*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
By now you’ve heard all the rumble about alternative birthday party ideas. Drive by Birthdays are a blast. Today we’re all about a birthday party online is one of those great new alternatives to getting your party on!
Do you or a friend have a birthday coming up? Feeling a bit deflated because you can’t host the parties that you had planned ? Or like me were planning on planning.
Remember those parties people replied “Oh, I’d Love to come but can’t find a babysitter”or “oh gee, my dog needs to be walked at that time”. Well, here ya go, your friends don’t have those excuses any longer! Gotcha!
Don’t fret friends. You can do all that birthday celebrating you planned and much more. The biggest difference is now it’s a virtual or online birthday celebration.
In some cases, this might demand more planning. This would mostly be because it’s unfamiliar territory for the majority of us. The whole party like it’s 1999 is more like party like you’re the ‘Jetson’s’ now.
Let’s get to planning that special birthday party online, shall we?
Here are 10 Virtual Birthday Party Tips to Help You Celebrate in Style This Year.
1. Choose a Party Theme
A great theme can elevate your virtual party. Invite your guests to join in the fun by dressing according to the theme.
Here are a handful of virtual birthday party theme ideas to try
- Costume Party
- Cocktail hour
- High tea/ brunch Party
- Self care Party
- Craft Party
- Paint Party
- Trivia Party
- Vision Board Party
- Wear your old Wedding Dress Party
- Bridesmaids Dress Party (come on, you know you’ve got a few hanging around)
- Kentucky Derby Hat Party
- Charity Party where you make a blanket and donate to local shelter.
2. The Guest List
First off, keep it small and simple so that the virtual party is easy to manage. So be uber selective with your guest list. You want the party to be fun so choose people who will add to the vibe and not cause a distraction.
Theme should compliment your guests.
Girl Friends – o.k., well.. girls just wanna have fun, so anything goes here.
Cocktail Party, formal attire would be fun for guys and gals I would think.
Charity Party may be perfect for that church group of friends you wanted to celebrate with.
80’s Hair Party. Everyone does their hair up like it was in the 80’s.
3. The Virtual Birthday Party Agenda
Take some time to draw up an agenda. This will ensure your guests know exactly what to do when. Make the start and end time for the party clear.
What to include in your agenda:
- The party events and the order
- Games and activities
What is expected of your guests:
- a Drink for the toast
- Show and Tell item about the guest of honor
- a craft kit or theme attire designated by ‘type of party’ you chose.
4. Virtual Platforms to Host Your Party
Choose the online platform to host your party that meets your needs best. Consider the following criteria when making your choice:
- Whether your guests have easy access to the platform
- Is the platform free
- The number it caters for
- The sound and picture quality
- Setting up the tech side of things
4a. The following are popular for hosting virtual events
- Zoom
- Skype
- Google hangouts
- Facetime
- Facebook Messenger
Tip: Check your host platform ahead of time for time restrictions/ guest #’s, in general, how they work.
Please check out this post which goes into greater detail about most of these platforms.
5. Virtual Birthday Party Invitations
As with an in person birthday party, you need to invite your guests to the party. Keep it simple by drafting one in a graphics program like Canva.com and email or Whatsapp them to your guests.
Or you use an online free online party invitation site like SmileBox.
Let your guests know the theme and ask them to set their Zoom backgrounds to match.
5a. Your virtual invitation should include the following:
- Date
- Virtual platform link
- Time to join the platform
- Party duration
- Party theme, what they need to be prepared.
- Details of party food
6. Virtual Party Decor
Customize your background so it’s in keeping with your theme.
Birthday decorations like banners and balloons add to the virtual party atmosphere. Encourage your guests to also decorate their spaces keeping in mind your theme and color. Let it be simple to get greater buy in from your guests.
I like Canva for background custom themes. You can create and email to all your guests.
Music should ideally be played between events or else it will drown out everything else. Pay attention to lighting so you look your best on camera, at the very least so everyone can see you.
7. Virtual Party Food
Your food should match your theme. So if your party has a cocktail hour theme, you would probably serve finger foods. You can have your guests order or make their own mini charcuterie boards (with wine glass holder please, thank you!) or I’m crushing on these Charcuterie cones!
A good idea is to suggest a few meal ideas, find affordable venues from where your guests can order in or give them easy recipes for them to cook.
Alternately, you could do a potluck or ‘What Have You’ surprise me meal. Yoou can splash out on your end with a celebratory meal if it’s your birthday you’re celebrating.
Food should be ready before the event to avoid disruption of the party. That is unless you’re having a cooking party.
Related Post: Celebrate Birthdays When Your Broke!
8. Birthday Traditions
We are all so used to blowing out the candles, cutting the cake, singing happy birthdays and making a wish ritual. This is not so easy to do virtually.
Turn this on its head. Get each guest to record themselves wishing you a happy birthday or singing happy birthday. Then get a tech savvy friend to edit and create a video to play at the right time.
9. Speeches
What’s a birthday without speeches? But listening to a barrage of tributes can make the party take on a grin and bear it look. Instead, encourage your guests to pre select and forward to you a power word that describes you. Get someone to do a collage for them to view at the right time.
But if it’s a milestone birthday like a 30th birthday, your loved ones may want to send you a personal message.
A fun thing to do is to create a simple Google Doc with a sentence or 2 from the personal message linked to a simple avatar of each guest . This can be mailed to all guests the next day when the host has had time to ok each message.
10. Virtual Birthday Party Activities to Entertain
Here are 5 fun things to do to liven up an online party
- Have a a comedy slot where you and your guests share one liners
- Attend a virtual concert or museum with your guests
- Have a karaoke session
- Play a virtual game together
- Have a dance party to a special playlist
- Create together with an online Paint Party
- Eat together with a virtual cooking class
- Watch Party for a favorite old movie or one newly released.
Bonus: A ‘From The Heart’ non-virtual Thank You
The celebration doesn’t end with the party. Take time to thank each ‘and’ every one of your guests. If they sent gifts or not. Their presence made the event special and memorable and THAT is just as precious, if not more so! Try to mention something personal in each note letting friends and family know you value them.
My friend,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of my celebration on xxx. I adored the gift card you gifted me so selflessly. However, the real gift was spending time together and seeing your smile light up the event! While I miss our ‘in person’ time so much, I treasure any time we can be together.
Thank you so much
Always,
Kim
At the End of the Day
Don’t feel badly or guilty about not being able to host an in person birthday. Try a virtual birthday party this year. I’m certain you and your guests will enjoy yourselves more than you think. Look at this as a way to include people who otherwise couldn’t make it. People who live far away or are traveling are just a couple of groups that would otherwise miss out.
Worried no one will come? Invite me!
