40th Birthday Party
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40th Birthday Party
March 2006
Any ideas on clubs or similar places to rent for a party with a
band in the Oakland/Berkeley area? Nothing fancy, a place that
can hold 150 people, ideally where we can set up our own bar but
in-place bar is ok too. Also any suggestions for bands that play
music everyone can dance to - thinkcover tunes, songs from
Aretha Franklin, the Committments, Robert Cray etc. Any and all
suggestions gladly taken!
Meri
The Berkeley Yacht Club (and perhaps other local yacht clubs) can be
rented for parties as you describe.
Karen
Nov 2005
I am turning 40 in a couple of weeks and would like to plan a fun
40th birthday party. I have a 6 week old baby, and most of my
friends have children under the age of 3. I would like to plan a
party that is FUN for adults and that parents can bring their
babies to. Ideally, I would like to plan something indoors that
is active and different. To give an idea of what I am looking
for, if I knew where I could rent out a place that has a trapeez
I might consider something like that. I'm not necessarily looking
for something kid centered, rather I want to ensure that parents
can bring their kids along without a problem (i.e. A bar at 10:00
pm probably wouldn't work). Any ideas you have would be highly
appreciated!
Mary
I attended a party at Trapeeze Arts in Oakland last year. It was
fun for everyone, although most of the kids there were closer to
teenagers than toddlers.
Susan
We had my mom's 80th at Habitot. It was great actually. The
children could play safely. We had the party after hours and
rented the entire museum. We didn't have to worry about the
kids and the adults all had a good time.
anon
June 2004
Hello: My husband is going to be 40 in Aug. and I am usually
creative but I am stumped about how to celebrate. Please
recommend something you may have done or think would be nice for
a 40th birthday. Thank you!
stacey
When my husband turned 40, I threw him a great suprise poker
party. I invited about twenty men friends who showed up after
a fancy family dinner. While his friends arrived I put up the
card tables with green cloths, produced the chips, cards,
peanuts, drinks, etc. Everyone seemed to have a great time and
at 11 o'clock I served dessert and coffee. I know I REALLY
pleased my husband.
Janet
I chartered a yacht through a company out of Alameda called
Compass Rose for my husband's 30th birthday. I got one of my
friends to man the boat and to direct all the guests on board
before I arrived with my husband. He thought we were going on a
dinner cruise, which he was excited about as it was, but when he
saw 30 of his friends on the boat, he was just ecstatic. I put
scrapbook pages on all the tables and took polaroids of all the
guests. Throughout the night, they were then able to put their
pictures on their page and write him a birthday message.
Everybody had a blast!
Kelly
Jan. 2003
My partner turns 40 this year, so we'd like to mark the
occasion.
However, cash is very tight this year, so I'm looking for
suggestions on the best cheap party you've every held or
been too.
Must be child friendly, medium-sized crowd, outdoor options
fine (birthday is in the summer). Is potluck too tacky? Cake
and beverages too cheap?
Thanks!
Anon
Why not organize a weekend long group camping party? That way
the party lasts all weekend and folks can come for as long as
they like. You can have group meals and everyone can pitch in
food and drinks. Big Basin and Tilden (as do other camping
places) both have great group camping sites but book soon
because they fill up fast.
allison
I'm a big fan of fun, so here are some party ideas I've used
for my birthday's in the past that I think are pretty cool. They
are pretty cheap too!
1. Bowling. There is the bowling alley in Albany and another
cool bowling alley in Castro Valley. I'm not sure what the
names of either alley are but you could look them up online.
Fun for all and kid friendly. I can't bowl to save my life but I
still like to go bowling with friends.
2. Mini Golf. There is a cool course in Castro Valley, one in
Concord, and I'm sure more are around that I don't know
about.
3.Ice Skating. Lots of rinks around. I like the one in Berkeley
more than the one in Oakland.
4. The Bocci Ball courts in Lake Merritt. You could rent the
bocci ball kit from the park. Also there is a Bocci Ball group
that will teach you and your friends how to play for free if you
contact them in advance!
5.Crazy game and party in your home. Ask your guests to
bring a game they like to play with others like Twister, Uno,
Pin the Tail on the Donkey etc. Get a Pinata (sp?) and fill it
up with goodies. Have a potluck and offer cake and
beverages.
Potlucks ARE NOT TACKY!! They are fun, especially if you
have friends that love to cook, or have the money to buy
really good take out!!
Hope this inspires you or someone else!
beth
Potlucks are never tacky -- they're a wonderful way to bring
people together without a big display of consumerism, any
pressure on guests to bring additional gifts, or any pressure
on you to orchestrate a huge menu. Just make sure you specify
what type of dish folks should bring, or (in my experience)
you'll end up with seventeen salads. I went to a potluck
wedding a couple of years back -- it sounded weird at first,
but it was really one of the most relaxed and happy weddings
I've ever been to. Actually, the location was great, too: a
clubhouse on Panoramic Hwy, just down the road (south) from
Mountain Home Inn. I don't know the name of it, but I bet you
could find out from the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce -- I
feel like it's a mountaineers' club, or something like that.
Alexa
How about taquitos (you could even buy the frozen variety),
guacamole, margaritas and beer with lime and cake? A pinata for
the kids. A variety of hispanic music on the stereo.
Viva la Fiesta!
