Lisa and I met in the 90's. She was in her late 20's. For her 30th birthday, I planned a surprise party at a local restaurant. To the best of my recollection, it was at St. Pierre's. The party was small. Family and a few friends. I'm fairly certain Lisa was surprised.
Fast forward to now. Lisa is going to be 50 next month. I decided to commemorate this milestone with a backyard birthday bash.
Earlier this year, Lisa and I both agreed that we weren't going to host a bunch of gatherings this year at our home. In previous years we have and it was too much.
I'm trying to build my business all the way around and write a couple of books. That's a lot of work. There aren't enough hours in the day. Planning and hosting large gatherings requires a lot of time.
With chronic pain, it takes even longer.
So, we narrowed it down to 2 gatherings this year. Our dear friend's graduation party back in May and Lisa's 50th birthday bash.
The setup for her backyard birthday bash is very similar to the backyard anniversary party we had last year, but we made a few changes.
Last year, we fired up the grills and offered a large selection of grilled meats. Everything came out delicious, however, it was a lot of work and 2 people had to be at the grill for well over an hour.
For Lisa's backyard birthday bash, I'm making grinders and wraps. That way, no one has to grill. I'll put the food out, people can help themselves, and we'll get to eat with everyone.
We'll have lots of fresh salads, appetizers, chips, and desserts too.
Another change is we specified BYOB. To most, that stands for "bring your own beer." In my book, it means "bring your own beverages." That includes alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
One of the biggest problems I've had in the past when hosting large gatherings are the non-alcoholic drinks. Not everyone likes soda. Not everyone likes water. Not everyone likes juice. To cater to everyone's preference, you buy a variety of each. Then, you have to contend with offering a few selections of calorie-free/diet versions.
On top of that, guests never finish what they've opened. They'll drink half a soda or water, leave it, then grab another.
We ran into a similar problem at our anniversary party. We bought a lot of 2-liter bottles of soda, bottled water, and lemonade. Some of the guests poured a cup, left their cup laying around, then grabbed another cup and filled it.
Both scenarios are wasteful and it irritates me to no end. To alleviate that stress, it's "bring your own beverage."
The last change we made is highlighting that it's 21+. We don't want kids here. There's going to be alcohol. I don't want to be in a situation where I, or our guests, have to watch their mouths.
Our goal for this party is to keep it simple, enjoy the time with our guests, be able to kick back and listen to the music, and, most of all, to eliminate the stress and rushing around.
Now, we just need to keep our fingers and paws crossed that we have decent weather.
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