Good Birthday Celebration Ideas

• It's not a birthday without the cake. Ben Bloom/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Each year brings a new opportunity to celebrate a birthday. Whether it's the very first or the 100th, each birthday is special and should have a celebration worthy of the occasion. There are more good ways to celebrate birthdays than there are birthdays to celebrate, so choose something memorable and enjoyable. Whether a family affair or a blowout bash for the whole community, a birthday celebration with loved ones is all the more memorable with a well-chosen theme and event.

First Wishes Birthday Event

• The first birthday is a triumphant time for the new parents. Surviving the first year of parenthood is a milestone worth marking, even if the 1-year-old doesn't understand all the fuss. Since the birthday child is still too young to have friends of his own, parents can invite their own friends and loved ones. In lieu of gifts, parents throwing a first wishes birthday party request that guests write down their wishes for the 1-year-old. The parents can then assemble these into a scrapbook for the child to keep and look at in the years to come.

Riding the Rails

• A young boy will love a train-themed celebration. To make the day extraordinary, plan a trip on a local train line and have the celebration aboard the dining car. Arrange in advance to have a tour of the station and meet the engineer.

Makeover Madness

• Girls will love a chance to spend the day being pampered. Book an afternoon at the salon for them to get their nails done just like Mommy, or have princess dress-up clothes at home along with do-it-yourself makeup. Enjoy tea and sandwiches and send each girl home with a picture as a favor.

The Milestone Celebration

• When celebrating a milestone birthday, whether 30, 50 or 75, it's worth going all out with a party to match the momentous occasion. Choose a theme that reflects the era of the celebrant's birth -- whether it's the most popular movie of the year she was born, or the decade of her birth. For example, someone turning 30 in 2011 may choose a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme. A 50-year-old may choose a 1950s theme, complete with carhops and jukeboxes.