14 Best 60th Birthday Party Ideas

 

You threw your loved one a fantastic 50th birthday party, so it may be a challenge to top that with the 60th year celebration. But, if you think hard enough, there are a variety of different party themes to implement to make it a special event for the culmination of the 60th decade. By maximizing the critical combination of food, decorations, and loving party guests, you can knock it out of the park.

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It is crucial to know what type of environment that the guest of honor would prefer. You must assess if the person would enjoy a smaller, intimate gathering, or a fancy event with loads of people. By reflecting on the special moments of the past and choosing the right refreshments, drinks, and themes, you can create a compelling idea that will make the birthday honoree not feel appreciated, but also loved.

1. Then and Now Party Theme

A classic (but fun) party theme would be a “then and now” style that appreciates the past and compares it to the present. You can start by decorating the party venue with similar-looking photos from contrasting periods. If the person loves to play a sport, you can choose sports team photos from childhood and put them side by side with a picture of the person enjoying that same activity now.

You can also incorporate photos of the lineage of children and grandchildren from the person’s life. Make sure to have historical pictures from the honoree’s lifetime and have them placed next to the same images of their kids and grandkids. This element can provide an exciting and loving perspective on the legacy that the guest of honor created. This visual can lead to many discussions and appreciation of life.

Try to also think of vital family food traditions that the person enjoyed in the past. You can recreate them for the party, so the special guest of honor can think back to when they also use to enjoy the food or drink when they were a young kid. This additive would play a unique role in the “then and now” theme.

2. Surprise Party Theme

Does your loved one appreciate exciting surprises and getting caught off guard? You need to be careful about this one because some people do not enjoy the unexpected. This party theme can be a fun daylong event that leads up to a culmination of a surprising love outburst at the party location. This strategy may take a little extra planning on your end, but it is worth it.

You can take your loved one out for a day out on the town to shop or enjoy a restaurant, while everyone else does the behind the scenes work to get the party ready to go. You could even coordinate a scavenger hunt for the person that involves nostalgic checkpoints and clue, which lead up to them greeting everybody at the party. By acting like it’s just a regular 60th birthday date, you can blow them away with a surprise.

Once the surprise happens, you can lead this into a complimentary toast and raising of a glass to the 60th birthday party honoree. If you go the scavenger hunt route, you can reflect on why you chose each obstacle and the inside meaning.

3. 60 Messages from Friends and Family

There is nothing better than taking turns sharing why the birthday party honoree is unique to you. This birthday party theme takes a collective effort from the party guests. There are multiple ways to make this happen. As the party approaches, you can gather feedback from everyone and have them submit a favorite memory, joke, or fun fact about the person who is getting honored.

You can then consolidate the messages and put it into a PowerPoint or presentation for everyone to admire. The slideshow can roll by itself as the party goes on, or you can schedule time aside from the party for everyone to read their memories in live time. Doing this can make for a fun party activity and put the spotlight on the person of honor if they prefer it this way.

You can also write the reasons on various sheets of paper and have them distributed throughout the party for the guests and the main honoree to find. Regardless, this party theme will serve the purpose of making the new 60-year old feel valued and loved by everybody. You can even gather messages from people who cannot be there so that they can feel like they are there at the party in spirit.

4. Cheers to 60 Years

The “Cheers to 60 years” theme is an excellent idea for someone who enjoys alcohol or spirits. This theme is great because you can order personalized wine or shot glasses that have the person’s name or event printed on the side. Each time you want to toast at the party, you can bang on the glasses and have everybody raised their theme glass. Each guest can take it home with them for a memorable souvenir.

When planning this party, you can support the alcohol theme by contacting a catering service or having an open bar going for the party. Make sure to include the guest of honor’s favorite types of drinks and snacks. Throughout the party, you can set up cheese boards or charcuterie setups for people’s enjoyment. You want this to be fun, but simple, gesture for the birthday man or women to partake in their favorites.

Another aspect of value that you could add to this party is having the catering service offer hors d’oeuvres for the guests throughout the party, including crackers and cheese, meatballs, mini BLTs, and bacon-wrapped scallops. Hungry yet?

5. Breakfast Bar Themed Party

If you want your party to stand out and do something unique, throw a breakfast or brunch party that offers the beauty of natural light and daytime. If the person of honor enjoys day parties, this could be a great idea. You can set up a lavish breakfast bar with sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and a fruit or fondue bar for dessert. A bonus addition could be an omelet bar that gets operated by an outside service.

