Birthday Ideas for a Mom's 48th

Throwing a surprise party takes a lot of careful planning. After all, if the guest of honor finds out about the party, the surprise is spoiled. Send the invitations a month in advance, so that guests can adjust their schedules. On the invitations include the date, time and location of the party. It's also important to let the guests know on the invitations that the party is a surprise.

The color scheme for a surprise party doesn't have to be specific. Using mom's favorite colors is fine. Purchase streamers, balloons and table linens that coordinate with each other and use them to decorate the room. Make sure there is a dance area and music the guests will enjoy for entertainment. Think about including songs from the guest of honor's teen years. Popular songs of past decades are bound to bring back memories and keep guests dancing. Use a poster board to make a picture collage that details the guest of honor's life and place it in the entryway. Be sure to include a guestbook for people to sign.

When it's close to party time, getting mom out of the house and to the party is a must. Think about taking her out to a birthday dinner or on a short shopping trip and then stop at the party destination. Make sure someone is stationed at the party to organize the surprise. They should be watching for the guest of honor to arrive and directing guests on what they need to do.

A dinner party for a few close friends and family members can be an inexpensive and intimate way to celebrate a mom's 48th birthday. A elegant dinner party can easily be held at home. Send invitations to guests that tell them the date, location and time of the party. If semiformal dress is required, make sure the guests are notified of it on the invitation.

Since the party will center around the dining table, it should be elegantly decorated to set the mood of the party. Cover the table with plain white linens. For a centerpiece choose flowers in a crystal vase. Draping strands of fake pearls on the table around the centerpiece will give it a more elaborate look. Candles will also create more of an intimate atmosphere.

To entertain guests, choose a few sit-down games they will enjoy. Since it's an intimate dinner party, the guests are closely acquainted with the guest of honor. Making a trivia game that involves questions pertaining to the guest of honor's life is a great way to entertain guests. The funnier the questions are, the more they will laugh. Various card games, such as Phase 10 or UNO, can also provide hours of entertainment after dinner is served.

A black and white party can be a semiformal event and an entertaining way to celebrate a birthday. In addition to the party details, make sure to tell the guests to wear black, white or a combination of both. As guests arrive, have a digital camera ready to take a black and white picture of them as a party favor. Copies can also be saved to make a scrapbook for the guest of honor. To make the scrapbook, have guests sign a guestbook and give their well wishes and then attach various black and white party pictures to it.

To decorate for a black and white party theme, place white table linens over the table. Then place smaller black table linens at a diagonal so that guests can see both the black and white. Balloons and streamers can also be purchased in black and white to add to the decor. For centerpieces purchase white flowers and place them in black vases. Adorn the vases with strands of fake white pearls to make them more elaborate. To entertain guests, play black and white movies with the sound muted in the background. Have a dance area set up and play music for the guests to dance to. Since it's mom's birthday bash, choose music from the decade that she was a teenager to bring back fond memories.