27 Best Ideas to Plan 80th Birthday Party for Your Close One

Last updated on July 8th, 2022 at 08:44 am

80th birthday ideas

If you have someone in your family turning 80 soon, you would surely want to do something special for this person.

The 80th birthday is a not like any other ordinary birthday, it is a monumental occasion and the celebrations on this day need to just as grand as the wholesome life lived by the person celebrating the 80th birthday.

The party organized for this day should be so special, that not only the person for whom the party is being thrown, but every guest attending the party should remember it and appreciate it for a very long time.

Planning this special birthday party would require some special ideas, which would celebrate the life and times of the person who has managed to complete 80 years of his or her life.

To help you make this amazing day in the life of your loved one, absolutely memorable, I present to you some very simple and creative ideas for planning the 80th birthday party celebrations.

1. Make An Early Start To Your Planning

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The 80th birthday is an occasion where you would want, everyone who has been a significant part of that person’s life to be present for the celebrations.

Some of your relatives and friends may be living in far off places and hence require a good amount of time to plan their trip and come down for the party.

Therefore, it becomes important that you start planning the party well ahead of time, so that you are able to give all your guests, especially the outstation guest, ample of time to make plans for attending the party.

Here are some 80th birthday ideas. You can send the formal party invites closer to the party date, but it would be a good idea to at least send out an informal save the date card or message to the guests, so that everyone knows that an 80th birthday party is being planned by you and you want them to be a part of the same.

These days people are using their smartphones to create some nice save the date cards online and mail them to all the guests, thus, saving time, energy and money.

2. Plan Your Party Budget First

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The first and the most important thing that you will need to do before you start making any preparations for the party, is to carefully plan your budget for the party.

You need to figure out what is the maximum amount that you would be willing to spend on the party and whether there is someone else who would be sharing this expense with you or not.

Depending on this budget decisions like whether to have a grand celebration or a more private affair would be made.

It is also important that while figuring out the budget, you take into account all the possible expenses that you would have to incur for this party like party invitations courier charges for sending these invitations, food, music, decorations, gifts, favors, and anything and everything else that you can think for should be accounted for in the budget.

3. Pick The Date Carefully

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For throwing a good birthday party, it is important that the day and the date of the party is carefully picked.

While you would want to pick a date which is close to the actual birthday date, it is also important that you make sure that the day of the party, is a holiday.

In fact, you should try to look for a long weekend, since you would be inviting guests from out of town and they might need at least a three day holiday for coming to the party.

Hence be on the lookout for the upcoming school holidays and pick a date which you think would be most convenient for all the guests.

4. Think Of A Theme For The Party

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When we say the theme of a party here, we do not mean that you need to throw a royal theme party or a rock n roll theme party, but really you need to figure out what type of party you want to throw.

You might want to keep it a close family knit affair, or you may want to throw a surprise party, or you might actually want to go extravagant and choose an extravagant theme like rock n roll for the party.

This decision should be taken keeping in mind the likings and physical condition of the person for whom the party is being arranged for.

5. Prepare The Guest List Carefully

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The 80th birthday party celebration of a person is as big an affair as the wedding of a person, and there are many people, who if not invited to this party, might feel offended.

Therefore, the preparation and compilation of the guest list for this party is a very important job. You can always seek help from other members of your family in ensuring all the important names are included in your list and you have not forgotten anyone in the family.

It would also be nice if you can actually locate some of the old school and college friends of the person whose 80th birthday it is. Meeting these people from their past on their very special day, would surely bring smiles and some fond memories back for the birthday boy or girl.

6. Find The Right Party Venue

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The next step in planning a great 80th birthday party is to search for the perfect location for the party. The party venue should fit in your budget and should be able to comfortably accommodate all the guests you have invited to the party.

While choosing the party location you might also want to consider the fact that most of the people coming to this party would belong to the older generation and therefore might not be very physically fit.

Hence, you need to find a party venue which is easy to access, wheelchairs can be carried inside the venue and are friendly in all respects towards the needs of the old people.

7. Foods And Drinks

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In 80th birthday ideas the menu that you set for this party would again be suitable for the palate of the older people present at the party. Surely you can add a few special dishes for the younger people present at the party as well.

While setting the menu for the party, make sure to include those dishes which are a favorite of the birthday person.

