7 Fun ways to celebrate your 50th birthday at home

Stuck at home for your 50th birthday?

For most adults a birthday at home with their immediate family is still a wonderful way to celebrate, but those with a 50th birthday on the horizon might be feeling a little down about the possibility of not being able to see friends and extended family, organize a big celebration or go on that birthday vacation.

This might be especially true for anyone that had elaborate birthday plans that had to be canceled.

It’s definitely a bummer and while remote and alternate celebrations may still feel like a consolation, some sort of recognition of your special birthday is definitely better than none.

Here are some ways to celebrate if you’re bummed about being housebound for your 50th birthday:

Table of Contents

1. Have a virtual party
2. Order your cake and eat it too
3. Throw a car parade
4. Host a Netflix party
5. Get dressed up
6. Party with an Instagram DJ
7. Have a cocktail or mocktail every hour

Have a virtual party

I’m an introvert and I don’t generally enjoy talking on the phone or video chatting, but surprisingly, I’ve realized that if I have to be home for weeks on end with very little real-life contact with other adults, I actually enjoy group video chats.

A number of video calling platforms including Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Zoom allow you to have a group video chat with a dozen or more people so you actually can see all of your favorite people on your birthday.

They might even sing you “Happy Birthday” and raise a toast to your milestone!

Order your cake and eat it too

Read also: Fifty 50th birthday gifts for women

Why not order yourself your dream birthday cake and have it delivered to your house?

Since you won’t be spending tons of money celebrating at a restaurant, nightclub, party venue or hotel, you can put the cash toward a grand cake which can also serve to help out a small business.

And don’t worry about waste!

Cake freezes really well, so you can save what’s left to enjoy with friends and the rest of your family when you can see them again.

Throw a car parade

Okay, it might be a little weird to organize this type of celebration for yourself, but if you’re helping plan someone else’s birthday or your partner asks how you would like to celebrate, you could suggest a car parade.

Friends and family can decorate their cars and drive by the honoree’s home clapping, singing, and playing cheerful music at a set time on a set day.

As long as everyone stays in their cars, this type of celebration is allowed in most towns.

Host a Netflix party

Netflix now offers a Netflix Party extension on Google Chrome so you can have a movie or binge-watching birthday party with your besties.

The extension synchronizes playback so that you and your friends can watch the same content at the same time and enables group chatting on the screen so that you can discuss what’s happening just like you would in person.

All you’ll need is some popcorn and Champagne.

Get dressed up

Yes, just for the heck of it!

There’s something about getting all dolled up on your birthday that just makes you feel amazing.

Take out that glittery gown and those killer heels, curl your hair and take your time applying that full face of makeup.

Then head to the dining room to enjoy a wonderful dinner in. Turn on some relaxing music, light some candles and create an atmosphere to match your attire.

We promise you’ll still feel special even if you’re not leaving the house.

Party with an Instagram DJ

If you were looking forward to dancing the night away on your birthday, try tuning into a professional DJ’s Instagram story.

Famous DJ’s like D-Nice, DJ Sisko, Questlove and 9^th Wonder among others, have started spinning live sets on Instagram with thousands and thousands of viewers tuned in at once.

Pump up the volume, invite some friends to listen in and it’ll be like your own private birthday dance bash.

Have a cocktail or mocktail every hour

If you can’t go bar hopping for your birthday why not bring the bar home?

Pick up or order some fancy cocktail ingredients and mixers, find a few recipes for craft cocktails online and re-create the bar crawl vibe at home.

You can try a different cocktail or mocktail every hour of the evening or even set up a different cocktail to prepare in different rooms of your house, so you can move around and enjoy various drinks just like you would if you were going out.

You could even combine this idea with several of the others we’ve mentioned for a truly memorable birthday-at-home.