I've got a friend hitting 50 next weekend and want to throw a party on his behalf, since he never has parties.

Question

I want to know if a theme helps or not. He's into golf and food but I don't want to turn off anyone who doesn't have golf themed stuff to wear. Also, is it best to have people bring food? What would be some good entertainment ideas? I don't want to spend thousands of $ but hundreds is something I can get. I'm looking to have maybe 30-40 people at a house with a private backyard.

Answer 1

Great!

I wouldn't think of a theme, because it may make some people uncomfortable... In my opinion, since you are looking to have 30-40 people over, you could hire a professional to cook for you.  Let's say you want to have a BBQ, you could hire someone to take care of it.  They should bring the meat and cook for you.  Then, you would charge everyone you invite so they wouldn't have the trouble of bringing food to the party.

Another good idea would be hiring pizza professionals.  They usually bring everything (including the special oven) and make pizza for you, in front of your friends.  It is very fun!

You could open some bottles of good red wine... That would make your party rock!

Hope your party is great and best wishes for your 50-year-old buddy!

Bye!

Answer 2

Wine and Pizza!  Pizza!  Pizza!

Answer 3

If you're wanting to honor your friend and don't mind spending some money, you might look into having the party at a small restaurant that has a large room for reserving.  Oftentimes, restaurants won't charge for the place if they know people will be buying food.  

If people bring food to a backyard, that definitely makes it a bit more casual and sometimes more friendly.  So that would be a fine idea, too.  

You might want to check www.craigslist.com and see what kind of services/entertainment is out there.  Often, you can find fun, inexpensive and creative folks on there.

  

If you want it slightly golf-themed, maybe you could have some kind of inside golf game set up outside...or a kiddie pool that the guys have to try to hit their golf ball into from 3 yards away.

Answer 4

Yeah, you dont need much money.

Just make sure you have great wines and French cheeses.

Also, you can make thin-crust pizzas with tomato, basil and mozzarella

mmm...just make sure its classy

Additionally, maybe you can get a band that can play that night?

salsa band?

there are some local bands that wouldnt charge much

Everybody could dance!!