In case you are throwing the party at a restaurant, you would have to restrict yourself to their menu, but in case you are hiring caterers for the job, you can plan on getting some special dishes made which were a hit at parties thrown when the birthday boy or girl was in their prime of life.

8. Party Decorations

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Just because it is an old person’s birthday party does not mean that you have to use blacks, whites and grays for the decoration of the party venue.

There are absolutely no restrictions on the use of colors for these parties and therefore, you can pick any combination of colors which you think will make the venue look attractive, or you can pick the favorite colors of the birthday boy or girl and use those colors for decorating the entire party venue.

9. Dance And Music

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This is one of the best 80th birthday ideas, to keep the mood of any party lively is to hire a nice DJ or live band to play music during the party. You can request the band to play some of the favorite songs of the birthday boy or girl, or you can ask them to play some really lively music that would force people to come on the dance floor and not just have fun themselves, but entertain others as well.

You can also prepare a special song and dance act dedicated to the birthday boy or girl, letting them know how special they are for you and how much you love and cherish them.

10. Party Games

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This is not a kids party and therefore, you cannot plan games which require people to move around a lot. In fact, you might not even be able to expect most of the people at the party to stand for very long.

Therefore, the games that you would need to plan for this party would have to do more on the lines of trivia and quizzes, where all the questions in the game can be centered around the life and times of the birthday boy or girl.

These adult games can be really fun as they would bring back a lot of memories and some really hilarious stories from the past would get revealed.

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11. Photography

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This party will prove to be not just a celebration of the 80th birthday, but it would also prove to be a sort of a family reunion. You might actually end up meeting some of your cousins whom you probably didn’t even know existed.

Hence, it is essential that all the memories of this day get captured in the camera, so that even after the party is over, you are able to relive those memories for a very long time.

In fact, besides still photography, you should actually make arrangements for video photography to be done at the party as well, since the guests at the party are sure to do some really loving and funny gestures, which can be fun to watch later.

12. Collect Written Memories And Wishes

Collect Written Memories And Wishes

You can always place a scrapbook or a wishing tree in one corner of the party venue, and ask all the guests to write down their wishes and memories of the birthday boy or girl in that book, or on the tree.

To make the 80th birthday celebrations even more special you can actually place various photographs of the birthday boy or girl in different stages of life and the guests can pick the photo which is from the time when they first knew the person and write something special on the back of this photograph.

Later you can take all these photos, make a collage out of them and hang the same in your living room or any other special corner of your house.

13. Birthday Cake

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Hey, irrespective of whether the birthday party is for a small kid, a young boy or girl or for an 80 year old person, if it is a birthday party, birthday cake has to be present.

Get a really pretty and beautiful cake specially designed for the occasion made. If you have kept any special theme for the party, the design of the cake should then be in accordance with that theme.

Choose a universal flavor of the cake. In 80th birthday celebrations elders generally prefer vanilla, pineapple and chocolate flavors.

The more funky flavors like red velvet, blueberry, may not go down too well with them, hence, stick to the traditional cake flavors only.

14. No Need For Favors

Favors

If you want to thank the guests for making the effort and taking out the time to come for the party, then you can choose to give out favors, but for an 80th birthday celebrations, distribution of these favors is not compulsory and you and your party would not be judged if you choose to not give out any favors to the guests.

Hence, check your budget, and if the same allows, only then think of giving favors, or else you can simply skip this aspect of a typical birthday party.

15. Give Special Dedication

Special Dedication

This is very important content in 80th birthday ideas, towards the end of the party, you can make a speech, or show a video with slides of the life of the birthday boy or girl, as a dedication to that person.

Saving this for the last is important as these dedications generally end in tears and the whole atmosphere of the party becomes a little emotional and serious.

Hence, keeping them for the last will ensure that your party ends on a very strong emotional note.

16. A fashion show for the glamorous 80’s

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Well today age is just a number which is counted, one should feel young at heart. and the people in their 80’s want to enjoy their life again like a child or the teens. So the best way to celebrate and make your loved one’s special day more special you can organise a fashion show in the birthday party of all the 80 year old present their. They could be the birthday girl or boy’s friends and even family members of the same age.

Choose a theme of their youthful time like the 60’s or the 70’s and that would add some flavor to the bash. Also plan for prizes for the the runner ups and the winner. It would really bring back so many memories in their lives. And surely their 80th birthday would be memorable, as it is a fact that the more you age the more you love to relive each memory you have.

Do keep their favorite color in the limelight of the fashion show and end it with good food and drinks.

