18th birthday ideas

9 replies

longingforsomesleep · 30/08/2012 20:10

Ds is 18 in November and I'm wondering how to make the occasion special. We could just let him have a bit of a do at home but our house isn't huge (and brothers/dogs would get in the way!). He's got a good group of friends but probably wouldn't want us to book a venue for a very big do. Anybody got any ideas?!

OP posts:

ivykaty44 · 30/08/2012 23:28

I did a party oat home as that was what my dd wanted when she turned 18 - it was summer though so we used the garden.

dd2 is a november baby and said when she turns 18 she wants a party and indian food buffet (got it all arranged in her head) I will probably hire a small place as without the garden my place is to small for 50 people inside

schoolchauffeur · 31/08/2012 08:51

My DD will be 18 next year too and she definitely doesn't want a party. She has a small group of very good friends and her birthday is mid-summer so we often find her mates are away over her birthday. She also likes to spend time with the family and wanted to do something that mixes friends and family.

She has chosen to go to a rented holiday house with us and 2 friends and her boyfriend in another part of the UK- she has visited this place before with another family but we haven't. Has a swimming pool, pool table, lake with rowing boat and a nearby village pub etc and other outdoor activities. Probably not everyones cup of tea, but got me thinking of ideas for you:

festival tickets for a group of them?
some kind of activity weekend for a group of them?

-meal out for a small group and then fund them for club entrance and leave them to get on with it?

mumblechum1 · 31/08/2012 17:01

Ds is 18 on Mon. Tomorrow night, he and his friends are going to a pub in the next village which doubles as an Indian restaurant.

Only problem is that I still don't know how many are coming - out of 12 invited only7 have responded!

I've booked a set meal for 10 and will be putting £150 behind the bar for drinks.

SecretSquirrels · 01/09/2012 09:52

schoolchauffeur that sounds fabulous where is it?

beagreassive · 04/09/2012 10:23

DD is 18 in one month. her party has been being planned since sh turned 17. She is having a large party at a local hockey clubrooms, I will put money on the bar for her and two close friends only, everyone else pays their own way. We do "18 gifts for your 18th" so all the family and friends are encouraged to chip in towards the pool gifts: these include a few silly in joke things, a couple of sentimental things (this time a photo book and a portrait canvas) and a few seriously cool things (replacement (2nd hand) iPhone for the one that just got stolen, flights for a holiday with friends and tickets to radiohead) I put on all the food and a DJ. her older sister had the same thing, but with a band instead of a DJ. For us, 18 is the bog one, cause kiwi kids often leave for an OE by the time their 21st rolls around.

scurryfunge · 04/09/2012 10:30

My DS is 18 next month. Im paying for a city weekend break for him and his girlfriend and a meal out with a few of his friends. I was keen to have a big party but he doesn't want one.

mumblechum1 · 04/09/2012 13:13

One of DS's fave presents yesterday for his 18th was a photo album I'd made of him since he was 2 hours old fighting for life in an incubator till the night of his party, having champagne with his friends. You can buy special 18th birthday albums.

scurryfunge · 04/09/2012 16:50

That's a great idea mumble chum.

Tuttutitlookslikerain · 04/09/2012 16:55

DS1 is 18 in December. He doesn't want a party, but we will have a meal out as a family. His birthday is a Friday so him and his friends are going out on the town, he says. I don't know if he will or not, he is really into fitness and doesn't drink so we shall see.

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