You only turn 21 once...

I want to have a big party for my 21st birthday... but unlike most people from my generation, I have no intention of getting blitzed, smashed, wasted, tanked, s-faced, or fall-down drunk.

My birthday is a couple months away on September 25th, but I have really bad planning anxiety so I'm trying to get everything sorted out so I can hand out invitations a couple weeks before hand and have people know what to expect when they come over.

I'm trying to decide on a theme that will be fun for all of my friends and not just fun for me.

My current ideas are a jumbled mess of things I don't think would be as fun for other people as they'd be for me.
-Greek god/goddess party where everyone dresses up as a different Greek god or goddess
-Magic: The Gathering legendary/Planeswalker party where everyone dresses up as their favorite character from MTG lore.
-Futurama party where everyone shows up as their favorite Futurama character.
-"What is this, I don't even..." party where people wear everything and anything that doesn't make sense.
-Medieval feast & dueling party where everyone can show up in a tabard or armor and eat, drink, and fight as they please (with foam weapons of course)

I like my ideas but I don't know which would be the most fun. All of my friends are between the ages of 23 and 50, so I want to choose something that everyone's going to enjoy and remember.

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20 replies since 24th July 2011 • Last reply 24th July 2011

Reply #1:

I love the Greek god/goddess idea.

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Reply #2:

On the one hand, having a costume party makes picking something to wear a little easier-- on the other hand, there are just some people you don't want to see in a bed sheet. My suggestion would be to forgo a costume themed party as it can make people uncomfortable—especially those who are older. I somehow see you doing something more like a Mad Hatter and Hare Tea Party with spiked tea and crumpets. But ultimately it’s up to you. I don’t think I did anything for my 21st- not sure of anyone who really did out of my group of friends.

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Reply #3:

Oh magic sounds fun Happy

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Reply #4:

"What is this,I don't even" seems really flexible for a wide group of friends.You could fun with food and decks to ;0)

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Reply #5:

Alice in Wonderland isn't much my thing. I get what you're saying about a costume theme though... some people might not quite get it.

I've had nothing but crappy birthdays since I was 11, so I kinda want the last birthday I'm going to bother celebrating (since there's not much special about 22 and above until you get to 50) to be a good one.

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Reply #6:

I brought up the idea of a Medieval "feast & fight" to my fiance and he responded with, "That's the most badass idea I've ever heard of." So I think I found a winner. Plus, scarfing down chicken and quaffing beer and wine is probably something that everyone's going to enjoy, lol.

I feel better now Happy

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Reply #7:

Your 21st is the day before my 18th! I love the Medieval idea!

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Reply #8:

Yeah, this year we got unlucky for trying to plan parties... lol
Mine's on a Sunday of all days >.<

I love it when my birthday's on a Friday or Saturday. I can't stand celebrating it a day early or a day late, it just bothers me for some reason.

Are you going to do anything special for your 18th?

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Reply #9:

love the medieval idea! i've been to medieval times 2 times with my family and we all loved it.

not only does it always for awesome finger foods but as much or as little costume as one desires (a simple sword belt or full gear1). plus, play fighting is always fun.

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Reply #10:

Yeah, I used to collect foam swords, then have friends over and we would duel. I found a good site to get better swords from, so now all I need to do is save up some money.

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Reply #11:

my local dollar store has foam swords, had some light up baton-lightsaber things once too. you could also potentially do a BYOWeapon. i think it'd be funny to see if people just brought swords or maybe lances or pillows.

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Reply #12:

I don't think so, I may just have a few friends round. I'm also not a big fan of getting wasted but thats all most people wanna do here

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Reply #13:

Luckily people are much tamer in Minnesota compared to PA. In PA, if I held my 21st birthday at my house and said there would be drinks, people would come for the free ale and wine instead of coming to celebrate with me. My friends here in MN/SD are the type who come for you, and the food and drinks are only a bonus.

I'll have to check the dollar stores around here. I know Walmart has some foam swords, but the cheaper I can get them, the better.

I was thinking about getting plastic swords since they won't break as easily as foam will, but I don't want anyone leaving with a bruise from getting too serious.

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Reply #14:

Ah! You're birthday is two days after mine and we will both be turning 21. Like you I feel no need to actually get drunk or whatever but its kind of a tradition here to do so. Plus all of my friends wwant to go with me to the gay bar. <3 And I really like the medieval theme.

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