Date
Sep 24, 2024
Read Time
You know the saying, 40 is the new 30, so when it comes to planning a party make sure you’re not getting old before your time with these fabulous 40th birthday party ideas.
No matter what age you’re celebrating, a memorable party needs a few key ingredients. Obviously, the people you invite are top of the list but there are plenty of other things that we can help out with to ensure your 40th birthday party is the one that people are talking about decades later.
As luxury party planners, we have put on some incredible 40th birthday parties in London, the Home Counties and the Cotswolds. We understand that all parties are unique, so depending on the kind of vibe you want at your party, we will help you to select the appropriate venue, catering and entertainment to suit. But an epic party also needs that little something extra – at Henry Bonas, we love a themed birthday party and we are experts in pulling together all the little details that turn a good party into an epic party!
We’ve got some great 40th birthday party ideas up our sleeve – read all about them in this blog.
A really simple but effective 40th birthday party idea is to recreate the vibe from a place that is close to your heart. That’s why we brought the romance of South America to one 40th birthday party in the Cotswolds with a Gaucho-themed event.
Flavours for the night were created by Argentinian chefs using a specially constructed asado grill firepit in the garden. We served carefully curated cocktails in the saloon bar, followed by Chilean fine wines to accompany the asado-style meats. A roaming Cumbai band added to the carnival-like atmosphere by playing Latin American tunes as guests ate and drank the night away. Those who were feeling brave afterwards could tackle the bucking bronco, or take to the dance floor until the early hours. This was Latin American dancing at its most colourful!
When deciding on a 40th birthday theme, encourage guests to think laterally. Will you roll out the red carpet for Queen Elizabeth I or Henry VIII or will Freddie Mercury strut his way onto the dance floor? The great thing about a Kings & Queens party theme is that it is open to interpretation – from Roman emperors to Cleopatra; from the Game of Thrones to the Lion King, and from Burger King to the Queen of Hearts, spotting royalty has never been so much fun!
Indulge the regal theme further by serving up sparkling Kir Royales alongside quail egg and king prawn canapés. As for the playlist, Queen, of course, but add in some Kings of Leon and the Gypsy Kings or we can invite the King himself, Elvis, to do one of his famous impersonations.
There’s only one place the cool crowd wanted to be in the 70s and that’s New York’s Studio 54! For the ultimate in 40th birthday party style, bring out the sequins, the gold lacramé, and the fake furs and channel your inner disco diva. You don’t need to arrive on a white horse, à la Bianca Jagger, but if that’s what you wanted, we’d make it happen!
For a true Studio 54 vibe, think glam and then go even more glam! Keep the tunes funky and full of seventies disco – hire a DJ to spin some tracks or even better, a covers band to bring some classic disco sound to the evening. For drinks, it’s got to be porn star martinis or Champagne, served in coupes, not flutes, naturally!
Bring a touch of nostalgia to your 40th birthday party with a nod back to the nineties. When the original Britpop band Oasis announced a series of concerts for 2025, the world went mad for nineties-themed everything. Why not get in on the trend with a Britpop-themed birthday party?
A Britpop party has to be all about the music. Playlists should feature the era’s main rivals, Oasis and Blur, with a smattering of Pulp, Suede, and other guitar-led groups. Live music would really take this theme up a notch – most good musicians play a selection of nineties covers, or for something even more fitting, we can arrange for a tribute band such as Definitely Oasis to belt out those Gallagher classics!
Be the adult who never grows up with a fairytale themed birthday party. From wicked witches to dashing prince charmings, a fairytale theme is a great 40th birthday party idea that everyone will want to be a part of.
What do you serve at a 40th birthday party that’s based on storybooks? Let your imagination loose and get creative with decor and details – with a fairytale theme, anything goes! Mixologists creating decadent cocktails amidst plumes of billowing dry ice; Willy Wonkaesque desserts from a dedicated pudding station; if you can dream it, we can make it happen (although we haven’t cracked Beauty & the Beast’s talking teapot yet!).
For this type of party, the bigger the better – at one fairytale themed party we organised, we created enchanted indoor forests, hung tealights and candles at every opportunity and brought in professional makeup artists to ensure the birthday host really looked the part.
