Enchanted 50th Birthday Party Ideas

My BFF threw me an enchanted 50th birthday party. She enlisted my oldest daughter to help her, and together, they planned the best party ever. Beautiful decorations, delicious food, fun games, and dancing with my amazing friends. What more could I have asked for!

So, as the title says, the theme was “enchanted”, and since I love pink that was, of course, the main color for the party.

Pink mixed with gold and white. And greenery. So pretty.

All these pink and gold-themed party ideas are fantastic for a bridal shower, too.

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Enchanting Atmosphere

This party was all about beautiful things that create a magical, enchanting atmosphere. The main color was pink, accented with gold and white and a little purple. Flowers were an absolute must for creating that lovely feel.

We had cute chalkboard signs, delicate table runners, fairy lights, and more. I’ll show you some fantastic pictures of the party.

For the background music, I picked the soundtrack from the live-action Cinderella.

Cute Sign for the Entrance

A pretty chalkboard sign at the door greeted the guests.

Invitations and entrance signs get the guests in the party mood and give them an idea of what to expect.

This whitewashed chalkboard sign with lovely writing was perfect for this enchanted 50th birthday celebration.

Pink and Gold Tablescape

Lovely, isn’t it.

Fairy lights, flowers, gold-rimmed plates… and disco balls, my special request.

Notice the little pencils and the paper slip with numbers? It was used for a game. I’ll explain that later.

L-Shaped Table Set Up

At this party, everyone got to sit at the l-shaped head table. This way, I could be at the same table with all my guests. The setup also ensured we had plenty of space for dancing.

Simple Place Setting

The simple place setting with gold-rimmed plates and gold utensils was cute. I liked the pretty DIY place cards made with Ferrero Rocher. Some of them had light pink flowers, some dark. All this went so well with the pink and gold birthday party theme.

The Gift Table

A gorgeous bouquet adorned the gift table. The party decorating team creatively used a birthday banner to add a nice touch to the table. And there were fairy lights, too, of course.

Flower Arrangements

So many flowers. I loved the delicate flowers my friend picked for the party. They looked amazing in the assorted vases.

Sparkly Things

An enchanted party needs some sparkle, and the small disco balls and the fairy lights provide that. Nothing beats twinkling lights as a party decoration.

Entertainment for the 50th Birthday Party

1. Questions About the Guest of Honor

You’ll see a gold place card stand in the lower right corner of the above picture. We used those for a game.

It was very simple. Each gold stand had a card with a question. The multiple-choice questions were written inside the cards.

The person closest to the gold stand got to ask the question.

We did a couple of questions at a time throughout the evening. The answers and related stories were shared right then. The guests kept score since there was a prize for the winner.

If you are curious about the questions, I’ll share them with you. When you see “…”, that’s where my name was. I just feel weird repeating it here.

1. What has… NEVER gotten stuck in?
2. What is… favorite food?
3. Which country has… NOT visited?
4. What year did… move to Michigan?
5. How many states has… been to?
6. Has… ever gotten a speeding ticket?
7. Has… ever been in a play?

(So, what have I gotten stuck in? An elevator and in my bedroom. My bedroom door stopped working, and I could not get out. I tried to get the door off the hinges but could not.)

This was a simple way to tell stories and share information that some of my friends did not know about me.

By the way, instead of using a boring number system for the cards, each card had a number that had something to do with me.

For example:

• a number of siblings I have
• the date I met my husband
• my favorite number
• the number of states I have lived in
• my height in centimeters
• the house number of my childhood home
• the time of my birth
• my favorite math equation

As for the favorite math equation… I remember, as a child, I liked very much to add 7+8.

2. Jokes and Punchlines

I’m so not good at figuring out the punchlines to the jokes. But no worries, this was a team game.

We split into teams. Each person had a randomly placed sticky note under their chair that stated which team they belonged to.

A collection of jokes with missing punchlines was given to the teams. The team that figured out the most punchlines was declared the winner.

3. Stand-Up Comedy

I enjoy stand-up comedy very much. We didn’t hire anyone… my husband got to do it. And he rocked! Since I’m from Finland, his routine was mainly about the Finns.

4. Gift Opening

My idea was to have a “no gifts” party, but my BFF insisted that gift-giving is the love language for some, so we should not deny them that pleasure.

