Destination themed birthday parties
Birthdays are a big deal in my book. I absolutely love birthdays and try to make them as special as possible for those I love. Unfortunately, my little sister has repeatedly gotten the short end of the stick for her birthday for the longest time. It’s mid-May, so it often falls on Mother’s Day, graduation dates, sports tryouts…. So she’s never really had a birthday where the entire focus was on her. She turned 21 this year (but has been “21” for a few years now lol) and we were planning a big trip for her birthday. She said her top 3 choices were Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or Chicago. So I built out possible itineraries for each city and she chose Los Angeles.
Then COVID-19 happened.
Before the entire world shut down, we decided it probably wasn’t smart to fly, so we discussed and said maybe Disney World would be a good alternative. Within 2 days, airlines stopped flights AND Disney World closed their doors. I felt so bad because we had planned our LA trip to a T and then Disney to a T and now her birthday, once again, was not going to be as special as she deserves. Especially for a 21st birthday party!!
Late one night, in an anxiety-driven thought spiral (if you know, you know), I decided we were still going to celebrate her birthday and it could still be a beautiful experience where she felt special.
Cameron hasn’t traveled as much as I have, but her dream is to go to Paris. She dreams of Paris the way I dream of Italy. The food, the language, the ambiance. Paris is magical to her. So I decided we were going to throw her a Parisian-themed birthday party (with family only, so still respecting social distancing). This idea can be expanded upon or made more intimate based on what you’re looking for.
A Parisian-themed birthday party in my head immediately looked like : french wine tasting, charcuterie of french cheeses, small french food (quiche, croissants, macarons, etc.), a Veuve champagne toast, light pink decor, tasteful Eiffel Towers, twinkly lights. So in essence, romantic, beautiful, and tasty.
DECOR : I got some balloons to make a balloon garland, balloon letters that say “BONJOUR,” and a small Eiffel Tower I happened to find from Walmart. We have twinkly lights hung all over my mom’s patio to make it truly look magical.
FOOD : I asked my friend, Amy, to create the charcuterie board since she just opened a charcuterie business :) . We also had a french fry board, croissants, veggie platter bought macarons from chelles macarons, and our neighbor made a pork shoulder (we’re still in Memphis…) My older sister, Keighlin, made a gorgeous Jameson chocolate cake with strawberries on it and I made a strawberry cake with champagne and cream cheese icing.
DRINKS : My sisters and I love to drink. I’m not sure where we got that from since none of our parents really drink a ton, but drinks were a must. Especially for a 21st birthday party! Cameron especially loves wine, so my sister, Elli, in Nashville reached out to a sommellier and they recommended 2 reds, 2 whites, and 2 roses for us. Cameron and I went to Trader Joe’s and picked some wine there. They have their wines separated by country of origin, which made it super easy for us! We grabbed a bunch of French wines. I wanted to create a card on Canva with the notes for each wine, but time escaped me. We finished the night with a Veuve Clicquot toast to Cameron.
The super fun thing about this is that you can make this fit any kind of destination your heart desires. Mexico? Do margaritas, tequila flight, build-your-own tacos. Italy? Aperol Spritz, pastas, prosecco. Japan? Sushi, sake, robots lol.
I had so much fun planning this and I hope you all can do something similar!
If you have any ideas or tips, add them in the comments!