Considerations for Party Locations
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There was a time when picking birthday party locations was simple. If you were planning a party for a child, you had it in the dining room, or, if Mom was considerate enough to have given birth in the summer, you had it in the back yard. An adult celebrated in the dining room, of course, unless the guest of honor was very young, very wealthy or very prominent, in which case a hall might be necessary.
As lifestyles changed, it became more and more common to have informal celebrations at restaurants, and McDonald’s and Chuck-E-Cheese added a whole new dimension to children’s birthday parties. Today, birthday party locations are more a reflection of the personality and preference of the birthday boy or girl (or man or woman) than an expression of social conventions.
Today, many places, from art museum tea-rooms to amusement parks, are willing to host birthday parties. Whether your guest of honor is crazy about Ancient Greece, sushi or Charlotte Bronte, there is a party venue that simulates it, serves it or evokes it. Museums offer party packages that range from sleepovers with life-size dinosaurs to Victorian tea parties. Birthday party venues at planetariums, zoos and aquariums allow guests to explore the stars, cuddle snakes and sip lemonade beneath the shark tank. Public parks can be converted to private amusement parks with the aid of blow-up slides and bounce-houses, stables offer equestrian delights and cinemas provide private screenings for budding stars.
In some social circles, even children’s birthday parties have become less about celebrating a birthday and more about showcasing the party-throwers wealth and willingness to go over the top. Entire television reality series’ have been devoted to portraying spoiled birthday honorees and their loved ones, usually parents, as they try to outdo their friends and neighbors by financing the most outrageous “celebrations.”
Of course, there is a growing movement to embrace simplicity, and more and more people, remembering their own childhood birthday parties, perhaps, are choosing the quiet pleasures of backyard, park or beach for outdoor parties and dining room, “rec” room or screen porch for indoor celebrations. In doing so, they join the many families who never strayed from such homespun celebrations. Birthday parties are, after all, a time for family and friends to gather around the honoree and celebrate the fact that they were born and are here with us to mark another year.
