Best 40th Birthday Party
Read this post about the best 40th birthday party, with tons of DIY and personalized elements to make it special.
For my 40th birthday party, I hosted a huge outdoor party and dinner for all my close friends and loved ones. It was a lot of work, but worth it!
40th Birthday Party Decorations
I found fun monstera decor from Michaels, and the greens and pinks were perfect for the late summer party. I purchased tablecloths, serving pieces and a few other decor elements to create a cohesive look for the party.
My big decoration splurge were professionally installed balloons in pinks, greens and pops of gold. I absolutely LOVED how the turned out and would do it again in a second. They added so much fun and celebration to the party. I had balloons put up on the bouncy house, the front door, the back porch for a photo spot and the light up “40,” which I rented from AlphaLit Nashville.
I used Megan from Balloons and Confetti 615, and I absolutely loved her! Highly recommend — and way more affordable than many balloon installers in Nashville.
In the house, I hung a poster with facts about 1982, which I found on Amazon and a 40 filled with pictures. To make the 40, I cut a big 4 and a big 0 our of cardstock, then taped photos to each number. Super easy, but a really fun.
I also made several signs with child photos of me for the food table, the desserts and the bathroom. I designed the posters in Canva.
I also bought 40 balloons to use for photos and have on display.
I also incorporated photos of me, mostly childhood photos, throughout the party. I bought frames at Goodwill and had them on all the tables and throughout the party. On the tables I had flower pitchers that I bought at Target and added 1982 stickers to them (the year I was born). I cut the stickers out on my Cricut. The flowers were from Costco.
Since people were coming from so many different parts of my life, I made name tags that had people write their name and how they knew me.
DIY Photo Party Hats
One of my favorite things I made for the party were these photo party hats, using a photo of me at age 5. I scanned and elarged the photo to an 8.5×11 page. I printed them on cardstock and cut them out using a free party hat template with my Cricut. We then added trim with hot glue and stapled the elastic. We made 1 for everyone at the party, but would have been fine having about half that amount. They were very time consuming to make, but I had help to make it go faster.
I was so excited when people wore them too!
Photo Cutouts for 40th Birthday Party
Another fun, personalized element for the party were cardboard cutouts of me at age 2, age 6 and age 9. I scanned photos of me and then uploaded them to Cardboard Cutouts Standees. They charge based on height, so they weren’t too expensive because I made them true to size – ha! 🙂 Plus they shipped within 24 hours, which was amazing. The “little Jessicas” were a huge hit.
40th Birthday Party Favors
For the party favors, I wanted to give my favorite things — Book of the Month books, Aldi candles and Justin’s peanut butter cups. It was really fun to spoil my guests with these gifts. I spread them out on a table so people could pick exactly what they liked. I also had bubble wands for the kids to take.
40th Birthday Kids Activities
Because it was a family party, I knew there would be a lot of kids, so I wanted to offer a few things for kids to enjoy. In the front of the house we put a bouncy house that I had rented, along with two sets of tables so parents could sit while younger children played. These tables were so smart, as people sat at them throughout the night. Having it located in the front of the house also meant a lot of kid noise and activity was away from the food and the back of the house, where most of the guests were. It was perfect.
I rented a white bouncy house (Vlanca House in Nashville), which elevated the look and made it feel appropriate at an adult party. I even got on it a few times!
I also worked with Creative Crayons Workshop on a custom coloring sign for the party. This was a fun addition to have near the adult seating in the back and perfect for little kids to enjoy. We made sure it had all my favorite things, including Target and books. I loved how it turned out!
40th Birthday Party Food
I went back and forth regarding if I should cater the whole party, or just part of it. I eventually landed on just doing some of it, which made it significantly more affordable. Catering the whole thing would have cost about $15-$20 a person, but by doing some of it ourselves, the cost was about $10 a person.
We decided to cater BBQ and Ham and Cheese Sliders + some hot sides, and then we handled the cold slides (salad, pasta salad, chips, fresh fruit). I ordered 175 sliders for 100 people, which I thought would be too much, but the caterer assured me would be perfect. We ended up having 80 people and had about 5 dozen left over sandwiches, which I was able to freeze.
For drinks we had lemonade, fruit water, hard seltzer and soda, which was perfect for a hot summer night party.
For dessert we did cupcakes. We had cut little photo faces and added party hats to each one. We glued them to toothpicks and they were so cute.
40th Birthday Party Expenses
I have never thrown a party of this scale and found it difficult to determine costs because no one ever talks about money. So I am breaking down the major expenses in hopes that it helps you if you throw a big party like this. In total, the party cost about $4,000.
Rentals (seating, popcorn maker, warmers for food, large fans): $800
Bouncy House: $437
Alpha Lit Numbers: $300
Balloon installation: $700
Cardboard cutouts: $243
Photo hats: $100 (these probably would have cost more, but I had some of the supplies, including the trim)
Catering: $350
Food, Cake, Drinks & Disposable Goods (Costco + Publix): $750
Michaels Decor: $150 (Saved significantly because I bought everything 70% off)
Favors: $100 (I was able to save on these because I used some credits from Book of the Month and Justin’s provided the peanut butter cups)
Extra Decor (Balloons, signs, candles, etc.): $100
The only place I think I could have saved money is by renting less seating (most of the tables stayed empty) and not renting the popcorn machine (it didn’t get much use). I could have probably asked friends and borrowed various tables/chairs, but it was really nice having a service come in and set everything up, take everything down, and having everything match.
I also could have skipped the Alpha Lit Numbers, but I did really love them! In terms of the decor, they were the least necessary though. Some would argue the cardboard cutouts were unnecessary, but they were one of my favorite parts!
People recommended things like an outhouse rental and valet parking, but we skipped these things and I think it worked out fine. I also considered renting tents in case it rained, but it was a perfect evening (though a bit hot, as per usual in Nashville in the summer). Other recommendations were hiring a deejay or entertainment like a magician, but I didn’t think this was necessary.
This party wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of my family. My mom, Aunt Sandy, sister Melissa, exhusband Matthew, and kids were so amazing! They worked from morning until night. I felt so loved and care for.