8 Ideas for a Milestone Birthday
When you were younger, birthdays were very exciting times. Indulgent cake, forbidden food, an exciting party and of course, the presents! While decorations, themes and dress-ups can make for a fun event, you may find that the elders in your family start to crave a more meaningful birthday celebration. If you’re hearing the phrases, “I don’t want you to go to any trouble”, or,“I don’t want a big fuss”, that’s usually your cue to ditch the party planning and start thinking about other ways to make this next birthday truly special.
The very nature of a birthday is one of celebration, so you’ll want to keep the activities light-hearted and fun. Some of these ideas will require some time and effort, but after all, isn’t that the very essence of a meaningful event or gift?
If you have an older family member who is heading toward a significant milestone birthday, read on for some ideas to make their experience less material and more meaningful.
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Ask your birthday person’s friends and family to send you a one minute video. Ask them to tell a funny story, recount a lovely moment, or simply list all the things they love about your birthday person. They can record it on their phone (or have someone do it for them) and send it to you to compile in a series of short vignettes. You could even show this collection on the day or at the event on a tv screen. (You can of course outsource this to Snapshot Storytelling, we be delighted to help)
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If you’re giving presents, ask each attendee to bring a book that has shaped their life or reminds them of the birthday person. Ask them to recount a memory or story about the book’s significance and write it in the front cover, dedicating it to the birthday person. You could even set a theme for the type of book to suit the birthday person’s interests. You may even like to print a book sticker that is personalised for people to use to wrote their story.
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Similar to the book idea. Ask each attendee to bring a photograph of themselves with the birthday person and write a short story about the picture on a sticker that you can attach to the back of the photograph. Display the photograph with the accompanying story side by side on a display board for the duration of the party, then attach the story sticker to the back of the photo for the birthday person to keep.
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IteMost people born prior to the 2000’s have printed photos in shoeboxes and albums that rarely see the light of day. Why not choose an aspect of their life and collate a memory book filled with their own photographs and present it to them on their birthday? Alternatively, you could offer to digitally scan their photos or pay someone to do that for them. (Yep, we can sort you out with this one too!)
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Interview their friends about a specific time or event (eg, high school, college or work) Collect photographs and video the interviews with the view to making a video to screen at the birthday party. (This is right up our alley too– we love to chat and collate stories)
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Consider a person’s love language when planning a party.
The five love languages are; words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and gifts. How can you incorporate that into their birthday celebration?
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What passions does your birthday person have? Could you design a birthday around one of these, either in the celebration or as a gift? Perhaps they are a keen on antiques – could you take them on a tour of your local antique stores with a Devonshire tea in the middle? Maybe they are an artist – what about a tour of your local gallery and a paint n sip class? There are so many ways to indulge their passions.
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Our lives are busy and we probably don’t get to spend as much time with our loved ones as we would like. One of the greatest gifts you can give to an older person in your life is time. Set aside a day to spend however they would like. Help them around the house, cook with them, engage with their passions, whatever you do, don’t rush and set you phone aside for the day and really focus on spending quality time.
Collating memories for someone as a gift can be time-consuming, but it is extremely rewarding and very much appreciated for its thoughtful nature. Incorporating the person’s passions, hobbies and favourite people in a thoughtful way is sure to make them smile and give them new memories to keep forever.
If you like the idea of video interviews, memory books or memoir collecting, please get in touch with us at Snapshot Storytelling. We’d be happy to help you tell your loved one’s story.
