How To Host An Unforgettable Virtual Birthday Party
Office birthday parties are a long-standing tradition in our society. According to an Ipsos Reid survey, nearly 90% of Americans believe itâs important to celebrate birthdays, with 85% of people feeling special when someone puts effort into planning their birthday party.
Like several elements of our world, many of these birthday celebrations have had to be staged virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering how disconnected weâve felt during this time, coming together now in celebration is a worthwhile experience for everyone.
In this guide, we offer valuable tips to keep in mind when planning your virtual birthday party, as well as several fun ideas that could transform your celebration into an unforgettable one. After all, a well-executed virtual party can boost your workplace culture and atmosphere just as effectively as in-person gatherings.
Lets Roam Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts have been increasing in popularity over the past decade with more and more using them as a great way to get loved ones together, grow stronger relationships between coworkers, and basically just to give all of us grown-ups the chance to feel a bit like excited little kids again as you rush through the streets searching for your next clue.
While scavenger hunts are perfect for many occasions, they are especially great to use as an exciting birthday party activity! Choose from one of over 400 ready-made tours, or you can have us create a personalized birthday party scavenger hunt with the guest of honor and a special location in mind!
Virtual Family Happy Hours
So, your sister is in Dallas, your parents are in Denver, and youre in Brooklyn. While nothing can replace the time we spend together with loved ones in the same room, a virtual happy hour is the next best thing. Get your martinis or spritzes ready and jump on a call to catch up on everyones lives. Missing your extended family too? Ask aunts, cousins, or grandparents to join in on the virtual hangout. Invite grandma to share a few stories about her life while youâre a captive audience, or learn what your little nephews or nieces have been up to.
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Plan A Virtual Activity
Every virtual birthday needs a planned activity. Truly. It is a must. If you’re looking for ideas, we recommend:
Slideshow
Reminisce on the times you could hang IRL with a cute slideshow featuring childhood photos of the birthday kween.
Participate in a Workshop
What does the guest of honor love to do? Pick something fun you can all learn together on the birthday call and participate in an online workshop. Macrame? A Bobb Ross paint along? How to make a sourdough starter? Go for it.
Play an Online Game
Did someone say game night? If your friends and family members are avid game players, then it’s a no-brainer to play the celebrant’s favorite game. If they don’t have one, and y’all haven’t played games like Among Us, Avalon, or tried any of the Jackbox Party Packs the virtual birthday bash might be a great time to try one out!
Have a Virtual Dance Party
We know, it’s not the same. But if the thing you miss the most about celebrating birthdays is going out to dance with friends, then a virtual dance party is the next best thing.
Never participated in a virtual dance party? Well lucky for you, we have a whole article on how you should go about planning an awesome one. So go ahead and check out our virtual dance party guide!
Movie Night
Virtual Tour
Bonus: Looking for more ideas? Check out these 35 virtual party ideas.
How To Throw The Perfect Virtual Birthday Party
Fun ideas and planning tips from the experts.
We all want our loved ones to enjoy celebrating their birthdays. While we appreciate friends and family year round, birthdays are a day we go out of our way to let them know how special they are and how much they mean to us.
Though we may not be able to come together as we usually would, it just takes a little creativity – and some wifi – to enjoy new ways of celebrating together during lockdown. Whether it’s your 5th birthday or your 95th, everyone deserves to be made a fuss of.
But to bring a virtual party to life, it’s all about the planning and thinking about activities, ice-breakers and themes. Going the extra mile to plan personal touches and fun ways to fill the time will make all of the difference.
To help get you started, we’ve come up with some great virtual party ideas for kids, teens and grown-ups to serve as inspiration, and compiled expert tips from professional party planners to help you ensure everything runs smoothly.
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Crown The Prince Or Princess
We love this idea from illustrator and party expert, Darcy Miller. Download her birthday crown template, print it out and pop it in the mail so the birthday royal can wear it when you video chat on the big dayâor if the honoree is in your house, crown them directly! The best part is that itâs totally customizable. You can trace the template onto newspaper, wrapping paper, or a tie-dye pattern. Decorate it yourself with drawings or messages or let the birthday kid color or bedazzle it themselves. You can even mail one to all your guests to host a princess party for your little one.
