70th Birthday Party Ideas: Planning the Perfect Milestone Event
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- Updated: 13th October 2023
A 70th birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion that deserves an unforgettable celebration. One of the best ways to mark this remarkable milestone is to throw a memorable birthday party with the people that mean the most.
But when someone's seen and done almost everything, what's the best way to honour this momentous occasion?
From selecting a party theme for the soon-to-be-septuagenarian in your life to choosing the perfect music, here are some fun 70th birthday party ideas to ensure that their special day is as special as they are.
1. Bring All Ages Together
After 70s years of life, there's a good chance that the birthday boy or girl has a big family who want to celebrate their day with them. But rather than leaving grandchildren and great-grandchildren with babysitters and making it an adults-only party guest list, this is the perfect opportunity to bring all ages together.
Party Entertainment
Take your event to the next level with one of our live bands, singers and musicians.
Instead of starting the party in the evening, kick things off in the morning or early afternoon. This means that even the oldest and youngest among you will still be wide awake and ready to sing when the cake comes out. Getting everyone together will also mean plenty of unforgettable photo opportunities, so remember to appoint a few friends as official photographers to capture those magic moments.
In terms of entertainment, music is a great way to find common ground between generations. With a repertoire of over 500 songs from the 50s right up to the modern day, the band Decades will surely be your top choice for a party that everyone will remember for years to come!
2. Make Their 70th Swing
Your loved one might not have been born until the 1950s but the swing scene that dominated from the 1920s to the 1940s makes for the perfect party theme. After all, nothing gets people up and dancing like a swing band!
From there, let the music dictate the theme by encouraging guests to come dressed in elegant styles from the Big Band era. These can include flapper dresses or full skirts for women and sharp suits and braces for the men.
Fill the venue with birthday party decorations in Art Deco-style black and gold and serve the kind of party food and drinks that would have been popular during the period. These include cheese and olive platters, potato salad, stuffed vegetables, and gin cocktails. You'll also want plenty of cranberry juice and soda to keep guests hydrated after all that dancing!
3. Time for Tea
While some 70-year-olds are party animals, others prefer quieter events. But that doesn't mean that you can't all enjoy a fun time together.
For something a little more low-key, an afternoon tea party could be the perfect way to mark the occasion. Set the scene by decorating the birthday party venue with bunting, flowers, and plenty of gingham. If the weather's nice you could even take things outside and enjoy a game of croquet before refreshments.
The retro sounds of these vintage bands will be perfect for creating the right mood. And, while tea party food and drinks usually consist of tea, savoury snacks, and cakes, you could always spice things up a little by pouring colourful cocktails from teapots instead of Earl Grey!
4. Gather 70 Messages in a Bottle
Whether everyone can come to their party or not, you can make sure that they're all included with this unique gift.
The idea is to get 70 friends, family members, former colleagues, and anyone else that's special to your loved one to each write a short message to them on their birthday. Once you've gathered enough, place the notes in a decorative jar and read out some of these touching and funny messages at the party. This is a present they'll cherish forever!
5. Rewind to the 1970s
What better way to celebrate a 70th birthday than by taking everyone back to when the 20th century turned 70!?
Your loved one would have been in their late teens and early 20s during the 1970s. As such, it's likely a decade they remember with a lot of fondness. Or maybe they were having too much fun to remember much of it at all! Either way, we're sure they'll love to turn back the clock to a decade that's famed for its outrageous fashion styles and amazing music scene.
Get in the spirit of the 70s by donning bell-bottom jeans, wide-collar shirts, peasant blouses, and disco dresses. You'll also need party food and drinks that were popular at the time, such as these 70s cocktails, mini quiche Lorraines, and plenty of sausages on sticks. Last but not least, hiring one of these 70s disco and funk bands will guarantee that your 1970s-themed party goes with a bang!
6. Bake a Number 70 Cake
Seventy candles might be a bit of a fire hazard but you can mark their milestone age by baking (or ordering) a cake in the shape of the number 70. Not only will this kind of unique cake look incredible in the photos, a bigger cake means that there'll be plenty of cake for everyone on your loved one's long party guest list to get a slice.
7. Celebrate in the Style of Agent 007(0)
The sophisticated septuagenarian in your life will love the idea of a James Bond-themed 70th birthday party. Taking inspiration from all things 007(0), convert your birthday party venue into a casino complete with a bar serving martinis - shaken, not stirred of course.
Keeping with the theme, tell guests to come in slick tuxedos or dazzling cocktail dresses. Or, for an element of fun, encourage them to dress up as their favourite Bond villains. From metal-mouthed maniac Jaws to Ernst Blofield and his white cat, there are lots of possibilities for getting creative with costumes.
As for entertainment, no Bond theme party would be complete without the right music. String Vision Duo are an ideal option for setting the scene with the Bond theme tune and string versions of Bond songs. Or you might prefer to go with a vocalist to belt out Bond classics such as Goldfinger and Licence to Kill.
8. Pay Homage to Their Hobby
Since your loved one's 70th birthday should be all about them, it's only right to incorporate their favourite hobby into the proceedings.