I find opening gifts in front of people totally awkward. But I came up with a fantastic solution. First, I opened a gift or two at a time throughout the evening to keep those moments short. Secondly, I picked the outgoing, expressive friend to sit next to me and recruited her as my “gift reactor.”

I’m just not very expressive, but this friend of mine is. It was hilarious to have her express all the excitement over the gifts. Everyone found that entertaining.

5. Dancing

I love dancing. I grew up going to many weddings and parties with lots of dancing. So, I absolutely wanted to have dancing at my birthday party.

We did some line dancing, swinging, and some foxtrot. It was great!

Delicious Menu

What would an enchanted 50th birthday party be without terrific food.

The food was all catered except for the abundant dessert table.

Appetizers

The party started with a cocktail hour. We served cucumber hummus bites and spinach & artichoke spanakopita during this time.

Cucumber Hummus Bites

This is the description of our cucumber hummus bites: slices of cucumber topped with creamy hummus, olive tapenade, and sweet pepper oil.

I tried to find a recipe similar to the one served at my party but found many other delicious options, such as these Cucumber Hummus Bites from Salads for Lunch.

Spinach & Artichoke Spanakopita

These spankopitas were awesome! Spinach, artichokes, and feta all wrapped in crisp pastry.

Spinach and Artichoke Spanakopita from Katie in Her Kitchen does not have feta but has the oh-so-good combination of cream cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Mix the cheese with simple spices, and you have the most fantastic appetizer.

Dinner

The party hostess, a.k.a. my BFF, planned the tasty menu with the caterer. The main dish was Chicken Picatta, and the sides were Panzanella Salad, Vegetarian Moussaka, and Lavender Pomegranate Rice. Sounds fancy! Or should I say enchanting?

Summer Panzanella Salad

I really enjoyed this side dish: tomato wedges, peaches, red onion, fresh mozzarella, bacon, and bread. Served with peach vinaigrette.

The recipe I found for you is Summer Panzanella Salad. You’ll have the most amazing side dish for summer birthday parties in less than an hour.

Moussaka

Our second side dish was moussaka: layers of sliced eggplant, sweet potatoes, mozzarella, and roasted tomato sauce.

Try this tasty Greek dish, Vegetarian Moussaka, made with eggplant, zucchini, spinach, feta, etc.

Lavender Pomegranate Rice

Lavender-scented basmati rice with pomegranate pearls, garlic, onion, and fresh herbs.

As intriguing as the lavender-scented rice sounds, I prefer just plain rice. But it certainly sounded lovely.

I found an excellent recipe for Pomegranate Basmati Rice.

Chicken Picatta

This chicken. Wow! It was so tender, so tasty. Lightly dusted pan-fried chicken breasts with lemon caper sauce.

Try Chicken Picatta with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce from RecipeTin Eats. I’m excited to try this recipe, as well. Looks pretty simple. And the sauce with butter, white wine, and lemon juice sounds divine.

Beverages for the Dinner Party

Our helpful servers kept the carafes filled with sweet punch and water. As I mentioned, we had a bar, and every guest got a few tickets for their drinks.

I didn’t think to do a signature drink, but for me, that would be simply wine. Rose wine would have been really fitting.

We also served coffee and tea from Irish Coffee mugs with the desserts.

Desserts

There was so much food at this party. I didn’t have enough time to indulge.

The dessert table overflowed with treats, such as beignets, cheesecake bites, European cookie collection, and Finnish cinnamon rolls that my friend ordered from a Finnish bakery somewhere in Michigan.

We put some Lindt chocolate in pink and gold wrappers in glass bowls on the tables for the guests to enjoy throughout the evening.

It was quite the feast!

Party Favor Boxes

I have mixed feelings about party favors. I don’t find them necessary, especially for adult parties. But if I do something, I like it to be practical.

For this party, we did not have party favors.

Instead, my friend and daughter decorated small white boxes that were perfect for taking home your favorite desserts.

This enchanted 50th birthday party was a dream come true. I had a wonderful time and felt so loved. Hey, BFF, if you are reading this, I want to thank you again for an unforgettable evening!

Other Exciting Party Ideas

I will add here a couple of more party ideas once I get those written… hopefully soon. Here is one:

Jazz-themed party for the jazz lovers. I threw a simple, low-budget dinner party for my husband, and though he is not a party lover, he actually enjoyed the celebration.

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