How to Plan a Birthday Party: Top 10 Ideas & Tips
Whether you're celebrating a kid's big day or throwing a birthday bash for an adult, you can host a spectacular, stress-free soirée—big or small, at home or away—with our top planning tips and easy birthday party ideas.
When it comes to party planning, a checklist keeps you organized with bite-sized tasks that are easier to tackle. The goal is molehills, not mountains. Before you buy decorations or choose a party theme, start your party checklist. Begin with the basics—date, budget, theme, guest list, venue, menu, cleaning, decorating, cake—then include any extras specific to your celebration.
Your budget should cover everything from invitations, decorations, and party favors to rental tables and extra ice. For a milestone birthday, you may choose to rent a venue and hire a party planner to take care of the details. If you do, they'll need your budget details early.
Bonus Birthday Party Tip:
Plan to tip birthday party entertainers, including party planners, costumed characters, face painters, balloon artists, DJs, and performers.
A theme can help generate birthday party decor ideas, activities, and even the menu. Throw an Alice in Wonderland tea party with mini sandwiches and petit fours. Host a baseball-themed party at the ballfield. Use playing cards as invitations for a game night party. If themes aren't your thing, simply coordinate your table linens, place settings, and decorations
Some birthday party themes allow for hands-on fun every guest can enjoy. Consider these birthday party ideas:
- Build-your-own pizza: provide the ingredients; let guests don aprons, make their own dough, and top individual pizzas; then fire up the oven to bake them.
- Art party: sketch, paint, throw clay, or craft—no matter the art, make a party out of it. You provide the supplies and the guests create their own masterpieces.
- Adults-only mixology party: learn the secrets to mixing the perfect drinks when you hire a bartender or mixology expert to teach you to craft cocktails.
- Mini-golf adventure: who doesn't love a game of mini-golf? Rent a portable putt-putt course for an at-home party, or head to your favorite venue for a memorable par-tee.
When it comes to birthday celebration venues, you may wish to keep closer to home—really close: host a birthday party in your own backyard. Bring the party to your patio or make a splash with a pool party. Decorate with your deck furniture and accents for outdoor living. Fire up the grill, order pizza, or create a giant summertime buffet—just have a backup plan in case of nasty weather.
When it comes to birthday celebration venues, you may wish to keep closer to home—really close: host a birthday party in your own backyard. Bring the party to your patio or make a splash with a pool party. Decorate with your deck furniture and accents for outdoor living. Fire up the grill, order pizza, or create a giant summertime buffet—just have a backup plan in case of nasty weather.
Snacks and cake are sufficient for a short party, but a longer event or one that lands at mealtime will need heartier options. A birthday menu for a lunchtime party may include a cookout with burgers and hot dogs, a giant taco bar with all the fixings, or a potluck with everyone's favorite dishes. For lighter fare, a finger-food buffet or a mix of snacks (healthy treats in addition to sweets) will keep guests happy.
Bonus Birthday Party Tip:
Have plenty of beverages on hand so guests don't go thirsty: plan on two drinks per guest, per hour.
Send birthday party invitations at least two weeks in advance—but three to four weeks is better. Let your invites hint at your theme, and share important information, like if guests should bring swimwear or plan to be outdoors. Email invitations are okay, too: they're convenient, and you can gather RSVPs with a quick click.
Track RSVPs so you know how much food to prepare, how many party favor bags to fill, and how much seating you'll need. Request that guests RSVP five days before the event to leave time to finalize the details.
Presents are part and parcel: people expect to bring birthday gifts to a party. Designate a gift table to keep the tissue paper-stuffed bags in one area, and decide ahead of time if you'll open presents at the party or save the gifts for after guests leave. Keep track of who brought what—and send thank yous promptly.
Don't want gifts? It's okay to let people know with a simple note on the invitation, but accept any unexpected gifts with your sincere thanks.
While adults are often good at mingling and kids love to play, they shouldn’t be left to seek out the fun on their own. You don’t need to adhere to a strict, to-the-minute agenda, but know when you’ll serve dinner, bring out the cake, and start party-specific entertainment. Have drinks and snacks available as guests arrive, start present opening and cake at the halfway point, and party games or other entertainment happens throughout the event.
Bonus Birthday Party Tip:
Determine party length based on age. For first birthday celebrations or toddler birthday parties, plan for an hour—and make sure the guest of honor has a nap beforehand. Two hours is ideal for older kids in preschool through middle school. Adult parties may last anywhere from two to four hours.
A birthday party should be fun. If planning is becoming stressful or if you realize you've overextended yourself, scale back. It's okay to choose simple over extravagant. Skip the party favors—or create a grab-bag station where guests can fill up goodie bags with candy and trinkets before they head out. Hire a caterer to serve up favorite dishes rather than standing beside the grill for the whole party. Not a fan of cake decorating? Bake cupcakes and let each guest frost, sprinkle, and pipe their own mini dessert.
A birthday party should be fun. If planning is becoming stressful or if you realize you've overextended yourself, scale back. It's okay to choose simple over extravagant. Skip the party favors—or create a grab-bag station where guests can fill up goodie bags with candy and trinkets before they head out. Hire a caterer to serve up favorite dishes rather than standing beside the grill for the whole party. Not a fan of cake decorating? Bake cupcakes and let each guest frost, sprinkle, and pipe their own mini dessert.
Planning a birthday party comes down to organization and preparation. To host a birthday party that wows, examine your must-haves and your nice-to-haves, and weed out the pieces that are causing too much stress. For more party planning tips and tricks, explore our Guide to Entertaining.
