How to Organize the Best Retirement Party Ever

According to the AARP, an average of 10,000 Baby Boomers reach retirement age every single day! And that means there’s a good chance you’ll need to organize the best retirement party ever at least once a year - never mind how many others you might be invited to.

While doing so might seem a daunting task, we’ve got some great tips on how to organize the best retirement party ever!

Focus on the Retiree

When planning any kind of party, it’s only human to think about what we would enjoy.

While this sometimes works with birthdays, when it comes to retirement parties, you really need to focus on the honoree. After all, this is meant to recognize and honor their decades of commitment to their career!

So if you want to organize the best retirement party ever, then involve the retiree in the earliest of planning stages.

A couple of things to bear in mind right from the get go include:

• How large or small they want their retirement party to be
• Whether or not they would like family members to attend (and if so, whether there will be kids)
• What time of day works best for them

Pick the Perfect Theme

Nothing makes a party stand-out more than picking the perfect theme.

There’s a lot of wiggle room here, but a few ideas to discuss with the retiree (or someone who knows them very well) is their favorite decade or hobby.

After all, your honoree still has a lot of fun years to look forward to. Throwing them a retirement party they have to suffer through (especially if they’re a lively, fun-loving person) is a sure-fire way to make them feel unappreciated.

Plus, knowing what theme you’ll be using can make some of the other party organizing decisions a lot easier!

For example, what kind of entertainment will you include?

Here are a few ideas to help get your party-planning juices flowing:

• Music - will you be creating a playlist of the retiree’s favorite music in general or does your theme offer a playlist as is?
• Decor - for example, a ‘70s theme lends itself to turning your venue into a disco hall
• Games - for example, a golf theme is the perfect opportunity to set up a putting range
• Refreshments - theme-related snack food or even a full meal with drinks to match

Hire a Photographer

Reaching retirement is a huge milestone. So it stands to reason if you’re organizing the best retirement party ever, your honoree will want something to remember it by!

Hiring a professional event photographer ensures your retiree won’t just have candid cellphone pics from the attendees, some of which they might not even receive.

Plus, it opens up a few more entertainment and gift opportunities!

For example, you and your photographer could discuss setting up a photo booth with props to match the theme.

Professional photographers will usually offer different bundles too. So you could opt to receive digital copies as well as a professionally printed photo book to gift the honoree!

Plus, you’ll likely receive individual prints as well - which you can add to the Chocolate Photo Gift Box as a second retirement gift!

Speeches

With any special occasion, speeches are a given. What you don’t want is for this part of the party to becoming a sprawling, disorganized mess.

It’s always a good idea to plan retirement party speeches in advance, set aside an appropriate amount of time for them, and create a schedule so everyone knows when they’ll be giving their speech.

Not sure how to prepare the perfect retirement party speech? Here are a few tips:

• Start with an ice-breaker (especially if you’re speaking first)
• Address everyone in the room and then bring the focus back onto the retiree
• Include personal anecdotes
• Practice your speech ahead of time
• Speak from your heart - even if means changing things up as you go along

Gifts

This is another area you as the organizer need to pay special attention to. You don’t want multiple people buying the same gifts!

A few easy solutions include:

• Everyone contributes to get one of the best retirement gift baskets as a collective gift
• Get everyone together and create a bulk order
• Create a gift registry for guests to order through

Conclusion

Retirement is a very special occasion. Your honoree has spent decades of their life dedicated to their career.

Don’t let that career end with them feeling unappreciated. Organize the best retirement party ever using these tips!