A Touch of Southern Grace : Guest Post :: 5 Great Ways To Celebrate Your Birthday At Home

In today’s world everything can be so busy, and on certain years sometimes its nice to slow down and do something low key and stress free for your birthday. For me personally, I have always enjoyed a nice dinner with a few friends and family for my birthday, unless it is one of those “big number” birthdays. For today’s guest post Neil White, a student of web design and DIY enthusiast, is sharing a few fabulous ideas to celebrate your birthday at home for those years you feel like having an awesome birthday without the trouble of arranging a night out on the town!

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Most of our lifestyles are such that we do not socialize as much as we need to and we do not get to see all of the people we want as often as we would like. This may have reminded you of Bilbo Baggins’s birthday speech. He too, had a great party organized for his birthday, so what is stopping you? If you are out of ideas, you can organize something meaningful or something unique at home for you and your friends, regardless of how many you have.

A quiet evening and a nice dinner

If you are entertaining a smaller group of close friends, one way of doing something very nice and personal is to invite them to a dinner. You should do your best to make everything yourself and not use ready-made meals or frozen pies. Alternatively, you can ask them to come over and cook for you. Perhaps, the middle ground would be for all of you to cook together and have a fancy dining setting for a great festive experience. You will bond and have fun while cooking. Later on, you will get a chance to relax and enjoy the food you made yourselves. Do not forget to get the best pairing wine to go with your meal.

A movie night

A movie night could be just a thing for you and your special someone, for your family, including kids as well as a group of friends. You can stage it both indoors and outdoors depending on your preference and the weather. If you do not own them, you can hire both a movie screen and a projector to make a more theater-like experience. This can be very special and it does not have to cost a lot. You can combine a movie night with a nice dinner or even with a game night if you want to give it some introduction and a closure.

A pool party

Good, old-fashioned, pool party will never be obsolete. If the date of your birthday allows it, I certainly vote for the ultimate summer fun. In case you do not own a pool, you can rent a portable one. You can even rent a moon bounce as they go hand in hand with pools. Organize finger food and drinks and serve them in your patio area. Do not forget the music as it is one of the two elements responsible for a truly good party. The other one is the people, but I am pretty sure that you will not go wrong there. If you do not have a bar outdoors, you can easily build one. The most important thing is that you have a way of cooling your drinks and keeping them cool throughout the day. You can organize ninja warrior tournaments in your backyard. Also, there are life-size board games available for outdoors. You can play a game of life-size chess and if there are enough people, each one of you can be a single chess piece.

Throw a masquerade

Choose a theme you think will be the most inspiring for your guests and send out party invitations outlining the dress code. There are plenty of people out there who are truly into themed parties and there is no chance that they will miss it. The theme should also dictate the time and the setting. If it is a scary or more provocative one it should probably not include children and is better suited and easier to set up in the evenings. If it is a fairy tale theme, for example, then everyone is welcome and you can organize it as a backyard tea party. Have a couple of masks ready in case some of your friends are not really into themed parties and show up looking like themselves. The crowd itself will be the greatest décor for the party. However, you also need to look up some props which will help you set the scene and make everything look more realistic. Help your guests stay in their role.

Make a music festival

This is particularly suitable for those still in high school or college. If you decide to make a backyard music festival, you will need a lot of people to attend. Perhaps you should encourage your guests to bring along more people apart from their plus one. Depending on the layout of your garden, you could even make two stages. Hire a Mobile Bar and some portable toilets to make the experience more genuine and have people stay out of your house. With that many people around, even if they just entered for bathroom breaks, your house will end up looking like a mess. You can rent a stage for the front and have a mobile DJ stand in the back. Hiring a local cover band and a local DJ should not be that expansive. You probably even have friends who are DJs or in a band and I am sure they will gladly do it for free, as a present to you and as a chance to perform.

The final piece of advice

Think about things you like to visit and see, things that make you happy and give you the most pleasure. Bring them into your home. Do not organize a party only because you think you are supposed to, but because you truly feel like it. Regardless of how much time, money and effort you invest in something, the result will never be as great as you hope it to be unless you bring the good mood and invite the right people.