By Guest Contributor Dakota Murphey

Dad’s birthday’s coming up soon and this one’s going to be quite a landmark. He’ll be 60, and we all know that 60th birthday parties are that little bit extra-special. If you’re planning your dad’s birthday celebrations, you’ll want to make them memorable and a whole lot of fun. Here are some inspirational ideas.

1. An Intimate Party At Home

If your dad isn’t much of a party animal, you could keep the celebrations small and intimate by inviting family members and some of Dad’s closest friends. If your dad was a teenager in the 1970s, how about getting everyone to dress up in 1970s garb?

Choose 1970s music to evoke great memories from back in the day. Ask your dad’s old school mates and work colleagues to bring an old photo with them, so they can share some memories of their time with your father. Pull out all the old pictures you can find of your dad and fill a wall with these. Try and find pics of his sporting days, his high school and university days, and some of his career achievements. The wall will be the party centrepiece, with everyone reminiscing, laughing and joking about the fab old days. 

A 60th birthday is a huge milestone, so you may want to put in extra effort to make everything spectacular, from the invitations to the party favors. 
One way you can personalize these is by using customized packaging. Create an original design for your dad’s 60th birthday celebration and have it printed on the paper material to use for the invitation cards, party favors, and other birthday-related essentials. Personalization is a small but significant way to make your dad’s birthday extra special. Customized and creative birthday stickers to decorate party venues and make unforgettable memories for dad. Of course, personalized gifts are also indispensable, at gs-jj.com can custom-made father's 60-year-old commemorative coins, which can draw the father's name and blessings. - such a novel gift will move any father to tears!

2. Arabian Tent

If you have the room in your garden, why not hire an Arabian style tent? These stylish marquees tents create a warm, relaxed space, where everyone can experience the party of a lifetime, in an exotic Middle Eastern fashion. With colourful Moroccan décor, large comfy scatter floor cushions on a carpeted surface, these marquee interiors are designed to make guests feel as if they have been transported to another time and place.

Of course, the food should be from the Middle East, with exotic sounding dishes like Fattoush, Makdous, Falafel, or a Middle Eastern Mezze. Why not hire a DJ to play music from the time of your dad’s youth, especially if he was a bit of a hippy back in the day? Far out, man!

3. Hire A Party Bus

For something really different, why not hire a bus to go around and pick up your guests and take them to a restaurant you’ve booked for a special birthday dinner? One obvious advantage is that nobody has to worry about drinking and driving.

You could serve pre-drinks on the bus and play music from your dad’s era. Because it’s his 60th, you could try to locate some of his really old school friends – some he may not have seen for decades – this may not be easy but it would be a lovely surprise. On the bus, and in the restaurant, the ‘old boys’ can all catch up on the good old days.

4. Comedy Night

Here’s a really unique idea. If your dad likes his comedy, book a comedy night! Phone around a few comedy clubs and book their venue for a private party. You can ask them to provide a couple of comedians and hire a caterer to serve a sit-down dinner before, during or after the show.

Be sure to share a few (funny or embarrassing) stories with the comedians about your dad, and even some of the guests, so they can work these into their routines. Comedians often pull one or two people from the audience, play the fool with them and share some funny incidents with everyone.

5. A Downton Abbey Country Party

Make Dad’s 60th a luxury affair and invite guests to join you in the tranquil setting of the countryside – a grand old manor house, or a large country mansion reminiscent of Downton Abbey. Caterers can provide a delicious summertime lunch, served on long tables in the shade of a marquee, or under a canopy of trees. They could even hand out delicious picnic baskets and everyone can unfold their blankets and eat and drink on the rolling lawns. A selection of outdoor games could be played too.

If you’re inside, then a Roasted Pig with all the trimmings would suit the occasion. Drinks like mead and cider could be served by staff all wearing period costumes. Mum and Dad could be seated at the head of the table as king and queen, while a band of musicians, playing old instruments, entertain the rest of the raucous peasants!

Dakota Murphey; BA (Hons) Marketing graduate, freelance writer and Photoshop dab hand. When she's not running around after her two kids, you’ll find her relaxing in a nearby coffee shop, watching the world pass her by. If you enjoyed this article, see what else she's been up to on Twitter - @Dakota_Murphey.