Ideas For Surprise Virtual Birthday Parties
You can turn any virtual party idea into a surprise, and it’s in fact easier than usual as you have no guests to hide. Tell the birthday person you’re having a catch up with one or two friends, or the in laws, and then have everyone ready and waiting on a big video call. Ready to shout surprise when they enter.
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Lets Roam Virtual Escape Room
If you and your crew love a little suspense, hop onto our Virtual Escape Room Platform and start planning your getaway! Our energetic and engaging hosts will guide your team through a scripted escape storyline. You will solve riddles, dig for clues, and breakout together! Its a virtual scavenger hunt meets murder mystery party, and its tons of fun!
Keep Up The High Spirits
Birthdays are meant for happy smiles, birthday gifts, and tons of fun. Be it a normal one or a quarantine birthday, dance, and sing to the tunes of your life.
Sometimes, these tunes can be out of sync, too, like in this quarantine. However, that shouldnt stop you from bobbing your head and making the most of it!
Stay cheerful, enjoy your day with your loved ones, and embrace this chance of bonding with your family.
Now that we have set your full pre-birthday excitement, lets get to some virtual birthday celebration ideas.
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Keep Your Plans Flexible
Once the day of the birthday party arrives, itâs important to stay flexible in your schedule. No matter how much you love the plans lined up, you have to read the atmosphere and adjust your schedule as needed. If there is a particular activity thatâs generating lots of engagement, donât hesitate to go longer on it than planned. As essential as it is to come up with a detailed agenda filled with fun ideas, itâs even more important to modify plans on the fly so that people have the best possible experience.
Virtual Going Away Party
A virtual going away can be arranged for a person retiring, or quitting to start his or her firm. Here are some of the going away party ideas work,
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Virtual Party Ideas For Adults
Just because you cant get together IRL, doesnt mean you cant still celebrate lifes milestonesâbig and small. Whether youre planning a catch-up with friends in all parts of the country or world or surprising a remote coworker for their birthday, a virtual party is a great way to stay in touch, foster connection, and keep the celebrations going. There are tons of different virtual party invitations for any vibe, too. Weve laid out our best virtual party ideas to get you inspired. We think most of these ideas could work as well for a virtual cocktail hour or a just because event.
Create A Video Montage
Spend some time a week or two ahead of their birthday to collect videos from friends and family. Have them say something nice, sing happy birthday or do a dance. Whatever it is, these individual messages are sure to make someone smile, and theyll enjoy hearing from people they havent seen in a while.
via Unsplash
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Red Carpet Awards Night
Organize your very own red carpet awards night over Zoom. Have everyone dress up fancy for their big virtual red carpet debut before announcing the special superlative-type awards. Be creative and have fun with awards such as Most Likely to be Late,Makes the Best Cup of Coffee and Best Dressed.
Send A Birthday Countdown
Send a whole week of envelopes or small boxes prior to the big day.
Label each envelope/box with which day to open each one. Stick a fun note, memory, photo, or treat in each one all the way up to their birthday.
My two favorite birthday countdown ideas: this box version on Simple As That and this envelope version on Who Arted?
Whatever you choose to do, we know sending long distance birthday gifts to your loved ones will most definitely make them smile. From classic birthday gift ideas to birthday surprises, our list has a bit of everything!
Do you have a favorite one of these long distance birthday ideas?
What other ways do you celebrate with long distance birthday gifts?
Much love and happy party vibes,
Leitia, Founder of The Confetti Post
P.S. While you are here, be sure to click that “Pin It” button so you come back for these birthday ideas next time you need them!
P.S.S. Check out this other post for more ways to make someone’s birthday special long distance or nearby!
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Celebrate A Virtual Bridal Shower Or Bachelorette Party
Being the maid of honor comes with all kinds of responsibilities, throwing a bridal shower or bachelorette party is probably the most elaborate one before the actual wedding day. Whether you had already planned out a fun party that you have to alter to fit the current circumstances or your friends live all over the world and wouldnt be able to attend an in-person party, you can celebrate one of the brides last nights of freedom just as well virtually!
