Celebrating In the Midst Of a Global Pandemic
Nothing like a global pandemic to put a damper on your celebratory mood.
Recently, everything from graduations, birthdays, baby showers and more has been canceled. Our efforts in “flattening the curve” have forced us to rethink how to celebrate from home.
While 2020 will likely not go down in history as your best year ever, there’s no reason to cancel your party plans entirely. There’s still plenty of clever ways to make any occasion special.
One thing is certain: regardless of the current state of affairs, this year is going to be a memorable one. Make it count in the best ways possible and create some great memories in the process.
“Life may not be the party that we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.”
Are you ready to save the day and find some joy in life’s special moments despite this virus? Then it’s time to put on your party-planner hat and find a way to get those dates back on the calendar!
Customize these ideas to personalize the experience and then pour yourself an adult beverage for a cheers. You’ve earned it.
10 Unique Ideas to Keep Your Party Plans
1 - Host a virtual event. Evite invitations make it easy to include a video message for guests, and offers a seamless way to set up an integrated video chat for a virtual celebration.
Easily text or email your guests to ensure that everybody is ready to connect when it’s time to party.
Plus, Evite offers plenty of advice to ensure your online event is memorable from drinking games to fun party ideas.
2 - Have the party shipped to your front door! Choose from one of Kedziefest’s themed party boxes:
3 - Embrace snail mail. Disrupt the usual flurry of coupon mailers with something delightful for your recipient to receive.
Garner yourself some extra bonus points through novelty. I mean, when was the last time you actually put pen to paper? There’s a reason why your touch-typing is so good - it’s called ‘electronic mail’.
That being said, if you’re going to be late to the party and need to get a greeting out, like, yesterday, you can use a service such as Paperless Post to send an e-card.
4 - Rally the troops because this idea gets better with more contributors. Send the special someone a group tribute by creating an interactive and personalized video montage from friends and family.
Tribute makes this easy to do. Simply invite your friends and family to join. Once everyone has been invited there will be a prompt to record individual videos to upload in any size. Then, easily compile all the videos in any order you like and add cool effects with the online editor. Finally, deliver the tribute with an LCD card that you can play anywhere.
5 - Cue the champagne and heck, while you’re at it, have the whole bar - minus the bartender, delivered.
Most cities will have a boozy delivery service that multiple liquor store locations partner with. Think ‘GrubHub’ for libations. Here in Denver there’s Drizly.
For those who are located in more rural areas without local services, you still have options such as Reserve Bar to avoid a dry virtual celebration.
Thank goodness this liquid medicine is considered an ‘essential’ business.
6 - This favorite “weekend warrior” activity shouldn’t be overlooked simply because we are sheltering in place. In fact, it seems the whole brunch experience may have gotten an upgrade. No more two-hour waitlists before you can enjoy your beloved “bene” and bottomless mimosas.
Most of your favorite brunch spots are delivering their fresh-cracked farm eggs and tenderbelly bacon along with drinks. Be sure to check your local listings for availability. If you’re local to Denver it’s hard to beat Snooze.
Hop on a group Zoom call once you have a mimosa in hand, ready to cheers the occasion.
7 - Sweeten the deal with a specialty cake from your local bakery. Supporting small businesses is more important now than ever. Show your local economy that you care AND get additional brownie (or cake) points for going the extra mile for the birthday gal or guy.
Most bakeries will do curbside pick up or deliver right to your car. Some will even provide free delivery to your doorstep.
If you’re local to Denver, you can’t miss with Gateaux in the Golden Triangle or Mulberries on Colfax.
8 - Create your own “Mystery Science Theater”-style viewing party, or get caught up on the latest Tiger King phenomenon.
Install the Netflix Party Chrome extension and watch Netflix with your friends online. Not only does it synchronize video playback but it has a group chat to capture all the snarky or insightful commentary that no one will be able to resist doing.
Typing (not talking) throughout the movie is allowed and even encouraged.
9 - Channel your inner Say Anything, but swap out ‘In Your Eyes’ in favor of - you guessed it, ‘Happy Birthday’.
A little no-contact “birthday carolling” is sure to bring a smile to your housebound audience.
Put an exclamation point on your performance with a bouquet of balloons to make the experience extra festive.
Get a 6-feet-apart chorus line going by inviting others to join your serenade.
Driving separately of course!
10 - Do you love art? Even though a physical trip to the museum is not in the cards, you can still access their collections online. Many of the top cultural establishments around the world have opened up virtual tours. Be a tourist without leaving the couch.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
See the full list of virtual exhibitions here.
Need more inspiration? Check out these hilarious pics of people having birthday parties in quarantine.