If golf is their obsession, for example, then you might want to throw a golf-themed party or enjoy a group round of golf before teeing off the celebrations. Or, if their favourite pastime is painting, you could fill your birthday party venue with blank canvases and encourage everyone to get creative.
When paying homage to their hobby, you can choose to go all out with the theme or just incorporate it as an element of the birthday party decorations, entertainment, or otherwise. Either way, seeking inspiration from the way they love to spend their time will show them how much you care about them and their passions.
9. Take Them to Their Favourite Destination
If your loved one is a keen traveller, whisking them off to Paris, India, or Australia for the night could be the perfect way to celebrate their special day. Of course, there'll be no need for passports or long flights as you'll create the magic of their favourite place right there in the birthday party venue.
Their dream destination will then be the theme for the night, where everything from the party food and drinks to the music will follow. For fans of Italy, pasta and pizza will no doubt be on the menu, while those who love the Caribbean will revel in celebrating their 70th with a Caribbean steel band.
10. Play the Name Game
Make your loved one the centre of attention by throwing a party that's based on the first letter of their name.
For Geoffrey's 70th birthday, you could all wear green and gold, drink grapefruit cocktails, eat goat's cheese and gelato, and enjoy the music of one of these guitarists. And for Susan's special party, guests could don silver clothing, sip on sangria, and sashay the night away to one of these salsa bands.
While some letters will be easier than others, getting creative with your party ideas is all part of the fun!
11. Throw a This Is Your Life Party
As this report explains, a room full of people jumping out and shouting "Surprise!" to a 70-year-old might not be such a great idea. One way to incorporate a surprise element into the party without giving your loved one a heart attack is to include a few surprise names on the party guest list in the style of the television programme This Is Your Life.
Whether the mystery guests are old friends or long-lost relatives, gathering them together to relay stories about the man or woman of honour will make for a very memorable experience. To stay true to the concept, have these surprise guests wait in another room while they speak so that the celebrant has to guess who they are from their voice and story.
You could also make a book of memories from these people to give to your loved one as a present. And decorating the birthday party venue with images from throughout their life will complete the theme to perfection.
12. Commemorate Your Birthday King or Queen's Platinum Jubilee
Our dearly departed Queen Elizabeth II isn't the only one who gets to celebrate her "Platty Joobs" in style. Now that your loved one has reached the milestone age of 70, it's only right to throw them a party fit for royalty!
Your birthday party budget might not stretch to parades and a pageant, but going down the royal route will guarantee an unforgettable experience. What's more, you can make the celebrations as classy or as fun as you like. While some birthday kings and queens will love an elegant soiree complete with classical music and high-end party food and drinks, others will revel in getting to wear a homemade crown and sit on a DIY cardboard throne.
13. Create a Quiz Based on the Celebrant
You might all be there to celebrate your loved one turning 70, but which of you knows them the best? Working together with the birthday celebrant, you can take on the role of the quizmaster general and devise a quiz based on their life, experiences, preferences and more.
Some questions can be general and more fact-based, such as their star sign or the names and birthdays of all their children and grandchildren. Others might be more specialised questions, such as their favourite teacher at school or one of their pet peeves. The celebrant can then crown the winner of the quiz once the answers have been checked by the two of you.
14. Go Grease Lightning
Want to honour the decade your loved one came into the world? A Grease-themed 1950s party is sure to go down well with guests of all ages. Although the film came out in 1978, its 50s backdrop offers a wealth of party inspiration for an amazing 70th celebration.
If your birthday budget will stretch to it, you could set up part of the venue to look like the Frosty Palace, where Danny and Sandy had their first date. Serve polar burgers and cherry sodas with chocolate ice cream to stick with the theme.
There's lots of scope for fancy dress, where women can take their pick of Pink Lady jackets, full dresses, pedal pushers, or full-on leather looks. For the men, sharp suits or white tees and leather jackets are the way to go. And of course, no Grease party would be complete without a 50s rock n' roll band playing the same hits that Danny and Sandy danced to at prom.
15. Have a Kid's Party
They might be turning 70 but that doesn't mean that their inner child wouldn't love the chance to party like they're a little kid again. From wearing party hats to playing pin the tail on the donkey, eating jelly and ice cream to making balloon animals, who says 70th birthday parties can't be a little childish?
People often start getting more nostalgic about their childhoods as they reach their 60s and 70s. This makes their 70th birthday the perfect opportunity to indulge your loved one's trips down memory lane with the kind of celebration their younger self would have loved.
Fun 70th Birthday Party Ideas
Whether it's time to celebrate your parent, grandparent, partner, or friend reaching the big seven-oh, these fun 70th birthday party ideas should have given you plenty of inspiration.
That said, as fun as it might sound to hire a jazz band or throw your loved one their own platinum jubilee, it's important to choose ideas that you're sure the celebrant will love. This way, the party will be memorable for all the right reasons!
Once the planning is underway, you'll soon see that organising a birthday party can be a lot of work. Luckily, Bands for Hire can help lighten your load by helping you find the right musical accompaniment for the perfect 70th birthday party. Contact us today for more information!
