What did you do for your last birthday? Have you been guilty of putting your own birthday celebrations on the back burner since your kids arrived? Does the difficulty of finding a babysitter or thinking up an activity that’s suitable for friends, family and work colleagues put you off organising anything at all? Maybe you’ve done good old barbies to death and you’re lacking a bit of inspiration when it comes to planning alternatives? If this sounds like you, this post’s got you covered. Today we’re talking cool backyard birthday ideas that mean you don’t need to travel far for birthday fun and you can include the kids if you want to. Some of these ideas do require a little organising but they can be scaled up or down to suit the size of your outdoor space and your budget. And best of all, you won’t need to plan your journey home at the end of the night!

Afternoon Tea Party

If bedtime routines and babysitter woes mean you struggle to get a night off to party, why not move your birthday celebrations to a mid-afternoon slot instead? An afternoon tea party is easy to throw in your back garden and can be as high class or low maintenance as you like. For a really informal bash you could lay a blanket for everyone to sit on and provide cushions so guests can make themselves comfortable. For food, make or order a lovely spread of cakes and sandwiches complete with pots of tea or bottles of fizz, if you fancy. Take it up a notch and a gazebo and cake stands are handy things to have, or you could go all out with a marquee and wait staff to top up your teacups! If you’d like to plan an event fit for royalty, take a tip or two from the garden parties held by the Queen of England.

Fake Festival

Australia has some of the best music festivals in the world, wouldn’t you agree? If you’d love nothing better than glamming up with glitter and enjoying some tunes outdoors with your mates but can’t take a trip away, why not fake a festival at home? For a really basic fake festival ask any friends who play instruments to set up a singalong in your backyard and supply some beers or wine and some suitable festival food.

Holding a festival type gathering can really keep food costs down because to stay true to proceedings you don’t really need to provide much more than hot dogs, noodles and ice creams, with minimum prep required. If you’re working with a larger space or want to make things a bit more memorable, you could try setting up your own stage area and hiring a local band or bands along with a diesel generator some proper sound equipment. To add to the authenticity, don’t forget to nominate someone in attendance to introduce all the acts on stage. This may require you to prepare your backyard accordingly and clean the backyard to look presentable. Additionally, you can hire professionals from a tree arborist firm to cut trees and do the Stump Grinding, which could cause problems during the festival if kids are running around.

Hot Tub Party

Pool parties are pretty popular, but what about giving yourself more of a spa experience by hiring a hot tub? Tell your besties to bring their bathers, make a tray of cocktails as welcome drinks and provide some classy canapé’s or a bit of a buffet and you’ve got the makings of a truly great hot tub party. This is another event that can be brought into the daytime if that works better for you and you could even look at having several different party times so that the kids can have a go in the tub in the morning before the adults arrive. If you’d like to make more of your afternoon – or evening – in the tub, think about adding some other entertainment into the mix. You could ask a local salon to provide pampering treatments or if one of your friends is beauty trained, see if they’d be willing to do treatments for your guests at mates rates!

What do you think, could any of these ideas pull you out of a birthday rut? To make your birthday event feel a little bit more special why not go a little old school and send out real invitations rather than relying on social media? It’s always nice to receive something personalised. You could even make your guests some cute party bags to take home with them.