My Dad’s 70th Birthday Bash 

January 15, 2017 4 Comments

Category: Personal
Tags: Appetizer ideas, Cocktail Party, Dad's 70th Birthday, Make 70 Great Again

Those of you who know me know just how much I love my dad. And those of you who don’t will certainly get a better sense of our relationship after this post.

My dad recently turned 70 and our family wanted to celebrate him in a BIG way. So, we threw him a party that he’d never forget, with a quirky, fun theme and all the bells and whistles to go along with it. Check out all the details – you won’t want to miss this! 

My Dad’s 70th Birthday Bash

It’s hard to explain who my dad is or what he means to me in a blog post so I hate to even try . But, I will tell you that he’s one of the most fun, quirky, intelligent and loving people I’ve ever known.

He has been there for me always and his influence on my life is truly immeasurable. I love nothing more than having dinner with him every Tuesday and now including Chloe in our weekly tradition. We have such a special relationship and I can’t begin to describe how thankful I am for him as my dad. So, for his 70^th birthday, we decided to go out all out.

All the party details

Theme: “Make 70 Great Again” – My dad is big into politics and we thought it would be funny to do a spoof on the election and nominate him to “Make 70 Great Again”. 70 just seems old (unlike my dear old dad) so we made the party into an election theme with him as our candidate of choice to change the old stereotype of what it means to be 70.

Décor: I love a good theme and the décor was so fun to do for this party! The color palette was red, silver and blue and I went all out with the “American” theme with flags, balloons, a themed cocktail, “vote” buttons, and even campaign signs.

For the centerpieces, I spray painted wine bottles and numbers silver and added in American flags, and simple, white and red flowers so the colors popped. JoAnn Fabrics was my go-to for the numbers, spray paint and poster boards, and the flags are from Amazon.

I found these buttons from Etsy and was able to customize them for this “campaign”.I also incorporated pictures of life throughout the last 7 decades into two poster boards that spelled out “70”. Major props to Wendy for helping me track some of these down!

Here’s a fun sign that shows what life was like back in 1947 when my dad was born. Just some fun reading for when guests were waiting for their drinks at the bar.

Menu: Since we had 25 guests and wanted to avoid a stuffy, sit down dinner, I decided to do a mix of heavy appetizers for everyone to enjoy throughout the night. Since I knew there would be a lot of cocktails and wine involved in the evening, I wanted to make sure we had enough food but also a wide variety of items like fish, veggies, meat, etc.

Because I was cooking mostly everything, I selected a few dishes I could do in advance, and then also picked appetizers that could stand on their own and others that would need to be passed. Final menu items included:

• Cheese and Charcuterie Board

• Smoked Salmon over Cucumber with a Dill Cream Cheese

• Mushroom, Leek, & Gruyere Bites

• Asparagus Wrapped with Prosciutto & Mascarpone

• Spinach, Kale & Artichoke Dip

• Heirloom Tomato Pesto Bruschetta

• Mushrooms Stuffed with Spicy Turkey Sausage

• Seafood Salad

• Smoque BBQ’s Famous Brisket

• Truffle Mac & Cheese

The main focus was a huge cheese and charcuterie board filled with 8 different types of cheese, lots of meats and fruits and nuts. It was not only an awesome display but a great place for guests to congregate over the night. It was a huge hit, and since I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries on it already, I’m going to do a dedicated post on it (stay tuned!).

Drinks: We had a bar space with my dad’s favorite red and white wines, along with a “Tynini” specialty vodka cocktail. His last name is “Tynan” so it tied into our political theme. I also pieces together some of the American flags into a banner for a festive look.

Entertainment: My dad loves music (especially artists from the 60s) and we decided that the best solution to hear all of his favorites would be to do a Pandora playlist. My brother put it together an awesome playlist and his favorite songs were played throughout the night.

Toasts & Roasts: A big focus of the night were the speeches given to my dad. So many hilarious and heart-warming stories were made by all of his closest family and friends. Luckily, we hired a videographer to capture them all and will have a short video for him that he’ll be able to keep forever.

This is the toast I gave to my dad to kick off the evening. If you have a few minutes to spare, it’ll hopefully make you laugh (and maybe even cry). I can’t help but tear up when I watch it.

Dessert: My step-mom, Wendy, went all out and delivered his favorite cake, a tiramisu, which was to die for! Everyone loved it and the sparklers were the perfect touch!

The best part of the evening was seeing my dad so happy. I know he felt so loved and so appreciated all of his friends and family taking the time to celebrate him. Can’t wait to do it again in 10 years!

We love you, Dad! Happy birthday!!

Check out all the party pics from the evening here:

Thank you Taryn Rosenberg Photography for these wonderful pictures that capture this perfect evening and to Akil Buggs for capturing the whole thing on video!