Create a “40 Rocks” themed 40th birthday party with lots of ideas for invitations, decor, activities and more.
Well, I think we’ve finally recovered enough from my husband’s 40th birthday party last Saturday night to do a recap of the festivities. You know you’re getting old when it takes you more than just the day after to recover from a fun night!
The whole party was a concert theme “40 Rocks”! My husband is a big music fan and loves to see live concerts. We set the stage (yes, pun intended) initially with concert ticket invitations. The picture is from our college years and was a Harley Davidson themed costume party. Much to my husband’s dismay, there’s no way he could grow that kind of facial hair!
The Place: We hosted the party at Jasper Winery, a local winery in Des Moines. They were really great to work with and it was a perfect space for our 50 or so guests. We served 4 of their wines – 2 whites and 2 reds. I drank their “Behind the Shed Red” most of the night. They are affiliated with Madhouse brewery, also local to central Iowa so we had their Honey Pilsner on tap.
The Food: We got the food from Woody’s Smoke Shack, an award winning championship BBQ joint. SO GOOD!
The weeks prior to the party I sorted through all of Todd’s childhood photos, our college photos and those from life since in order to make a giant 4-0 collage out of photos. Below you can see the framed concert and fraternity t-shirts sitting on a mantel in the party room. That was one project my husband hadn’t seen and he really liked them.
On the tables we had the “40 Rocks” DIY Rock Photo Holders I made and posted about a few weeks ago. I also made up a trivia game of 20 questions from various aspects of Todd’s life. Everyone seemed to know a few answers themselves and were surprised to learn a few new things – even his parents. We had a photographer that took photo booth style pictures at the party, so we left the answer key with her so people had to get their pictures taken in order to find out the answers.
The cake was a giant Doc Marten boot. Todd has owned a pair of Doc Marten boots since college and still wears them to concerts. I was so happy with how the cake turned out thanks to Cache Bake Shoppe in Clive.
Friends and family ate, drank, and visited at the winery from about 6-10 p.m. Then with the help of several people, we quickly cleaned up and Todd and I headed out with several of our friends to some downtown Des Moines establishments. We had such a great time celebrating with everyone and appreciated everyone who made it.
While it was a great party, we’re both glad to be done with the planning. When my turn rolls around I think I’d rather go on a trip than have a big party. Todd keeps asking me where I want to go, but I keep telling him to just start saving the money – I’m not ready to talk about it yet since I have a few years to go still! I’m in denial and that’s where I’d like to stay a little while longer!
Well hello fellow Iowan! It looks like you worked very hard to make sure all the small details were covered & they were great! Love the Doc Martin cake! I did the same thing for my sons 13th….even made backstage VIP pass lanyards for the invites, had a ‘bar’ set up with a menu of ‘mixed drinks’ & got a DJ. Great minds think alike! There’s just something about about a good, over-the-top celebration that warm the heart. Great creative work here
Your son is one lucky guy! There were a few other details I wanted to do for the party, but I just ran out of time. Such is life! Thanks for stopping by. It’s great to “meet” a fellow Iowan blogger.
wondering where you ordered your invitation rock concert tickets from?
I actually made them in PhotoShop but there are a lot of Etsy sites that will design them for you, just search concert invitations on Etsy.
Did you make the Ticket invite yourself?
Did not even read the previous post.Sorry.
Looks like a great party, was there a band or were you allowed to play your own music?
Thanks! We played our own music through their sound system.