17. A melody of memories

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The best way to remember the yesteryears is through the beautiful photographs with their loved ones and friends and at the 80th birthday these pictures would be the best way to bring back those beautiful and eternal memories.

You can plan out for a snap shot movie form of the old pictures starting from their youth and then covering their whole life, including their school days, their marriage, life, family everything. Also make one of their grandchildren the speaker who would be narrating the story of each of this pictures during the slide show.

This way with the birthday celebrations you would be gifting them back their old memories of love, togetherness and friends. What else could be the best gift or celebration at 80 to just refresh those beautiful memories.

18. A family reunion

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With age the seniors always want their children and loved ones to be near them, which is today’s fast pacing life is not always possible. So this 80th birthday give him or her the best gift, bring all the family members together and spend some beautiful moments together.

You would be needing to make phone calls, email and convince all the family to be there on the birthday, also see that you can keep the surprise till the last moment. Arrange for a family lunch or dinner, if the birthday is on a weekend, then plan the whole weekend with different activities which would include the whole family and the birthday boy or girl would be the center of attraction.

Cook some good food and all the favorites of the 80 year old birthday baby. See that the 80th birthday with their all loved ones become the best ones ever. Also coordinate with the family of gifting them the best memorable gift which they would be cherishing once when all family members would be leaving.

19. Make an impressive birthday invitation card

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Whenever you are inviting the guests on any occasion the invitation becomes an important part of the whole celebration. So this 80th birthday of the one you love just make an impressive and interesting birthday invitation card.

There can be various ideas which would be meddling in your mind, about the invitation and best would be add some memories into the card. Like adding some old pictures of the person you are celebrating the 80th birthday. It can also be some group pictures with their friends and specifically you can send those cards for their friends. This way you would be relishing their memories too.

Add some lines about the person, their qualities and the invite should be so convincing that anyone would love to be a part of the celebrations. You can even make the children of the family do some drawings and paintings for the card. That would be a much better idea, as nowadays kids are best to express their feeling through colors.

20. A food party

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Food at any age is a good way to celebrate and what would be better to have a full food party on the 80th birthday, of your parents, or grandparents. Just make it special with tickling of the taste buds and some healthy version food.

At 80 food restrictions are quite common but within the limitations one can easily prepare some good tasty and healthy food too. Knowing the likes and dislikes of the birthday boy or girl make some dishes specially for them and their friends.

You can even keep a small cooking face off where they would themselves cook something delicious and can win some small prizes. Mention this cooking face off in the invitations so that the other guests should be ready with some recipes.

Make the children the judge as they would enjoy their grandchildren giving them so much attention, and with kids it becomes more fun to be with at 80. The food party would be a real hit and surely these youthful 80’s would again eagerly wait for such a fun filled birthday bash next year too.

21. Prepare a Birthday Book Of memories

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Sometimes it is very hard to express our feelings to our loved ones. There are many emotions which clouds our mind mind but bringing it out seems to be tough. So this 80th birthday share those words with your loved one, as that would be the best way to celebrate their special day.

You have to be a bit creative in this and you can make a Birthday Book of Memories, where you can put some old pictures of the person, the family photographs, the pictures with you and so one. With each photograph add a line or two expressing your gratitude or feeling towards the person or the particular event which the picture shows.

This way many beautiful memories would surround them and even they would feel on the top of the world knowing your feelings towards them, which generally you may be failing to express each day. The birthday book of memories would be the best gift this 80th birthday.

Memories are always known to be like a fresh breeze in life and when those memories would be presented with your feelings wrapping them then it would become priceless for the birthday girl or boy. So start working on the birthday book of memories and creating the most fascinating and emotional birthday present for the one you love the most.

Do not hesitate in expressing your emotions though your words, as that book would stay with them till their last breath and would be a fuel for living those years when you would be away from them. Express all the feeling you have been suppressing for years.

22. A simple family picnic to their favorite place

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What would be best on their 80th birthday to spend a day enjoying a family picnic in their favourite place. Everyone has a favourite place where they want to spend time, be it a park, a countryside, forest anything. So this special day why not take to the place they love the most for a small family picnic.

This would be the best way to celebrate their 80th birthday, with their grandchildren and children around them, laughing, cooking and chatting. Make it a surprise for them, and decide on the best place to have the family picnic.

