Pillars made of granite, marble, or stone.
Each rustic material was once inscribed with distances traveled, place names, and even the monikers of emperors where such pillars dotted the road.
Times have changed, but maybe not so much.
We still love a milestone.
This is your history, the history of milestones, should you choose to claim it, something to consider as you approach your milestone birthday and make plans here in the most vibrant city in the world, New York City.
How will you celebrate? More importantly, how will your event’s designs resonate with you and your commemorative milestone?
Dress the part
You don’t need to dress as an emperor or an empress – but you absolutely can – for your life-size photo cutout. Decorate for your event around a giant version of you, replete in full-color cardboard or black and white. Do it in costume, your Sunday best, or whatever strikes your fancy.
This life-size “you” can greet birthday party guests at the door, show the way to the restroom, or stand vigil over the no-host bar. Always good for comic relief and helpful at the same time. Guests love to grab a selfie with a classic, Hollywood-inspired cutout. Duplicate your photo and call it your own personal stunt double, or use good old John Wayne as a stand-in.
Celebrities sell
Speaking of celebrities, your very own milestone birthday is the perfect time to pull out all the stops, or at least the contact list on your smartphone, sleuthing out a celebrity who can headline your event. Who might you know? You might just be surprised. Remember the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” rule; how many connections do you need to make to casually know a celebrity to co-star in your milestone birthday? Booking a celebrity may involve contacting the celebrity’s agent and making a specific request with event details.
Plan with care
Careful planning is the order of the day, either way, as you milk that milestone for all its worth. According to Psychology Today, many people use milestone birthdays as time to reflect, in order to forge new directions and take charge of the coming year. Could that be you?
How to decorate
Just like any other occasion, a milestone birthday can be made or broken by the right décor, setting the mood for your event to remember. Are you someone who has amassed sporting trophies over the years? Are those trophies gathering dust in a garage? Pull out those prizes, clean them up, and fill each one with flowers, breathing new life into your treasures, suddenly vases for a day, and good conversation starters.
Maybe you enjoy a table set with a DIY cake tower made of candy? Break out the cardboard and the glue gun, make a run for boxed candy in brightly colored packaging, and build a cake tower for your guests to pillage at the event. They’ll thank you for it, enjoying that sugar high before it’s time to say goodbye and “Great party.”
Bucket list theme
Plan a bucket list milestone birthday, creating your own bucket list and asking friends for theirs. Use the bucket list as a theme that grounds your event, a surefire way to engage your guests in meaningful exchange. Is your particular group of partygoers made up of adventure seekers, philanthropists, or world travelers? You’re sure to find out with this theme.
Don’t forget the food
Pair any party theme with food for the event. If your milestone is fifty, try a retro menu of 1950s cuisine. Turning thirty this year? Experiment with thirty appetizers from your favorite eatery. Sweet sixteen celebrations lend themselves nicely to an interactive dessert station or artfully arranged dessert bites. Use your imagination, listing your wishes without blowing out the candles … yet.
Whatever your age, you most certainly met some important milestones in terms of development as a child and as a youth. You haven’t stopped learning and growing just because you grew up a little, and it’s never too late to be a kid on your special day. We can help you celebrate. Bigly. We are EMRG, New York City’s top event planning agency.
Look us up to look to the future of your best-life party.
We’d love to live it with you from start to finish – contact us at EMRG Media, your trusted NYC team of event planning professionals, ready to make your milestone birthday celebration one for the books!