13 Unique Gift Ideas She’ll Love
Gifts are like the icing on the cake - not necessary, but incredibly nice to have. Plus, they are momentos that carry the treasured moments of a celebration long after you sign-out from your virtual meetups.
With Mother’s Day coming up (in addition to the graduations, birthdays, baby showers and more), the idea of finding a great gift can be daunting as most stores are closed.
So, I created a guide to make gift-giving this year a piece of, well…cake.
I highlighted local vendors in this years guide. Supporting small businesses during this trying time can give these independent makers a future long after COVID-19 is contained.
Give her something she will adore and know that you’re also helping out an aspiring entrepreneur.
$230 - Watermelon Tourmaline Stiletto Earring
When conventional jewelry doesn’t quite communicate your own unique style, choose original designs that help you stand out from the ordinary. Create a legacy of luxury that better reflects your sophisticated taste.
$420 - Graduated Drop Tourmaline Necklace
Rare works of wearable art meant to joyfully embolden the wearer of these masterfully handcrafted pieces. Featuring tourmaline, an essential gemstone of modern times to enhance energy flow and help you transcend the mundane.
$49 - Arcadia Nesting Bowls - Bohemi
You’ll want every color of these ombré nesting bowls. It just so happens (because they made it happen) that these colors jive so well together. Like 3 peas in a pod. Or 3 bowls within a bowl. Each bowl is a slight variation of green from the next bowl, resulting in a gradual ombré.
$45-60 Specialty cakes - Gateaux Pastries
Designing custom dessert creations for weddings, birthdays and other occasions are their specialty.
“Customers tell us that nothing compares to presenting our guests with a Gateaux dessert designed just for them.”
$25 - 7-Day Gummy Bear Cleanse - Sugarfina
Finally, a "cleanse" we can get behind:
“Our 7-Day Gummy Bear "Cleanse" is the perfect gift. Open the cute gift box to find seven shots of bears in flavors inspired by Pressed Juicery favorites: green juice, roots, citrus and vanilla almond. It's a week-long sweet gummy bear treat you can feel good about!”
$10-27 Delivery, bouquet pricing varies - Babylon Floral
Every piece is a collaboration between Arthur and the materials. Contrast and harmony blend into each other and unify. Arthur considers what's yet to come when positioning a bud yet to blossom, or a full bloom that will decline. A floral work of art is alive and transitory, and cannot be possessed; it can only be experienced.
$25 - Mojave Sage Ring Cone - Bohemi
Jewelry like a desert landscape, only better, because it doesn’t go away:
“Our sage ring cone is an ombre swirl of matcha green tea and dusty sage finished with a hand-drawn gold line. Stack your rings or use them as a showcase for that bling-a-ling. Keep those desert vibes all year long.”
$250 - Double Oval Tourmaline and Gemstone Earrings
One-of-a-kind designs that even if everyone wants to know where you got it, it wouldn’t matter because you discovered it first. As the lore of Highlander once said - “There can be only one.” True for both a sword-wielding immortal or a well-heeled fashion icon.
$160-220 - “Zig Zag” Cocoon Caftan Dress, Purple Multi-Color - Mona Lucero
Mona has a love for both fashion and art. This results in clothing that is often whimsical, frequently elegant, and always unexpected. She specializes in making designs that make every “body” look great and believes her mission is to help each person find their personal expression: indeed, a devotion to style.
$780 - Tourmaline Open Oval Statement Cuff Bracelet
Rare works of wearable art meant to joyfully embolden the wearer of these masterfully handcrafted pieces. Featuring tourmaline, an essential gemstone of modern times to enhance energy flow and give you the confidence to achieve your highest aspirations.
$205 - Tourmaline Ombre Stiletto Earrings
You’re not a professional fashion consultant, but you may as well be one. Your savvy sense of style means that your number is on speed dial in your circle of friends for outfit advice. Maintain your expert status by showing up at your next girls’ night out with an unexpected piece of jewelry.
$610 - Gold Link and Tourmaline Bracelet
Jewelry’s transformative capacity for well-being seems to have a similar narrative. Perhaps these correlations drive us closer to understanding our desire to adorn and why it is essential to our humanity.
$45 - Chroma Jewelry Dish-Ultraviolet - Bohemi
Pantone’s color of the year is a vibrant, in-your-face purple, and I absolutely love it. You’ll see this color painted all over the runways in 2018. A swirling 22k gold luster line slices through watercolor ombré. 1/2″ deep x 7″ long and 3″ wide. Listing is for one catchall plate. Handmade with love in Denver, CO.
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g31818776/quarantine-birthday-party-ideas/