Last spring for my 30th b-day my husband organized a great party
at our house. He purchased drinks from Costco, my mom made a
huge lazagna anbd a couple other large dishes, there was a
spread of tomatos, basil and fresh mozzarella cheese (also from
Costco). And, he ordered a cake. He didn't plan to have people
bring food but when people asked if they could bring something
(which at least half of the guests did), my husband asked them
to bring food. There was a ton of food, lots of kids and people
had a great time. So, its definitely ok to have a 40th b-day
party at your house and if people bring food, that is even
better. I think there were about 50 people there and it cost us
less than $400!
had a GREAT B-day party
We used to have my daughter's birthday party at Lake Merritt,
at the picnic spot right above the boat house. There are two
(maybe 3) tables with a great view of the lake and a nice
large grassy area for spreading blankets, throwing frisbees,
etc. It's a bit back off the main road, and pretty quiet, not too
much foot traffic either, besides the occasional jogger.
Nearby: Your almost-40 partner and friends and family
might not be interested in going to Fairyland (and can't get in
without a child anyway) but attendees who want to do more
than sit around chatting can walk down the hill to rent a
paddleboat, sail, etc. See http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/
for more info. They also have a larger boat to take groups for
a whirl around the lake, which was $2/person last time I
went and lasted half an hour or an hour. The bird
sanctuary's a block down, the rotary garden's across the
street, and there are walkways for biking, skating, etc.
You can reserve the tables up there through parks & rec, but
we never did, just had someone show up early that morning
and save it for us.
As far as potluck, how tacky it is depends on the sort of
people you're inviting ;) We always did potluck, provided
condiments, cake, drinks, etc. and it worked out great.
Gwen
A potluck would definitely be tacky. However, if you have a
party in the middle of the afternoon, nobody will expect a meal.
A homemade cake, juice, chips and dip are fine and not too
expensive. People come to the party for the company and not for
the expense of the food. Have it in your house and use your own
dishes to save on the expense of paper plates. Have fun!
anon
I went to a 40th birthday party recently, where everyone met at
a restaurant for dinner. Everyone order their own dinner, some
paid as a group, some paid separate check. Everyone seemed to
enjoy it. There were not enough space for the kids to run
around, but noone seemed to mind (the kids, the parents, other
guest nor the waitresses). The restaurant had a party room,
although it's quite small, but private. Afterwards, we went to
their house for cake, coffee and opening gifts.
p.l.
My husband has a huge family, so I've had to throw my share of
parties on a tight budget.... Two of the best bets I've had are
spaghetti (could work for an italian theme) and nachos. I think
the nachos are actually the cheapest - get a giant bag of
tortilla chips from Costco (about $3) and huge can of nacho
cheese, which you heat in a crock pot, and can even dilute with
water. Everyone seems to like spaghetti and nachos, so you
really can't go wrong with either one.
Hope this helps!
Heather
I threw myself a birthday party for which I asked all comers to
bring 1.) their favorite dish + recipe and 2.) their favorite
piece of music. We spent the night playing everyone's favorite
music, which I recorded onto one tape for a really great mixed
tape (and great memories!!). The recipes went into a scrap
book with signatures and whatever else the person wanted to
write. The food was great, the people relaxed and
conversational with a built-in conversation topic--their
musical tastes. I ended up with music from Early American
Appalachian to hard rock to classical to Zydeco to African to
South American. It was a blast--cheap for all comers, great
for my memories.
Amy
Nov. 2002
I am looking for some great ideas on what to do for a good 40th birthday
party in January. It seems that a lot of ideas are for outside which really
don't work in January and we have a small house which doesn't hold a
lot of people. We would like some ideas that would be fun and
memorable for kids as well as the adults.
kristi
For my mom's 60th birthday party we went bowling and did a 50's
theme and it was GREAT. It was at the bowling alley in Danville.
We had about 60 people and we divided them in teams and assigned
them lanes. We had a tournament and gave prizes to the winners.
Everyone had a button (pin) with a picture of my mom on it and
that gave them access to the Bowling alley bar so they didn't
have to pay for drinks and then the bowling alley tallied the
total for us. We also had 4 Brothers Chinese (also in Danville)
cater the event. The food was not fancy but it was plentiful,
delicious and relatively inexpensive. We also got my mom an old
style 50's bowling shirt with ''It's my B-day'' printed on the
back. Last but not least, we hired an awesome male singing group
to come sing some doo-whop type oldies and everyone loved it. It
was really a fun party. I'd highly recommend it. Feel free to
email me with questions or for referrals to singing group/pin
maker/shirt company/etc...
nina
Why not go bowling? Albany Bowl has food, a bar, and relatively
cheap bowling. If you don't normally go, it could be fun and
nostalgic. If it wasn't in January, I would also recommend going
somewhere like miniature golf. Bring out the inner child!
MizzBee
For my 40th birthday party, I had a dessert potluck. The
invitations said ''you only live once -- eat dessert first!''.
This definitely works as an indoor party (my birthday is also in
January). I didn't have kids at the time, but this seems like
an idea that kids would like too -- although I guess they might
like it a little *too* much -- you might have to keep an eye on
them to make sure they don't overdo it. I still think it's an
idea worth thinking about, especially if you love dessert as
much as I do.
-- dessert lover
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