Event planners share how to make birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, and other occasions memorable if you can’t have a traditional celebration
by Darcy Schild
- Despite restrictions on in-person gatherings, people are finding ways to gather for life events – whether virtually or from a safe distance.
- People have hosted drive-through baby showers and birthday parades, and event planners are sending pop-up party kits to help people celebrate at home.
- Insider spoke to professional event planners about ideas and resources to help people hold meaningful long-distance or at-home celebrations.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
If the pandemic has proven one thing, it’s that even in turbulent times, people are still finding ways to celebrate.
“People are not letting their loved ones miss out on these life events. They’re just getting creative,” said Seri Kertzner, who runs New York-based party planning service Little Miss Party. “You’re forced into a whole new way of doing things, but I’m finding so many innovative things are happening.”
Traditional parties might be on hold, but here’s how people can make birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, and other life events memorable, according to professional event planners.
Baby and bridal showers can include games, a schedule, and festive favors
As many people collectively experience video-call fatigue, curating a structured activity or game to play with long-distance family and friends during a virtual baby shower can give the event a purpose and help it run smoothly, Kertzner said.
“Zoom events can be kind of hectic, and people are getting tired of them,” Kertzner said. “But when there’s an activity that people can enjoy over the call, it makes the event special.”
Kertzner has helped her clients by offering bridal and baby shower kits (among other themed boxes under her collection called Little Miss Party In A Box) equipped with essentials like a photo backdrop, balloons, noisemakers, and festive tableware. The bridal and baby shower kits also come with shareable PDFs of fill-in-the-blank, “Mad Libs”-style activities.
“People are sending their niece, a cousin, a friend a baby shower-themed box that the mom-to-be can then use to decorate, and that will be the background for a family Zoom call,” Kertzner said.
Family and friends can participate in the fill-in-the-blank games ahead of the event, then share their responses during the shower’s video call.
Shower hosts can also help make their virtual event run smoothly by creating and sharing a timeline – allotting time in the video call to open gifts, play games, and for friends to make speeches, Kertzner said.
Now more than ever, Kertzner added, it may also feel especially heartfelt to send and receive an invitation for the event, handwritten “thank you” notes, and congratulatory cards, whether it’s a printed version, or electronically through services like Paperless Post or Evite.
Aside from throwing a virtual event with the help of decoration kits and planned-out activities, some hosts and planners have pulled off outdoor or drive-through baby and bridal showers by setting up displays in a yard.
Brett Gnadt, the founder of The Party Pretzel event planning company in Denver, hosted a recent drive-through baby shower that included the miniature succulents pictured above as party favors.
“This event wasn’t really a thing just a short 10 weeks ago,” Gnadt said. “The weather was perfect, we socially distanced, and it felt so good to wave at friends, enjoy the sunshine, and celebrate a new addition to our crew.”
Iris Hinzo, the lead planner at Bizzie Bee Creations in Torrance, California, has planned two recent baby showers. One shower – pictured above – took place in a client’s front yard, complete with a floral arrangement that made for a special photo backdrop.
Friends and family were able to spend time with the mom-to-be from their cars and take pictures in front of the display, Hinzo said.
“It ended up being a great way to celebrate together in a way that was comfortable and safe,” Hinzo said.
Anniversaries or date nights at home can be made special with changes of scenery
Surprising a loved one with a home-cooked meal or dinner from a beloved local restaurant is a foolproof expression of love – but there are other ways to get creative with a date night or anniversary at home.
Some people have had clever at-home picnics or turned rooms of their house into restaurant-like settings. For example, a TikTok by blogger and designer Kiel James Patrick shows how he transformed an attic into a fancy restaurant for his wife, Sarah Patrick.
@kjp
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Depending on the size of one's home or apartment, though, it's not always possible to give a space a full-on makeover for a celebration. One company that's helping people have elevated dining experiences at home is Social Studies, which rents out expertly curated party decoration kits.
Hosts who order from Social Studies start by entering their party date and headcount, then can choose from a selection of themed sets of glassware, plates, and table decor, which range from $30 to $50 per guest. The boxes also include conversation cards, and there are other options to customize a kit with balloons or accessories.
Social Studies' co-founder, Jessica Latham, who previously spent years as a corporate event planner, said the idea behind the brand is to help people host intimate gatherings that look professional but don't require a planner (or leaving the house, for that matter).
"It lets people celebrate in a way that is elevated and convenient, and they can send everything back - so they're not having to buy a bunch of stuff they don't necessarily need in the long term," Latham said.
Each kit ships in time to arrive one to two days before the occasions, Latham said, and the company's packaging is designed to make all the supplies easy to re-pack.
"Once you're done, we just ask that you give the dishes a quick rinse, then place them back in the kit, stick on the pre-printed return label, and let us know it's ready to be picked up," Latham said.
The difference between Social Studies and traditional rental companies, Latham said, is that Social Studies is designed for people hosting small functions at home, which she predicts will be the future of how people celebrate a variety of occasions.
Birthdays can be celebrated in the form of care packages, DIY cocktail kits, and acts of kindness
From families who have organized drive-by parades to people who transformed their homes into clubs, people have been endlessly innovative when celebrating quarantine-style birthdays.
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loriginal sound - emilytorchia
When it comes to making long-distance relatives and friends feel special, however, Kertzner said it might be more about gifting someone the supplies they would need for an experience or activity.
"I think people are valuing the act of doing something different - or doing anything - on their birthday," Kertzner said. "Sending a friend something like a movie night care package with candies, popcorn, and everything they would need to re-create a 'night at the theater' at home can be really special."
Kertzner also said not to underestimate how memorable simple acts can be for people of all ages, such as eating a meal outside or decorating with balloons in the birthday person's favorite colors.
"Sending a meal to someone if they can't celebrate together so they don't have to cook or clean up on their birthday takes on a new meaning now," Kertzner said.
Another way to make an adult birthday special is to gift a cocktail-making kit - such as a box from Cocktail Courier, which Latham suggested.
Cocktail Courier kits contain ingredients that can make between four and 12 drinks, whether it's a watermelon basil margarita or a birthday cake cocktail, complete with candles and confetti.
The same kits can also be sent to multiple addresses, so long-distance friends and family can virtually toast together with the same beverage, which could make for a festive birthday video call.
"Going to a bar or restaurant for a birthday is something a lot of people can't do right now, but you can re-create that experience at home," Latham said.
This year, special events might look different than planned - but that can make them automatically more memorable
While the challenges of the moment are temporary, what's been proven is that gathering and quality time prevail as some of the most valued parts of life.
"Spending time outside on a nice day, enjoying food from one of your favorite restaurants, talking with your family - those are things that mean so much right now, so if that's what you plan for your special day, it really can be everything," Kertzner said.
In addition, experts said that now is the time to embrace the benefits of having gatherings with small groups, because that's what events could look like as people slowly re-incorporate interactions with trusted, tight-knit groups of family and friends.
"Sometimes, more intimate celebrations offer the opportunity for real human connection in a way that large-format celebrations sometimes don't," Latham said.
"This may not be what you had originally planned or anticipated," Latham said. "But in some ways, these celebrations are going to be more unique."
- Read more:
- 14 ways to celebrate your original date if you had to postpone your wedding
- A couple had a drive-in wedding with 30 cars full of their family and friends watching from a safe distance and the photos are stunning
- A mom came up with a quarantine-themed birthday photo shoot, complete with a sign that said 'None of you are invited'