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If You're 40, You Must Be Over the Hill

A Milestone Birthday Party

Everyone expects the black decorations and old people jokes at a 40th birthday party, but you can add some special touches to make your party unforgettable.

Over The Hill Invitations

You want to start the party off right with a fantastic invitation that will get people talking. Go with a personalized milestone birthday invitation, many have a spot for a picture and you choose you own wording.

Or have a caricature invitation made of the soon to be ancient celebrant. A caricature invitation not only creates a great caricature you can use several times during your event but it will also let you feature hobbies and character traits that can help theme your party. For example if the birthday person is a golfer you can make some of your gag gifts golf items (a giant tee, sharpened pencil, exploding golf balls, etc.)

Over the Hill Decorations

Hang an Over the Hill welcome banner outside your home to announce the party! Have a Grim Reaper greet guests at the front door.  Or if you did a caricature it can become a life-sized cutout that will greet guests at the front door. These are always a hit and are a great souvenir for the guest of honor.

For inexpensive but dramatic decorations drape black crepe paper around doorways and across the ceiling. Scatter bouquets of black balloons around the room, and throw in a Mylar Grim Reaper birthday balloon in each bouquet.  If you want more color, mix in deep blue or purple balloons.

Set the table using the appropriate black tableware, or use the Grim Reaper Ensemble. Centerpieces with deep read roses and votive candles are great for an evening party, or go more casual with a Grim Reaper honeycomb centerpiece. Either way, cover the table with a black tablecloth.

40th Birthday Activities

You almost have to have a roast. Make sure your guests know your plan, and ask them to bring a favorite story to tell. You can do a celebrity roast format where a variety of guests get "on stage" to poke fun at the star of the show. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings (at least not too much), so use this approach only if you know the guests and are sure they won't "cross the line." The other option is to have a single person do the roasting. Best friends are perfect for this. They know all the secret little stories, but they also know where to draw the line.

"This is your Life" is another format for the roast. Have mom and dad tell stories from the early years (a very long time ago), and grab a life-long friend or a teacher for the school years. A co-worker can recount famous (or infamous) moments at the office. You get the idea. Put together a CD with pictures from the corresponding years, and this can be a really fun hour or so. This approach can, and should, be funny, but it also lends itself to many touching moments and memories.

If you have a smaller group, think about renting a hearse (amazingly this isn't that hard to do) and tour some of the old neighborhood hangouts. This is a blast, and provides fabulous photo opportunities.

Over The Hill Party Food

Some people think all the food should be black (olives, licorice, etc.) but that's not much fun. I would go with the standard party fare, and maybe a side dish of oatmeal and some prune juice for humor value (and maybe the birthday boy will really need it).

You certainly should have some fun with the cake. Tying the Over the Hill theme in with a seasonal event or hobby is always good. When my spouse turned 40, three days after Halloween, I had a cake made with all sorts of goblins, ghosts and spider webs on it. The message? "Turning 40 is pretty scary." Not too original, but it was a big hit. Your golfer could have a golf flag with "Pretty soon, you'll finally shoot your age!" For the boater..."The Old Man and the Sea." Be creative. Any decent cake decorator can do almost anything you ask.

Over The Hill Party Favors

Here's where that caricature comes in again. Use it on a personalized candy bar for all your guests to take home. A delicious milk or dark chocolate candy bar surrounded by a custom designed wrapper from Creations for You is a tasty way to end the evening. 

Planning Guides

Any great party takes planning. Use the guides below to make your life a little easier. Of course for those super-special, once in a lifetime blowouts, you might want to check out Party411's Creations For You. Whether it's the dreaded 40th, the fun 50th, or even the little one's 1st, you can make the occasion unforgettable with our fantabulous original props, decorations and accessories. Remember, unless you're my Aunt Marge, you only turn 40 once!

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