[Shanski]

My hubby turns 40 next year and I'm thinking about throwing a party for him.
I have no idea what kind of party but my first thought is family friendly or adults only?

What would you do?

We currently have 2 kids and most of our friends have kids so if we have a family friendly party it will be an early afternoon BBQ type affair which will end pretty early.
If we say no kids then it will be a bit more of a boozey event that could go into the later hours of the night and even into the early morning.

Both appeal to me and hubby will probably be happy to have no fuss at all but he's turning 40 and I can't let that go without some sort of celebration.

Any ideas and suggestions for party themes greatly appreciated.

[Mary Whether]

It was my husband's 40th on the weekend, and we had dinner and drinks at a nice pub. I didn't mention children in the invitation* and most people opted for babysitters, but some brought them and everyone had a lovely night. I think you need to assess your own group and go with what is "normal" IYKWIM. Are social events normally kids friendly or are people likely to get annoyed if you make it adults only? Do people have babysitting options?

Can you do both? Have a barbecue, and then those who want to head off for a night out?


ETA - I also forgot to mention partners in the invitation, and then got some queries from people who thought that their partners were excluded

This post has been edited by Merriweather: 15/01/2013, 04:17 PM

[countrymel]

For my 40th we had 4 friends come around (without their kids, and they all stayed the night) for an amazing Mexican/Sth American feast (cooked mainly by DP) drank lots of beers and tequila and had a pinata (which DP had also made).

It was fantastic fun and I highly recommend it!

[Malaya]

Im going for boozy no kids (of my own). If others want to bring them that's up to them but we're not catering to them and its not a very child friendly place.

A question though, how do you say " no gifts please, we just want you" without sounding like a swinger or someone who thinks everyone want to buy gifts for them. .???

[mards]

We had a surprise 40th for DH - a month early (as he is an xmas baby).... So he had NOOO idea bout it.. It was an adult only affair - and we threw it at my Inlaws.. He was stoked!! it started at 3pm and went till about 1am... pretty much everyone came - we had BBQ etc etc.... the worst thing about it was i organised in August - and had to keep the secret till NOvember - all his friends were in agony about not telling him - was worth it though - he had a great night...

Oh and his inlaws were not there so it was really only a FRIENDS party...

This post has been edited by mards: 15/01/2013, 05:28 PM

[Julie3Girls]

You know your friends, and you know your husband.
Which would be better?
Do your friends have babysitters? Are they likely to not be able to come if they can't bring the kids? Are they a party crowd who can easily and happily ditch the kids for a night?

How old are the kids?

Is there any compromises ...
An afternoon/dinner BBQ, and make plans for the kids - is there a couple of local teenagers who you can pay to be the babysitters for the night - set up part of the house with kiddie friendly snacks, movies, etc.

Depending on how old the kids are, they might be just happy running wild in the back yard for a while, and then throw them in the lounge room with a movie, lots of pillow and hope they flake out.

[imamumto3]

I'm in the middle of trying to organise dhs party. almost all the people invited have 1,2 or 3 kids, so 50 or so adults and that many kids would be a nightmare and add enormously to the catering costs, so I'm leaning towards a child free night time event at a pub or club. this leads to the next problem, that anyone who would baby sit my kids would be at the party, so I have to find someone else

[tickly_rain]

Julie3Girls has made the suggestion I was going to about a kids' zone inside with a babysitter or two! Your DH sounds fairly casual about it, so maybe he'd be happy with the kids running around and it being more a family affair.

Malaya - I've seen "No presents, just your presence" a bit on invitations lately.

[JustBeige]

Dh had the middle of the day, all included, BBQ thing. He wanted everyone to come and we have a pool etc. We just had mixture of snags, rolls and salads.

His bestie did the Adults only night time shindig. He made sure he gave everyone heaps of notice and his mum and MIL offered themselves up for babysitting (they live near them) as they didnt want to go to a boozy party. He had it catered but had spit meats etc.

Both worked. It just depends on level of party you are after.

If you have young kids and start the day early, it might be easier to just go with a middle of the day one. At least you are done with before too late and any besties can just hang around if they like.

[Mumma3]

One of my friends hired out an indoor play centre for her 40th, after hours, from about 6pm, I think it was.

This was awesome!! The kids all had a ball, and didn't need much supervision, and the adults also enjoyed ALL the play equipment - bouncing mate, slides, ball pit etc. Much nicer to be at a play centre like this, will kids who all know each other, too.

From memory, she got catering done, but I can't remember what the rule was about serving alcohol. Lots of play centre offer adult party hire after hours, so you could ask about the alcohol policy of you were interested.