A milestone birthday deserves more than another dinner at the usual spot. Below you'll find ideas for a 40th, 50th and 60th, decade by decade, from parties at home to trips away.
The guest list tends to change with each decade. A 40th is often your closest friends, a 50th mixes friends and family, and a 60th is usually a family affair across three generations. If the plan turns into a trip, Wedded Wonderland's travel team can take care of the stays and travel around it.
Forty is usually one for your closest friends, so pick something the group can do together.
Photo: cottonbro studio
Pick a city or a beach none of you has been to and book two nights. You get the dinners and the late nights without anyone having to host.
Photo: George Pak
Build the night around the music, fashion and food of the decade you were born in. Ask everyone to dress the part and let the playlist do the rest.
Photo: Zachary DeBottis
Your favorite dishes get cooked in your own kitchen while you sit with your guests. It feels like a restaurant night without the noise or the bill-splitting.
Photo: Jonathan Borba
Have a sommelier pour a few bottles and talk the group through each one. It's a relaxed way to open the night before dinner.
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio
Book a hot air balloon ride, a helicopter tour over your city or a tandem skydive. Go with one or two friends who'll be up for it.
Photo: Grisha Grishkoff
Sign the group up for a pottery, cocktail or painting class. It keeps everyone busy and talking, and everyone takes home what they made.
Photo: igovar igovar
Fifty often brings friends and family into one room, and for plenty of people it's the year to finally take a bigger trip.
Photo: Anna Shakhrai
If there's a place you've been meaning to see for years, this is the year to go. Italy works well for a 50th, with long lunches, small towns and a coastline to explore. Wedded Wonderland plans milestone birthdays in Italy as well as weddings, with one Wedded Advisor handling the whole trip.
Recruit a partner or a close friend to get the guest of honor to the venue. Keep the guest list to people they'd want to see.
Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko
Move through three or four courses at places within walking distance, or at friends' homes. Each stop gets a different crowd talking, and nobody's stuck at one table all night.
Photo: Kenneth Surillo
A painted portrait, an illustrated family scene or a photo book covering fifty years makes a gift that stays on the wall or the coffee table after the party.
Photo: Nadia Ispwich
Hire a teacher to take the room through a waltz or a swing basic, then finish the night with everyone on the floor. It gets both sides of the family mixing fast.
Photo: Gaby Lopez
Turn the birthday into a fundraiser for a cause they care about, or spend a morning volunteering together before lunch.
Photo: Julia M Cameron
A sixtieth is often a family gathering, so give every generation a part in the day and keep things seated and easy.
Photo: Askar Abayev
Rent a villa or book a resort where grandkids, parents and grandparents can each do their own thing during the day and come together for dinner. Fiji suits a three-generation trip, and our team can plan a 60th there from start to finish.
Photo: RDNE Stock project
One long table, good food and plenty of time. A garden or a private room at a favorite restaurant gives everyone space to catch up properly.
Collect photos from every decade for a slideshow, or ask guests to fill a time capsule with notes to open on the next big birthday.
Photo: cottonbro studio
Ask each guest to write a few lines about a memory or a wish, then bind them into a book for the birthday guest to keep.
Photo: cottonbro studio
A pianist or a small band playing the songs they grew up with gets the whole room singing, from grandkids to old friends.
Photo: Caleb Oquendo
A 40th trip can be two or three nights close to home, while a 50th or 60th often justifies a week in Europe or a villa big enough for the whole family.
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio
Wedded Wonderland's travel team plans the travel around a celebration, from the right hotel to the nights before and after, and lets the hotel know why you're there. For a full party abroad, Wedded Concierge can plan the venue and the details too.
Start with the guest of honor and the people they'd want there, then pick the one idea that sounds most like them and build the day around it. If you're celebrating a couple, our guide to marking a big anniversary has ideas for that too. For proposals, honeymoons, babymoons and more, see our guide to experiences by occasion.
Written by
Senior SEO Specialist, Wedded Wonderland
Mark Tuason is the Senior SEO Specialist at Wedded Wonderland, where he writes and refreshes the brand's guides to destination weddings and cultural wedding traditions. He starts with the questions couples search for, checks the answers against trusted sources, and shapes each guide to help them plan, compare and book with confidence. Based in the Philippines, he specialises in content strategy and on-page SEO.
Search real weddings, venues and vendors from around the world.
Search Wedded Wonderland
