Birthday Party ideas

A DJ spun in front of a dance floor that featured the birthday girl’s personal logo at a sweet sixteen party produced by Magnolia Bluebird Design & Events. Warhol-style graphics, props, custom throw pillows, and comic-art-inspired decor punched up the white lounge furniture at the Musikfest Café at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The teenage guests designed and signed their own spin-art pieces, which were framed to create a personalized custom work of art for the birthday girl at the Pop Art party produced by Magnolia Bluebird.

A hot chocolate to-go wall featuring custom mugs, gourmet marshmallows, and milk chocolate hot cocoa allowed partygoers to leave the sweet sixteen with a sweet treat.

Magnolia Bluebird created walls of cotton candy served on LED glow sticks for the Pop Art-theme sweet sixteen party. “It smelled like a Katy Perry concert when you walked in the door,” says Danielle Couick, principal of the Columbia, Maryland-based event planning company.

Another sweet sixteen was produced by the JDK Group in April 2014. The company's producer and designer David Everett created a flowing champagne fountain displayed in front of a greenery backdrop with a custom monogram for the party’s step-and-repeat.

The sweet sixteen had an array of desserts, including a made-to-order gelato bar. Everett suspended the centerpiece—a five-foot custom-designed cake by the House of Clarendon.

A caricature artist added a traditional element to the punk-meets-Great Gatsby theme of the JDK Group-produced event.

At the sweet sixteen party, guests grabbed pails of fries to dip in toppings, such as sriracha, ketchup, truffle aioli, Meyer lemon horseradish, bacon mayonnaise, and vinegar, which were served in paint cans and spray bottles hanging from chains. An artist created an abstract painting behind the station.

At the same sweet sixteen, a custom-designed raw bar with assorted sushi push pops caught the attention of the younger crowd and provided an innovative twist on the standard hors d’oeuvre.

For an older crowd, Radio Milano in Houston offers an interactive option for birthday parties—a craft cocktail training class where attendees shake things up using an array of ingredients. During the hour-and-a-half lesson, the bartender demonstrates how to make each cocktail, and partygoers get to taste what they've learned. Pricing starts at $30 per person; food, upgraded liquor, and a reception are available for additional fees.

For an outdoor party, the team at Tastings, a catering company that serves New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, recommends offering lunch in elegant to-go bento boxes. At an event at the Glasshouses in New York in February, guests dined on a classic mesclun salad with button mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and herb vinaigrette; seared arctic char with baby potatoes; and assorted macarons and canele for dessert, all presented in a three-tier translucent container.

Guests chose cards with quirky sayings and filled in the blanks at a party at the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, in June 2014, which was produced by TCG Events. Afterwards, the cards and party photos were complied into a memorable coffee table book for the host.

Pancetta-wrapped peaches with a basil pancake were paired with wheat beer in mini mugs at a Tastings-catered event held at a private residence on Staten Island in New York.

For a 40th birthday bash in France, the designers of Ladyfingers Letterpress made a one-of-a-kind laser-cut invite that could be assembled into a real paper airplane. The invites also included a map of Paris, complete with markers identifying landmarks, such as Chanel headquarters, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. “Invitations offer a sneak peek of what’s to come,” says Sarah Schwartz, editor in chief of Stationery Trends magazine and editor of the Paper Chronicles, who sees a trend towards more personalization and away from cookie-cutter cards.

Hosts are making wishes with crazy candles like firecrackers, sparklers, and the musical flower buds ($6.95) from U.S. Candle Company. Once the candle is lit, the large center flame lights 14 small candles, which are attached to each petal. The candle then “blooms,” starts to spin, and plays the “Happy Birthday” song.

For a milestone birthday dinner, designer Nichole Michel of New Haven, Connecticut-based Coral Pheasant Stationery created a stationery suite with an architectural typeface that paralleled the strong lines of the arched casemates of the party venue, Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. Fun facts about the year the birthday boy was born were used to create trivia cards and coordinating coasters.

To celebrate a 70th birthday, a couple chose a Casablanca theme in an homage to their favorite movie. JOWY Productions designed and produced a party at the family’s Los Angeles home that recalled a stylized ‘40s supper club. JOWY turned the front yard into a Moroccan lounge decorated with seating groups, pillows, tables, glass lamps, and hookah pipes evocative of the North African locale.

Each table was different and had white tablecloths, wood bistro chairs, and a mixture of Moroccan lanterns and candles. Infusing the dining space with color, JOWY’s design included cobalt blue plates, colored tea glasses for wine, and Moroccan platters and salt and pepper dishes. Guests supped on regionally inspired dishes family style.

Guests gambled at a roulette table and noshed on tray-passed Moroccan-influenced hors d’oeuvres such as mini crab cakes with harissa remoulade, smoked salmon on potato pancakes with cardamom crème fraiche, lamb meatballs with tomato and minted yogurt dipping sauce, and spanakopita. A quartet played vintage ‘40s tunes.

Valet attendants and waiters wore fez hats to advance the theme.

Yahoo C.E.O. Marissa Mayer recently celebrated her 38th birthday on the San Francisco Bay's Treasure Island with a beach boardwalk theme. A huge tent housed a massive sand castle decked with beachy props and entertainment, according to Business Insider.

Samantha Sackler and Tammy Morgan Ratner's new social event production firm Social (a division of Samantha Sackler Productions) produced a destination 50th birthday party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that treated guests to a weekend filled with events. The festivities kicked off with a welcome dinner on the beach featuring a live-action taco bar, a piñata hung from a truss structure, live entertainment, and s’mores over a fire pit. The weekend included activities like poolside cocktails and beachside volleyball tournaments. It was all capped off with a dinner at one long table overlooking the ocean.

At the end of the evening at the 50th birthday party in Mexico, a fireworks display was coordinated to the honoree's favorite songs.

Sackler and Ratner's Social also produced a winter-wonderland-theme child's birthday party that created a snowy look and feel in Los Angeles. A custom-designed treat display offered sweets—and real snow allowed for sledding activities.

The Washington area's Events In the City designed a Great Gatsby-theme 30th birthday party for an intimate 38 guests with a cake done in 1920's-inspired designs.

Events In the City's design details included mini handmade gold sparkly swizzle sticks in champagne saucers.

So-called "Prohibition punch" was wrapped in paper bags for a speakeasy feel.

Maria Menounos recently celebrated her birthday with a luau theme at her home in Hollywood, sponsored by C. Wonder and Patrón. She blew out candles on a summery multicolored tiered cake.

A live snake added drama amid the celebrity guests.

A fire dancer advanced the Hawaiian luau theme.

To celebrate a 75th birthday and pay tribute to the honoree’s birth era, JOWY Productions designed and produced an event with a Coconut Grove-style, ‘30s and ‘40s vintage feel. The Los Angeles event for 200 took its inspiration from the theme “Let’s Relish Life,” a theme announced on the event’s printed materials. The entire party was black and white with silver and crystal accents.

A custom-designed ice sculpture positioned in the center of the entrance held champagne glasses in the round with a Krug jeroboam centered and elevated for all to see.

At the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay's “Big Night” event at the House of Blues in Boston in February 2014, highboys with chalkboard surfaces and baskets of colored chalk let guests doodle.