If all of you live in the same area, you can get food from the brides favorite restaurant delivered to your doorstep and share a meal while taking a walk down memory lane on a conference call. Ask all guests to send you pictures of their most treasured moments with the bride and put together a slideshow that you can share while you enjoy the meal you had delivered. Make sure to send gifts ahead of time so the bride can open them when everyones watching. If the bride has shared a registry, you can play it safe and get her a gift from the list. A bride that didnt ask for specific gifts will surely still appreciate an awesome cookbook, an exquisite bottle of wine or a bouquet of her favorite flowers appearing on her doorstep.
To make the party a fun memory everyone will love to reminisce about, plan a few games throughout. You can purchase a game online that you share with the guests via the app that youre using for the video call or choose one of the following games for a more old school approach:
Top 30 Virtual Celebration Ideas
You can select several occasions and events as celebration ideas for the remote teams. The celebrations can be in the form of wishing for a special day, employee birthday fun office gifts, dancing and singing, a farewell party, playing games, and conducting activities together.
You can even conduct competitions, and quizzes for keeping the remote teams engaged in various events. In this section, we will share with you different virtual party ideas as an easy reference and guide.
You can select them as per your company size and team location. These are tested and assured to entertain your remote teams by creating a fun-filled environment virtually.
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Visit An Island Together
This one is for the gamers. Invite all your friends to visit your island on Animal Crossing. They can party with your islanders and leave gifts for your special day. Take screenshots of your characters celebrating together and post them on your social media. This one wont sound fun to all of you, but if you get it, you get it!
Designate The Party Host
If you are the life of the party, then the job is yours. However, if being the center of attention makes you want to vomit, then designate an outgoing friend to be the face of the project. They will keep everyone on task and keep the conversation moving with ease. You probably have someone in mind already.
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Have The Guest Of Honors Favorite Snacks And Drinks Present
If youre able to safely order delivery or groceries before the party, stock up on your guest of honors favorite snacks and beverages. Even if there arent dozens of people there to enjoy them, you can buy them and have them handy if you live with the person or you can have them delivered for a special surprise if you dont live with the person.
Treat Yourselves To A Virtual Beauty Night
Lets be honest: A day trip to the spa is one of the best ways to unwind. But its also very expensive and requires you to leave your house. Why dont you gather your besties for an online beauty night? Schedule two or three hours with your friends to hang out virtually, sip champagne, exchange embarrassing anecdotes and go through an extensive beauty routine. Use face masks, exfoliate your feet, do your nails and maybe even a yoga routine together. Whatever you and your friends consider the perfect relaxing evening is game.
If you want to be a little extra, send your guests a care package before the event. You can either order it online or put it together yourself and send it via mail. The package can include all kinds of goodies, from nail polish to face masks, chocolates and flowers or maybe a couple of bath bombs and an exquisite bottle of wine. You dont have to go all out on this if youre on a budget. The thought counts and your friends will absolutely love your gift!
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Summer Office Party Ideas
Summer office party ideas will be a ready guide for organizing some cool virtual meets with your remote team.
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How Do You Make A Zoom Birthday Party Fun
It doesnt have to be complicated! For instance, you can plan a themed-Zoom party where everyone gets to play dress-up or you can simply do a virtual activity together such as painting or making candles together. Alternatively, you can attend a virtual concert, parade, or any other online event together. Whatever you decide to do, just remember to celebrate with your friend/colleague!
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Online Birthday Mad Libs
During your online birthday party, you and your guests can play fun games like birthday mad libs. Players will volunteer word types like verb, adjective, or noun, and the leader plugs those words into a story. Once players fill in all the blanks, the leader reads the story aloud.
We made birthday adlib templates, and you can write your own passages too. You could either play the game live on video call with help from the chat box, or you can play the game via social media posts and direct messages.
Virtual Party Ideas Software
To aid you in conducting virtual parties, here are some tools or software for assistance and consideration,
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