Formal Dinner Parties

• Formal dinner parties can be held in your home or at a restaurant. If you are throwing a dinner party at your home, you will need to find a caterer that you trust. Many caterers will give you sample menus and let you taste their cooking before you hire them to feed your guests. By having a caterer, you will be able to relax and enjoy the party.
  
  If you decide to go formal, be sure to include this information on the invitation. If you are having a cocktail hour before the party, make sure this is also noted on the invitation.
  
  For entertainment, make a CD ahead of time with songs from the past 60 years. Use this CD as background music during cocktail hour. After dinner, play a slideshow of pictures of the birthday person. If you gather these pictures from your party guests, everyone will feel like they are part of the special day.
  
  

Costume Parties

• Many interesting activities and people have been in the news in the past 60 years. Having a costume party that depicts past celebrities or hot news stories can make for a fascinating party. Ask your friends to choose an icon from the past 60 years and to dress as that icon.
  
  A costume contest will challenge guests to really outdo one another. You also can ask guests not disclose their choices before and during the party. Make this a party game for the birthday person. He or she can guess who each of the guests are dressed as.
  
  

Backyard Barbecues

• Sometimes, simple is best. If you have a ton of people to invite and lots of children to entertain, it may be more fun to host a casual barbecue. It is also a cheaper option. Hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, coleslaw and chips are good menu options.
  
  Outdoor games, such as croquet, water volleyball, and flag football, can be inexpensive entertainment. Those who can't play, can referee.
  
  With this relaxed party setting, ask guests to bring gag gifts and funny cards. A simple decoration/entertainment idea is to buy several posterboards and tape pictures of the birthday boy or girl from the past 60 years. Ask guests to tell stories about the pictures that they were included in.
  
  For birthday-related entertainment, play a game of charades, where all the topics include people and events from the past 60 years.