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1. WHY HAVE A PARTY?
1. WHY HAVE A PARTY?
Parties have general themes and specific themes.
General themes describe the reason for the party: retirement party, baby shower, graduation party, new job party,
birthday party, anniversary party, wedding shower party and more. Specific party themes depend on the age
groups and composition of the guests and honoree. The program content for a children's birthday party is very
different than for a senior birthday party or one for elderly family members. For example, we would not expect to have
games like a potato sack race at a party for seniors and those in the elderly age group. And you wouldn't expect children
to enjoy "talking about the good old days" and "all the wonderful inventions in our lifetime".
Keep it simple and meaningful to the age group or the mix of age groups.
Here are some examples of Senior, Senior Plus and Elderly party planning for birthday parties,
a wedding reception party and an anniversary party. Invitations, decorations and table favors were made using PC
paper crafts. Each type of celebration is unique:
- A Birthday Party celebrates an achievement in life along the path of longevity,
marked by personal perseverance and stamina.
- A Wedding Party celebrates an expectation of life to come, of a change in
state from blessed singleness to holy wedlock.
- An Anniversary Party celebrate the successful accomplishment of another year
of fidelity and growing old together, of complementing one another's personallity.
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Birthdays for the Young
Your Birthday Party celebrates an achievement in life along the path to adulthood. Life's journey unfolds
in a real-time drama before our eyes. Birthday parties for children are a great opportunity remind them that
entering kindergarten, eighth grade, high school or even college is getting closer.
However, my expertise does not lie with the young, but with
the Not-so-Young!
Birthdays for the Not-So-Young
Birthdays for adults lead them into middle age, retirement, starting on Social Security, reaching the golden years
of 70, 80, 90 or even the century mark. There is great interest in party planning for the 40th birthday, 50th birthday
and 60th birthday, according to stats provided by Overture.com.
The 50th birthday party mark is frequently regarded as the "Over-Hill-Birthday". Everything runs downhill
after you reach
50 years of life. Lots of black crepe paper decorations. "Woe is Me" type greeting cards abound, even though
it is not true!
When my neice's husband turned 50, she threw him a surprise birthday party at the house for
family and friends. It really couldn't be a true surprise party because he lived in the house, too, and preparations
were necessary. It was quiet, low key -- an outdoor barbeque around their pool and their beautiful flower gardens -- everyone
brought a covered dish --
no board games, no card games and
no planned entertainment was necessary, just good, old-fashioned conversation that Mom calls "chin music". We
exchanged cards, but in general there were no gifts. Lots of solid, sensible conversation filled the air.
A great time was had by all.
Surprise parties are still OK for the 50's and under crowd, but I believe the older crowd needs more warning
with the ability to make preparations. This viewpoint is contrary to some of the other websites found using
"elderly birthday party" on Google.
At 90 years plus now, Mom certainly needs to know what's going on long
before it happens so she doesn't get rattled. She is still very active and wants to be a part of everything. Her motto is
"I don't want to get rusty." In fact, she made party favors for everyone who
attended for her 80th, 85th and 90th birthday parties! One year the party favors were hand crocheted dishcloths
using "Peaches and Creme" 100% cotton thread. Another year she made her famous crocheted double-sided
potholders. A third year she made refrigerator magnets from yarn and plastic canvas with sayings of
friendship and kind wishes. Perhaps she is not "the ordinary 90 plus citizen", but I believe there are more
people out there like her than we know.
We usually discuss daily plans at least three days in advance so she
can fix them in her internal schedule and be prepared. When more than one or two things happen in a single day, she
is pushed hard to manage her physical stamina. But she is still going and going and is truly remarkable. By giving her
the heads-up, she can better handle the excitement and enjoy the outting.
Grace Callanan of GracesKitchenCrafts.com has an assortment
of refrigerator magnets available as party favors at her
website, also.
I personally think that my own 65th birthday was more traumatic for me than turning 60 years old. Suddenly, my retirement medical insurance was pulled back and I had to take out a supplemental insurance. I
was put on Medicare whether I liked it or not. It also marked the 10th anniversary of my retirement from the
aerospace industry and the active workforce. My 65th birthday party was ideal, though, just a quiet gathering with close
family members and dinner at a nice restuarant. No fuss, no muss!
Birthdays for seniors are a time to reflect on how the world has changed and how
our lives have been influenced by those changes. We can use birthdays to measure how far we have come
in fulfilling our dreams and hopes since the last celebration. They also help us to see ourselves in relationship
to the rest of the world around us. Are we healthy? Are we wealthy? Are we wise? Are we happy? Are we
holy? Are we humble? Birthdays allow us to ask these questions of ourselves and the answers need to be celebrated.
Wedding Party
A Wedding party celebrates an expectation of life to come, of a change in state from blessed singleness to holy wedlock.
