40th Birthday Party Idea for a Man

Yesterday we celebrated my husband turning the big 4-0! How in the world did this happen?! It seems like just yesterday that he was sauntering over to me in the college cafeteria, and now he is hobbling (on his cane) over to me in the kitchen! 😉 I have to laugh when I think back on how “old” forty seemed to my twenty-year-old self. What a relief to know that 40 can look and feel almost as good as 20! I’m not quite in the 40-club yet but will join in at the end of this month. I’m embracing this new decade of life for us and really enjoying where we are now as a couple and family.

Since Matt and I have partied like it’s 1999 ALL summer long, neither of us felt like we needed to go big on birthdays this year. Matt wanted a day filled with family memories so we chose activities that everyone would enjoy. We took in a dog show in the morning, did a 10 mile kayak trip in the afternoon, had dinner at Matt’s favorite Venezuelan restaurant, and then hosted a small dessert buffet in the evening. Men can be tricky to party plan for, so I wanted to share the dessert buffet I created in case it might be helpful to those of you looking for birthday party ideas for men. My take on parties is that they should be cute, affordable, and not kill the hostess in the process! This party was very easy to pull together and allowed me to still enjoy the day.

I chose to go with a black and white theme for this party and was able to find most of my party supplies at Target. I covered a buffet in a white table cloth and then used black-and-white-polka-dot tissue paper as a runner. For the backdrop, I used my gilded DIY Chalkboard and drew a large striped chalk “40” in the center. As much as I’d love to brag that I free-handed the numbers, alas I am not that artistic. I used my tried-and-true technique to create the chalk numbers in the font Foglihten No 06. For the cake, I created a pennant banner with dental floss and scrapbook paper. I used two wood skewers covered in paper straws to attach the banner. This is such a simple way to embellish a cake!

The paper bow ties were found in the party supply section of Target. They were adorable and very easy to assemble. The kids had fun playing with them during the party by sticking them on each other and even on the dogs. 🙂 I strung rubber bands through the backs of the paper bows to create bow ties for the beers. One of Matt’s favorite things is trying new beers, so I crafted a few 6-packs with beers that looked interesting.

The dessert buffet consisted of key lime pie, black and white lemon cookies, chocolate cake, and chocolate-covered coffee meringues. These were all favorite desserts of my husbands.

I stuck some scrapbook cards into the desserts to add some flair. The stamped painted plates were originally created for my Fall Mantel. It was fun to be able to use them for the party. Always shop your house first for interesting serveware!

We had such a fun day together and my husband was thrilled with his party! I hope this gives you a few simple party ideas for your man. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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