Virginia Beach event and wedding planner Carrie Lauck has planned her share of birthday bashes, some of the milestones—and not just for the Sweet 16 crowd. For one of her clients, Beatles’ fan Robin Bailey, that meant a “When I’m 64” birthday party at her oceanfront home. Friends dressed in ’60s attire and took turns stepping across an Abbey Road crosswalk. A poster paid homage to the Sgt. Pepper’s album, with headshots of the guests replacing the faces of the Fab 4.
“A milestone birthday is a great reason to get together and have a nice time,” says Lauck, who owns The Happy Hour Hostess. “As with going to friends’ weddings and then their children’s weddings, it’s another step in the process to celebrate and enjoy life.”
When Cathy and Ernie Connon started scheming about their upcoming 60th and 70th birthdays, they eventually landed on the idea of throwing a party for the ages, specifically the 1960s and 1970s.
The Connons decided to really whoop it up, celebrating the past with a slideshow, projected outdoors on a giant screen in the backyard of their Richmond home. “I’d asked people to send in photos of themselves from the ’60s and ’70s,” says Cathy. “You could tell who some people were, others not so much.”
She sent out invitations with a hippie theme and “told everyone to wear their grooviest hippie outfits,” says Cathy. “We had a DJ who played ’60s and ’70s music. Everyone really got into the whole theme. It was a great crowd and a lot of fun.” The couple also lined up a bourbon bar and a Celesti Gelati truck. Mosaic catered the celebration.
Milestone Birthdays
The couple enjoyed the multigenerational mix of friends, neighbors, and family, who danced the night away in their tie-dye shirts, bell-bottoms, mod miniskirts, and white vinyl boots, evoking memories of Nancy Sinatra’s mid-’60s mega-hit. Lots of peace signs, headbands, and beads could be detected among the party-goers.
“Ernie grew up in the U.K., so in the ’60s and ’70s, he was right in the middle of it, when the Beatles and rock ‘n’ roll were making a splash,” says Cathy. “He really enjoyed the women dressing up in all those hip outfits. It took him back.”
Planning the Connon’s birthday bash benefited from Cathy’s interior design expertise. The principal of Catherine Jordan Design in Richmond, she knows all the bits and bobs that go into pulling off a successful event.
But for others, profesional party planners can be a wise investment. When potential clients call Carrie Lauck, she begins with a consultation during which she gets to know them so she’s able to guide them through imagining their dream event.
Lauck’s clients are all around the state, not just limited to her Tidewater base. One of her Richmond clients threw a 60th birthday party with a disco theme at Terrapin Restaurant in Virginia Beach. Colorful table settings, scores of balloons, and a dance floor with disco balls helped set the stage for the cocktail hour; a seated dinner and dancing to DJ music followed. “There was a lot of energy in the room,” Lauck adds.
Milestone Birthdays
High-octane parties like this are not just for young people, says Dr. Bert Waters, director of the Virginia Geriatric Education Center and associate director of the Virginia Center on Aging at VCU. “You might be 60, but you know how to dance. It’s not the age, it’s the cohort,” he says, referring to one’s generational or friend group.
He knows about celebrating milestones in a big way: His mother-in-law ziplined in Shenandoah National Park for her 80th birthday. “It was her choice. That was a bucket list item,” he says.
Aurelia Rutherfoord Brown’s family decided to celebrate her 100th birthday twice in May—dinner at Chez Max in Richmond with immediate family and then a party including neighbors, friends, and relatives arriving from North Carolina, New York, and Virginia. Among them were friends she had known from Danville, where she spent most of her life.
It had been a while since she’d had a birthday party. “My mother loved to entertain, but as she aged, she just hasn’t been able to entertain like she did a few years ago,” says her daughter, Aurelia Lewis who owns Lewis Media Partners in Richmond.
About 35 people attended the party, which included a birthday cake from the Mixing Bowl, one of Richmond’s iconic bakeries, and 100 balloons, which her great-grandchildren enjoyed tossing around. A memorabilia poster showed the world events when Mrs. Brown was born in 1923.
Milestone Birthdays
Sadly, this beloved centenarian and family matriarch died in August. “She loved her parties and she was so happy,” recalls Lewis. “She particularly enjoyed seeing her friends who knew her when she was in Danville.”
By keeping people connected, celebrating milestone birthdays can even be good for your health.
“Things that impede successful aging include loneliness. That’s a big factor,” Waters says. “So, if you maintain a large group of friends or a group of close friends, you’re likely to live longer. That’s one of the social determinants of health.” TheHappyHourHostess.com, ValleyGeropsychiatry.com, VCOA.chp.vcu.edu
Sandra Shelley writes for magazines and nonprofits and is a Senior Digital Content Specialist for the University of Richmond.
