Fun and easy 40th Birthday Party Ideas for a beautiful outdoor party. Gather your friends and host the best birthday party ever!
Easy 40th Birthday Party Ideas
Creative birthday party ideas that anyone can do for a 40th Birthday Party! I hope. you enjoy these easy outdoor party entertaining and decorating tips.
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. For this milestone birthday, 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 party, because it sure takes your mind off of getting older!
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 40th Birthday Party in my shop.
Outdoor Birthday Party Entertaining Tips
When starting to plan an outdoor party, think of the table seating first.
I did everything myself for my birthday party. Yes, I even moved 30 chairs and 5 tables outside and made most of the decor. My friends were 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!
DIY Centerpiece
My DIY centerpiece for the main table was made from branches from a tree, spray painted black with silly photos of myself from over the years.
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 40th birthday 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.
Birthday Party Dessert Table
It’s not a birthday party without dessert! My friend Christy from C-Star Cakes made me the MOST amazing birthday cake ever!
I have always loved floral cakes, so I added some fresh flowers to the top. Didn’t it turn out fabulous? It was chocolate of course. Thanks Christy for doing such a wonderful job!
I just bought simple mini cupcakes and added pretty printable flags to them.
Outdoor Birthday 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 photos are from long ago and some new.
I even made a chalkboard sign for the party 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. Looking for a great Sangria recipe? Check out my favorite sangria recipes.
40th Birthday Party Printables
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.
Shop the Garden 40th Party Printable Collection!
This printable party collection comes in a 40th Birthday version or generic version for any age.
My garden party designs were also featured in US Weekly for Trista Sutter’s 40th birthday. How fun!
You might also like these Birthday Party Ideas:
- 5 Adult Party Games
- Tropical Rum Punch
- Best Pull-Apart Birthday Cakes
- Margarita Mix Recipe
- 20 Instant Pot Cake Recipes
- Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake
- Mermaid Rum Punch
- Birthday Cake Martini
- More 40th Birthday Party Ideas
Originally published on October 4, 2011. Last Updated on June 29, 2021 by Amy Locurto
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