I put together a small party for my husbands birthday and since I decided to do this last minute, I didn’t have a lot of time to plan. My husband is also not your typical sports guy. He likes things like hunting, fishing, working outside, building things in the garage. I mean it was almost like planning a party for Ron Swanson (from Parks and Rec) minus the alcohol. So the normal “man” themed golf or sports based parties just wouldn’t do. I had to come up with something that was very “him”. I had to get a little creative but luckily I found the pieces I needed to make things come together. Here’s how I did my own “manly” party planning that was unique and yet thrifty.
Tips For Women Throwing a Cool Guy Party:
1. Most guys are pretty simple. You can leave your chevron table clothes, mason jar punch and striped straws for your lady parties. Keep it simple with guys.
2. Make food men like. Think tailgate party. If it’s meaty, covered in cheese or it’s fried, they will probably like it.
3. Parties that consist of mostly women can usually revolve around talking and socializing. Man parties are more sociable when you bring everyone together for activities. Examples: Corn hole, fire pit, nerdy board games, video game competitions, sports games, cards and horse shoes or pool just to name a few.
The Invitations:
I got the idea online but I thought it was neat so I made one myself using my own publishing software. My invitation was basically a cute little timeline of my husbands major life accomplishments followed by the party information and how the people in attendance could make the timeline even better. I started with the date he was born in followed by his first hunting trip, first job, first car, first date, first college, wedding, graduate school, real job and then a whole section on his random unusual old man hobbies. It was very much a reflection of my husband. Everyone thought they were cute.
The Cake:
- I wanted a unique, tasty cake so I ordered one of Target’s amazing cookie’s and cream cakes and asked them to leave the little cookies off.
- That’s where the specialization came in. I wanted to make the cake theme appropriate so I got on etsy and found a lady that sold small gun charms for jewelry making and she had them to my house in 2 days flat.
- I added those to the cake myself.
- I felt this addition was more the “testosterone” on the cake rather than the “icing” on the cake.
- This cake was $12.99 with my Target coupons.
- Thrifty Tip- Cupcakes are always an easy single serve option for any party. They are usually a low cost option as well. You can personalize cupcakes very easily.
The Decorations:
I could have gone crazy with decorations. Instead, I chose a few simple things that I purchased and found around the house.
- I got a brown “fall” table cloth at Target ($2.00).
- A camouflage “Happy Birthday” banner from Walmart (less than $2.00).
- The dear canvas pictured is actually from my husbands “Man Cave” area.
- I bought black cups and plates from Target and used white Up & Up brand plastic silverware but put them in handmade vintage looking mug.
- Thrifty Thoughts- If you have items/decor around your house that fit your theme, use those items. They are FREE!
The Food:
I kept things really simple and ordered PaPa John’s meat covered pizza, hot wings from my local deli and chips. I know that’s ridiculously simple but do you know who spent the evening with friends rather than cleaning dishes? This lady. Really great party with little to no clean up.
The Festivities:
The night was filled with strategic board games (check out my game night post for examples of games we like) and a bonfire outback in our fire pit (click here for my instructions for building the pit seen here).
The Party Favors:
- I got some clear plastic goody bags from Target ($2.00) and filled them with my husbands favorite soda and his favorite candy in individual serving sizes.
- I used some ribbon from the Christmas ribbon stash and voila! Personalized party favors that people actually want to take home.
- Thrifty Tip: If you want to do Party Favors, food is always practical because it’s usable.
That’s it. It was a simple party for a simple guy and he had a great time. So even though I threw it together last minute, we enjoyed spending time with friends and family rather than trying to fit an excessive food menu or itinerary into our festivities.
Kim’s is the party planning, cupcake loving, celebration catalyst behind the Thrifty Little Mom Blog. Kim was a pro event planner for over 7 years before she became a full-time blogger. Kim is the author of: Live, Save, Spend, Repeat: The Life You Want with the Money You Have. She’s been featured on Time.com, Money.com, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Day and more! Kim aims to inspire you to create parties, celebrations and gatherings that everyone loves!