For party decorations, you can stick with the black-white theme to accommodate the daylight hours and signify the passage of youth. As for drinks, a nice touch would be to serve mimosas or screwdrivers for the guests to enjoy. For the people who are not of age, you can always offer sparkling grape juice, apple juice, or orange juice to mix in with this.

This type of party would be great to have under a tent in the backyard or at a picnic area. Regardless, you should maximize the use of natural light to complement the lighthearted theme for the person of honor. You can begin and end the party with a sweet toast and a couple of mini speeches from the closest loved ones.

6. Folk-Themed Party

A timeless 60th birthday party idea includes a folk-style barn dance for the honoree. If you know someone who lives on a farm, you can set this up through them. Or, even better, you can rent out a professional bar that gets designed for parties like these. There are no shortages of party rental companies that can offer a beautiful venue such as this. Make sure to reserve far ahead of time to get through high demand.

At the party, you can have live music and square dancing for the guests to keep it upbeat and fun. Whether you want to hire a DJ or a band to play up at the front, you cannot go wrong either way. You can serve country-style alcohol and spirits, such as whiskey, bourbon, or other beers. You could even coordinate the dress code to adhere to a more folk-style country attire with flannel shirts, cowboy boots, or hats.

To further show love to the guest of honor, you can have a running slideshow and projector that shows the memorable parts of the person’s life. You can gather this content from the birthday guest’s friends. This gesture would give a pleasant surprise and offer some happy memories from the past.

7. Backyard Cookout Style Party

If you are looking for a more cost-efficient party, you can always throw a backyard bash with a cookout theme for the honoree. This theme could end up being a great idea if the person grew up in a family that valued outdoor gatherings and cooking outside. This type of party is best done during the summer months if the person was born in this period.

You can build this party with a hamburger, hotdog, or ballpark theme by having a bar laid out for everybody with fixings for each type of food. You can combine this with chili or even a taco bar that people can enjoy. To add to the theme, you can set up old sports pictures of the honoree from childhood to make them feel like they are home again.

When decorating, you can ride on the picnic-style by setting up checkered tablecloths, paper napkins, plates, and silverware with red solo cups. Apart from the main food items, you can include corn on the cob, baked beans, potato chips, cookies, and other desserts. Depending on what the birthday guest prefers, you can offer a variety of beers or light alcoholic sodas for the guests.

8. Kisses and Hugs Candy Party

Is the guest of honor a big fan of sweets? You can honor him or her by filling various jars or containers with 60 Hershey chocolate kisses or other pieces of candy. You can go all out by creating a candy bar with the person’s favorite sweet tooth satisfaction. When decorating for this type of party, go with bright, vibrant colors and table runners with candy spread across them for added effects.

You can fill the venue with specific candy pun messages that make the guest of honor feel loved and important. For a small competition, you can have small contests that have the guests decide how many candies are in each jar and offer prizes. But, you do not want to take too much attention off of the birthday guy or girl.

You do not need to do all the work when it comes to writing thoughtful messages. You can have the guests submit personal messages that get centered around the kisses and hugs theme, or you can ring a bell or tap your glass if you want the birthday guest and his special someone to show affection.

9. Decade-Themed Costume Party

If the guest of honor enjoys dressing up and role-playing, a costume party could be a quality choice for a 60th birthday party. You could pick a decade that is the person’s favorite and cater the dress code to that. If a particular birthday person enjoyed the 80s, you could do a disco-themed party for great enjoyment. You could even throw a party that gets based on fun movies, such as “The Great Gatsby.”

Another critical aspect of the party is to match the theme and decorations to the style of the party. It is best to stay consistent with a white and black idea with music from a specific period. You can also decorate it with furniture or drapes or other tablecloths to make it feel like you are at that time. To get people to dress their best, you could offer a prize to the best costume for the party.

Make sure to strengthen the authenticity of the party by offering food from the 70s or 80s as well, including a dessert bar with fondue to simulate the period correctly. The goal is to make the honoree feel a sense of nostalgia and take them back to the desired setting mentally.

10. A Day Out on the Golf Course

A simple round of golf could do wonders for a 60th birthday party. This idea could be a guy’s only event, a couple’s event, or even a mix of both. You could reserve the tee time far ahead of time so that you create less hassle, and you could order themed golf balls that have the guest of honor’s birthday event printed on the side. Depending on your relationship with the course, you could rent the refreshment cart.

