40th Birthday Outdoor Garden Party Ideas

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Birthday parties are my favorite thing to plan! I normally don’t plan big lavish parties for myself, but hey… you don’t turn 40 everyday. I wanted to plan a wonderful evening with friends and let them know how much I love them all! I highly recommend planning your OWN 40th birthday because it sure takes your mind off of getting older! ha.

The best part about having a September birthday is the weather. I have always wanted a pretty outdoor dinner party, so I moved just about every chair, plus a few of my neighbor’s chairs, into my backyard for the big night!

I hope you enjoy photos from my birthday party. Find the printable party designs for this Garden Party in my shop.

Outdoor Party Table

I did everything myself. Yes, I moved 30 chairs, about 5 tables and made most of the decor. My friends are SO worth it!!

I found some pretty vases and candles half off at Michaels, then bought grocery store flowers and paper lanterns for my table. I love bright colors so pink, orange and purple were a no brainer for this girly girl!

My centerpiece was branches from a tree, spray painted black with silly photos of myself. I wrapped the glass vase with ribbon to hide the bottom which had rice in it to hold the branches. I also designed little wine glass labels for each friend.

Gifts to Celebrate Friendships

My party was all about celebrating my friendships. It’s not very often that I see many of these women, so I wanted it to be a special night.

Each guest was surprised with a beautiful hand-stamped heart Vintage Pearl necklace on her plate. I love The Vintage Pearl! Check out their lovely jewelry here. Erin, the owner of The Vintage Pearl, was so sweet and also included a beautiful “Living Locurto” necklace for me as well! Thanks Erin!!

Gussy Sews made the most awesome party favors ever!!! Aren’t these bags adorable, fun and bright?

Gussy made these especially to match my party colors. I love seeing them all together. She makes the most beautiful products.

Dessert Table

It’s not a birthday party with dessert! My friend Christy from C-Star Cakes made me the MOST amazing cake ever!!

How fabulous is this cake?? It was chocolate of course. Thanks Christy for doing such a wonderful job!

I just bought simple mini cupcakes and added pretty flags to them.

Party Decorations

The party decorations are my FAVORITE part of planning parties!! I saw this picture tree on Pinterest from a wedding and thought it would be perfect for a milestone birthday party. I attached little sayings and photos of my friends. Some from long ago and some new.

I even made a chalkboard sign for the menu. I’ll show you how I did this later. It’s super easy!

My girlfriend made the best Sangria! Of course I had to have cute signs to go on the table:-)

It’s not a 40th birthday without a little silliness! Guest could help themselves to some gum and atomic fire ball candy!

Outdoor Movie

For the after dinner entertainment, I created an outdoor movie theater in another part of my yard. Yep… more chairs to move! I sure got my workout that day! ha!

I set up my photography backdrop stand and projector. We watched Bridesmaids and had some fun laughs!

I snapped this photo during dinner so I could remember what a special night it was to be with such wonderful friends!

Thanks so much to all of you who came and made it so much fun!! I missed those of you who couldn’t be here. You might recognize Laurie from Tip Junkie on the left and my girlfriend D’Ann was great and took photos for me. Yay!

Party photos by Amy Locurto and D’Ann Wright.