. Example of list (get creative, this is just a sample!): Tissue-5 points, Cell phone 5-points, Lipstick 4-points per tube, Calculator 6-points, Pen 3-points, Photo of loved ones 5-points, postal stamps 5-points, Coupon - 5 points, Photo of yourself 8-points, over $3.00 in change 10-points, keys 2-points, Shopping list - 5 points, emery board 5-points, mirror 5-points. And so on. Since it's going to all be women, they will all most likely have purses with them. It's fun to see the ladies get competitive with who's got the most stuff in their purse!
Sounds like fun!!
T&C - we linked to the same blog! great minds think alike!
"What is a week-end?"
The nestie's deliver again! Thanks for the great ideas so far. I love love love the 60 years of memories ideas. This is also nice because friends who are not coming can participate. This is exactly the type of special thing I wanted to do for my mom. She does so much for everyone else and this will be a wonderful keepsake for her.
Pam&John - I like your idea for the no gifts and also the placecards. I may actually do name tags like you suggested. I could make them cute and fun and I think it would be a good conversation starter.
Ladywalton - Love the idea of the "Over the Years" theme. I'll see if I can play around with some logo designs of that. Also, the purse game is great. Maybe I won't specifically "plan" any games but I can have that as an idea in my back pocket if there's lull.
Thank you ladies. I'm getting excited now about planning this.
Thank you! What a great idea. I found it on Amazon.