The focus of our attention is on the joy the new couple will have as they proceed on a journey together. The future
is their's to capture and to tame! There is a special excitement surrounding this event not celebrated in a birthday or
an anniversary.
First marriages are always special because the parties are just starting out along the new vocation and are
willing to explore life together and the couple can probably benefit from a professional planner.
These days there are many second or third marriages occuring. These couples have
already been through the excitement of the married life and now a seeking the long-term companionship that
marriage has always promised. They are a bit more gun-shy, but just as excited about their new life together as
the first married. Whether the first marriage ended in divorce or in death, the terrifying thought is now in the back of the
mind: "Will it happen again?".
Mom has been married twice and widowed twice, once after 45 years and next after 9 years. She says, "To me
marriage is lot like a baseball game: three strikes and you're out! Well, this chick ain't going out!". She has now
settled into her new life as a widow once more and is satisfied at age 91 to live the rest of her days as a holy widow.
I remember her second wedding and reception well. Both she and Virgil were 75 years old at the time. Virgil's son, Dick,
was the best man and my older sister, Patti-Ann, was the matron of honor. One hundred twenty five family and friends
attended the wedding and the reception dinner that followed.
After a wonderful hot meal in the Church Hall, Dick and his wife drove the wedding couple to their hotel
in nearby Grayling, MI 24 miles west of Kalkaska. The grandchildren had filled the car with balloons during the dinner and the
newly weds had to pop a significant number of balloons just to get into the car. They had fun with the pin, but the noise
was deafening! They remarked to me later how embrassed they felt driving the 24 miles with the horn blarring and the
cans rattling against the pavement that we tied to the back bumper. It was more of a feeling of foolishness rather
than a feeling of stark embarassment. But they knew the grandchildren were trying to give them a good time, so
they accepted the prank in stride.
The quiet honeymoon night was spent in the same hotel as the grandchildren, so it wasn't really that quiet for a couple
accustomed to lights out at 9 pm. The next morning the family and a few friends gathered at a local restuarant for
breakfast and more celebration. From there, the families all went their separate ways across the state.
There were nine years of happiness for this couple before God called Virgil home to Himself.
Now, a shameful plug: Ebook now available with complete instructions
for making your own
lacquer-like napkin rings for party favors at the head table.
Anniversary Party
Celebrate the successful accomplishment of another year of fidelity and growing old
together, of complementing one another's personallity in an anniversay party. It is a mark of distinction to
reach the 10, 25, 35, 50, 60 year
anniversaries and above. The focus of our attention is one of amazement that time has passed so quickly and
so pleasantly, of all the things that have been accomplished by the couple in those years and perhaps, how all
of that would not have been possible if they had remained single.
When my sister, Patti-Ann, was married for 50 years, we organized a Saturday afternoon informal party
for them at the Clubhouse of our manufactured home community in Florida. A 50th wedding anniversary was
especially significant to us because our own parents only managed to survive 45 years before death overtook
our Dad.
We decided to keep it simple and constrained to the afternoon hours of 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. No formal meal
was planned because it was scheduled for after lunch and before dinner. Only ice cream and cake and iced tea
and coffee were served. Bowls of munchies were set on each table. We knew how many tables to set up because
we asked for RSVP in the invitations. The invitations suggested that everyone BYOB if they so desired. Many
did just that and were quite satisfied.
For the entertainment, we had a Moderator who called us all to order
and introduced the celebrated couple. One guest, a talented and published poet, composed two poems
especially for the event and read them aloud. This was followed by several testimonials and a few words
by the honorees. Next, we set some chairs in front of the band for a reception line and asked everyone
to pass through. Before returning to their seats, they picked up a serving of ice cream and cake from the
service window.
As the reception line was finishing, control of the event was given to the band leader, Gus, a close friend and
fellow resident of our community. With his 5 piece
band and other performers, he spread his magic on the happy couple and the audience. The afternoon
culminated with the sweet, smooth rythyms of the big band sound music of the days gone by and folks
dancing away the day.
We decided to decorate the tables with white plastic table covers purchased in rolls from the local restuarant
supply store. They were taped to the underside of the tables, giving a very neat looking effect. Bowls of munchies
were set on each of the tables alongside of two table-tent signs bearing a photo of the couple, "50th Wedding Anniversary"
and the date, just to make sure everyone knew what was happening. These table-tents became prized possessions
at the end of the day and were snatched as "party favors". The flatware was wrapped in a paper napkin and
secured with a paper napkin ring band commemorating the day.
All of the invitations, table-tents, posters and
bands for the flatware-napkin pack were made using the PC and the
MS Paint program in combination with MS Word. About 70 family and friends attended the event. I forgot to
enlist a cleanup crew beforehand, so I was on the end of broom for awhile until I was rescued!
Have the THEME of the event clearly in mind early in the planning and you will experience greater continuity
in the flow that follows.
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