Most country clubs will allow you to rent out the party space at the clubhouse if you would like to throw an after-round celebration with drinks, live music, and dancing. This event could be a perfect nightcap and follow up activity for the round. You could have a dinner served, get an excellent pasta bar going, or just settle for drinks and hors d’oeuvres to get served to the guest.

To go above and beyond the expectations, you could even hire a band to come and perform or get a DJ to help make the event more elaborate and organized. Regardless, if the person spends a lot of time out on the golf course, you will make them pleased with a theme centered around being outside and enjoying each other’s company.

11. Childhood Games Themed Party

No one is ever too old to play childhood games, so having a playful 60th birthday theme could be an excellent course of action. You should throw a party like this during the summer months because you want the games to be outside. You can combine this with a backyard party and setup fun-loving games from childhood like badminton, wiffleball, frisbee, horseshoes, washers, and cornhole.

You can also combine this youthful theme with a scavenger hunt in which everybody can participate. The clues and riddles of the hunt can involve key facts, jokes, or memories about the person’s life. For the decorations, you can include younger colors, balloons, streamers, pennant banners, and other toys like bazookas, clappers, and even megaphones. You want to simulate the childhood experience effectively.

For pictures, you can display all childhood pictures of the honoree so that he or she will feel young again and take them back to the past even more. You can also have a little fun with it by putting side by side pictures of the guest and his kids and grandkids to see the resemblance.

12. Black and White Themed Party

A black and white themed party signifies the passage of youth. Black is usually the color that is the primary representative of this, and white compliments it nicely. You can incorporate this into your decorations by having black and white tablecloths, silverware, plates, and desserts like iced cookies, Oreos, or vanilla and chocolate milkshakes. Add to the theme by organizing a dress code with these two colors.

The best drink of choice for a party like this would be champagne, but only if the person would like this. You could even have a movie playing on the side that is black and white, to make the theme stand out even more. For music, make sure to comprise a playlist that satisfies the vibe, but also incorporates a collection of the honoree’s favorite artists and bands.

You can begin and end the party with a sweet toast of champagne, and you can put a logo for the event on the glasses to make it a lovely take-home gift for the guests.

13. 60th Birthday Tailgate Party

You can get authentic with the tailgate theme. This part can get set up in the backyard or out at the park, and you can use a classic truck that gets rented or staged to add to the theme of the party. In the bed of the truck, you can situate hay bales and other rustic signs that congratulate the guest of honor on 60 years of life. You can also set up tents with picnic tables and checkered designs for the place settings.

For food, this can be the classic American dinner cookout with hamburgers, hotdogs, brats, corn on the cob, baked beans, and other tasty cookie treats. Depending on what the particular person prefers, you can play outdoor folk or country music with a speaker system that radiates throughout the party. For drinks, you can incorporate American style beers or IPAs that complement the food nicely.

If you want to make this party feel like a college tailgate, you can also include themed sports decorations from the birthday guest’s alma mater and have the school’s theme song playing in the background. You could even decorate the cake to reflect this school spirit.

14. Wine Tasting Party with Party Favors

If the guest of honor is a connoisseur of wine and spirits, a wine tasting party could be an excellent option for them. You could have this at your home and buy many kinds of winds, or you could contact a catering company that could offer an open bar to serve drinks at the party. You can kick the party off with a toast using themed wine glasses.

You could also do some extra planning and reserve space at a winery to try the different products there. This strategy would limit the number of people that could come, but if you want to keep it intimate, this could be a valuable option. Many wine tours buses are available, and you could go this route to add some excitement into the day.

If you end up having a party at your house, you can spread snacks throughout the home like fruits, cheese, and crackers with elaborate charcuterie boards for delectable enjoyment.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many opportunities to follow up on the 50th birthday celebration with a fun and exciting 60th event. Again, it is vital to assess what type of party would be best suitable for the personality of the honoree. You want to make them feel essential and loves, but you also want to do it in a way that allows them to enjoy their night and not feel too stressed or out of place.

Also, be sure to make an extra effort to match the theme with your food and decorations choice. This element can be a make or break when it comes to pulling off the idea that you hope to achieve. Regardless, it is crucial to create a dream day for the new 60-year old and surrounds him or her with the people that have experienced memorable times with them. Be safe, and enjoy your party!

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