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Retirement is one of life’s landmark moments that’s well-worth celebrating; however a good retirement party requires careful planning. If you’re tasked with planning a retirement party, read on.
Many companies will plan retirement parties for long-serving valued employees. It’s in their best interest, since it’ll show their other employees that hard work and loyalty pays. What’s more, the people who’ve been working with the retiree for years on end will want to give them an appropriate send-off.
For the self-employed, this approach doesn’t quite work. It’ll be down to their nearest and dearest to figure something out. Some people might even end up planning their own retirement party – since this way they can be sure it’ll be exactly what they want.
In some cases the retiree might even have multiple parties - one with work colleagues and another for friends and family.
If your party’s to go off without a hitch, you’ll need to plan carefully. Here’s a few of the more important things you need to consider.
Your budget will influence every element of the party, so it’s probably the first thing you should consider.
There’s no point planning a lavish celebration if it’s going to bankrupt you, and going-with-the-flow is almost always going to result in overspending.
When deciding what to spend, bear the retiree’s wishes in mind. If they don’t enjoy being made a fuss of, then they’re likely to be annoyed if you splash the cash on a lavish affair – whether or not they articulate it out loud.
You’ll want to arrange your party as close to the actual date of retirement as possible. Ideally, you’ll want them to finish work on the Friday evening and celebrate that night, or the next day.
Leave it too late, and it’ll feel less like a retirement party, and more like any other evening out – so don’t delay!
If you’ve decided to keep things low-key, then there’s nothing wrong with hosting the party at a house, or even in the office.
If the retiree has a favourite bar or restaurant you could consider booking a table, a private room, or even reserving the entire venue. Your choice of venue will be limited by how many people you’re planning on inviting. As a result, you might even want to organise two events – like a sit-down meal for close friends and colleagues, and a trip to the pub for everyone else.
Deciding who to invite to a retirement party can be tricky. Ideally the retiree should be involved in creating the guest list – however if you’re considering throwing a surprise party, that’s obviously not an option.
Most people of retirement age don’t refer to Facebook for an exhaustive list of their friends (many of whom won’t be on Facebook), so you’ll need a fair grasp of their extended social circle. That means co-operating with their friends, family and colleagues.
Once you’ve put together a guest list, it’s time to send out the invites.
In an ideal world you should keep things formal and send out proper paper invitations a month or two in advance. You might even decide to issue ‘save the date’ cards before sending out the final invites - like you might for a wedding. Most of us know when we’re going to retire months, if not years, in advance of actually doing it. This means there’s no excuse not to plan ahead.
The retiree’s personal tastes should be the deciding factor here – the event is all about them, after all.
Saying that, if their tastes are on the obscure side, you might want to compromise. Don’t book a heavy-metal band if it’s going to drive your guests to an early exit, however much the retiree might approve.
While we’re on the subject, music is an essential feature of any party. You’ve got three choices here - you can book a band, plug in your own music, or hire a DJ.
If the party is themed, choose music to fit. Just make sure to keep things low-energy during the meal, and take it up a notch if you want people to dance.
You might also throw in a few party games. Among the easiest of these to arrange is “who am I?” which sees the name of a different celebrity (or historical figure) written on a post-it note that’s attached to every guest’s head. They then have to ask other guests questions that can be answered with only a “yes” or a “no”, to figure out who the celebrity is.
You should make room in the schedule for speeches from close co-workers, who’ll be able to recount a few of the more interesting stories from the retiree’s career with the company. This will also present the chance for the retiree to be sincerely thanked for their contributions over the years.
Unlike with entertainment, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to food and drink. This can be achieved with the aid of a buffet and a bar – that is, if you’re not planning on taking everyone to a restaurant.
If you’re in search of an economical way to cater for large numbers of people, then a barbeque or hog-roast is a near-guaranteed crowd-pleaser (just make sure to cater for vegetarians and vegans, too).
Again if the party is themed, the food and drink should play a part in this.
If it’s a cocktail party, you’ll need finger food that’s small enough to be passed around the room on trays. You might even want to hire professional waiters to distribute the food.
One item on the menu is near-obligatory, and that’s cake. Get something that’s large enough to feed everyone, or invest in multiple cakes (of different types) to please everyone.
Been invited to a retirement party? View our retirement bottle bags, custom retirement chocolate boxesor our personalised retirement greetings cards.
