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Obviously you can't do this one on your own, but a surprise party is a great idea. To make it really effective you have to let your partner know that a party is planned - with just a few close friends, but you keep the number of people a secret.
This is just like the TV show. You build a book with the life history included in it. This is a great one to do as a PowerPoint presentation. You then proceed to introduce people from their past. You could if you want present a bound book with the newspaper from the week they were born. There is a suitable book available from a company called Getting Personal www.gettingpersonal.co.uk
A great party venue is to hire a boat. This could either be on a river or on the sea. (Watch out for the sea as some people may get sea sick).
A castle is a great venue for a party. Many castles have a banqueting hall. Even better you could also combine it with a Medieval Banquet. This would make an unmissable event.
A great theme for the year you (or your partner) were born. You could wear Mini shirts and single breasted suits. (For more details on 1966 fashion there is a section on the BBC website) http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/years/1966/fashion.shtml
Since 1966 was the year that England won the world cup you could get everyone to dress up in red England replica kits.
Just about any party tends to go better with a magician. For my wife's 40th Birthday we booked a magician. He was able to split his act into two halves- the first half for the kids, the second half for the adults.
This is best done in a farmer's field, rather than on a camp site. You can arrange to have a camp fire and you could do your cooking on barbeques.
A nice thing to do in hot weather is to have a party on the beach. You may need to pick a location where you are not likely to get told off. In the middle of winter you could plan an indoor beach party where you wear hawaian shirts and spread sand on the floor.
There are lots of other types of themed parties that you can try.
- Caribbean
- Pirates
- Vicars and Tarts
- Film Stars
- School Dinners
Hire a big villa for a week or two abroad. Share the cost with your close friends. (sent in by Salli)
1920s theme party
Dress up in spats and posh frocks. Play the Charlston. (Sent in by Melissa)
Spend it at a hotel with as many friends as you can allow (or afford). Plan a 'Murder Mystery' game (instructions available on-line). Everyone should plan to stay in one area of the hotel. The possibilities are endless. (From Joanna in Arizona).
Wild west nights are always a laugh. We had 1 for my partener when he turned 40. We hired a mechanical bull and had his favourite 40 songs playing all night at the local centre. It was great. (Sent in by Wotattitude)
How about hiring a local hall / pub / function Room and then hiring a tribute band?
There are lots of Tribute Bands e.g. Rolling Stones, Beatles, Jacksons, Spandau Ballet etc.
You name it there will be one for you.
Sent in by Mark Devenport who plays in the U2 Tribute Band (www.BloodRedSky.co.uk)
A good idea for a party is for everyone to show up with a wig and then swap wigs by the end of the night.
The host should have some extra wigs on hand for those people who arrive without a wig.(Sent in by Sam Witherspoon)
I wanted to do something huge for my husbands 40th but was pretty tight on cash. I wanted to book his favorite band, have showgirls, Karaoke, a petting zoo for the kids and other misc. games. The cost would have been in the thousands and I could not afford it.
So I decided that his party would also be a charity event supporting an Orphanage that my husband and I often donated to. All of the entertainers agreed to play for free and the venue was also provided for free. I asked the 150 guests to make a $40 donation to the Orphanage instead of buying gifts for my husband. In the end we were able to donate more than $6000, the only cost for me was the food, cake, decorations, disposable cameras and pinata treats. In total I spent maybe $500 out of my pocket. I cannot even begin to think about what I'm going to do for his 50th. (Sent in by Sheri).
All gather and complete a task at the house to receive their first clue (we had a page of riddles to solve). Teams are set by you - we did 3-4 people per team, but you keep it to couples if needed. After that it's like a car rally, stopping here and there to pick up the items in the clues. One task involved counting the fire hydrants on one street and reporting it at a coffee shop drive-thru speaker to receive the next clue and some treats to eat on the journey. We had a friend create a task for people to do at her place. In the end, we all met at a restaurant for dinner and discussion. Many laughs! (Sent in by Peggy Churey)
If you have any other ideas - why not drop us an email and we will see if we can add them.
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