The birthday boy or the girl must be having few favourite spots around the city they stay now or they have been in their youth and childhood, if needed plan out the whole picnic there, then the fun of the journey would be an added flavor to the special day. Do keep in mind their health so try not to make much longer drives, and make them as comfortable as you can make them.

For the food do keep some healthy options and which can be easily made like sandwiches and drinks, with some fruits and some quick desserts. The main idea is to spend some quality time refreshing those summer holidays picnic times of the past.

23. A morning choir in the church with a lunch on the grounds

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With age spiritualism becomes an important part of the senior’s life. So on this special occasion of their 80th birthday arrange a choir in the nearby church, which would be followed by a small lunch with their church buddies.

This way not only they birthday would be celebrated but also they would find themselves closer to God, with a feeling of peace and serenity. See that the food you arrange are healthy and try to keep light snacks. The main purpose is to make a serene ambience.

Do talk to the father in the church for support and if needed you can arrange for some food and money donation to poor needy people or orphan kids. It would be another way to make the day special and best would be these donations be made by the hand of the person celebrating the birthday.

What else one can think of to on their 80th birthday than to spend some quality time in the ushering of God and less fortunate people along with their church buddies. A day with the almighty, with choirs and food of divinity, a beautiful spiritual birthday celebration marking their 80th years of living life with the flow and poise.

24. A karaoke and music night

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Why not give these youthful 80’s generation a blast on their the day, but arranging a karaoke and music night in some nearby club or a pub, with their friends and family along. Music is the soul for any celebration, and with that the songs sung by the birthday girl or boy would make it more rhythmic.

Arrange for a good music system in the venue, and the list for the karaoke songs should be all the old classics which they love or best would be their favorites, then their singing would have that youthful spirit. The karaoke night should transport them back to time.

Also, arrange the prizes for the best singers, as this would bring that child in them back, and the fun they would have with their friends. Do make a list of all their friends and arrange to bring them safely bringing to the venue, as one thing you have to keep in mind now they are your children.

Also have a good menu for the evening, which would complement this starry evening of songs and music with smooth flow.

25. A midnight surprise bash at the stroke of 12

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This 80th birthday give him or her , your beloved one a surprise birthday bash by baking their favorite cake. Whatever age one be, birthdays are always the special day of the year, when everyone needs pampering and love.

So just bake the cake of their favorite flavor, add lot of love, with cream and cherries, one day treat them with their dream cake. As already they follow their diet at this age, so this day should be a little fun cheating day on the diet regime.

You can make a theme cake or just their favorite with some icing and the sparkle candles. Sing the song they love the most, but keep the secret till the end. Involve the kids of the family to make some decorations secretly in their room once they are asleep, as surely they would be hitting the bed early like the other days.

Then at the stroke of twelve sparkle them with the cake and the candles, you would be delighted to see that magical smile on their face with some tears of happiness, that their birthday is important for you all too.

26.Celebrate The Memories

A 80th birthday party is a great time for the the birthday recipient to reminisce about the life they have had. One a person hits the age of 80 they are not always so happy about getting old, and reminiscing about all the great things that have happened throughout there life is a great way to make them feel good and proud. A great way to share these memories is to view a DVD filled with photographs of their life, their children, grandchildren and their friends. This gift is not only something that can be cherished for the party, but they will be able to enjoy it after the party also.

There are to different ways of getting these pictures on a DVD and that is by hiring a company to do it for you, or by doing it yourself. Hiring a company to do it for you is a good idea if you have a large amount of pictures that you want scanned that are not digital. However if you have the technology and time to do it your self it can be done by purchasing a DVD slide show building software.

Another way to share memories is to pass pictures around during the party, or have the pictures displayed on posters or scrapbooks and other picture displaying methods. By displaying the pictures the birthday recipient will be able to look at the displays with others and enjoy stories that come from the pictures.

27.Make It A Surprise

The parties actually existence does not have to be a surprise although it can, but it is a good idea to have some small surprises throughout the day to make they party special to them. Whether its certain guests who keep there attendance a secret, special gifts or games, or a special meal for them are all great small surprises that can have a great impact to a party.

If you want to make the party an all out surprise, you need to go all out. Make sure that you think about what the person would like as far as a the surprise location, size, and time. A surprise that is well played off can have a great impact in a persons life to know that people would care about them enough to set up and plan a surprise party.

I hope that the above tips will give you all the help that you need for planning a great 80th birthday party for that someone really special in your life.