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5 Tips to Host the Best Retirement Party Ever

May 2, 2019 By Holly 18 Comments Filed Under: Adult Parties, Celebrate, Retirement Party

The moment my mom started talking about her retirement, I knew I wanted to help throw her the ultimate retirement party. Growing up she was frequently going to other teachers retirement parties and I remember thinking that sounds soooo boring. I kept picturing everyone gathered around a sheet cake in the school lounge, wishing the departing teacher a happy retirement. Needless to say one of my goals was to make her party unique, memorable, and tons of fun for her and her guests. Secretly, my goal was to have people walk out of her party saying that it was “the best retirement party I have ever been to.”

Here are 5 tips for throwing a retirement party that is fun for everyone.

1. Choose a Theme: Since she was a teacher it didn’t take long to decide on a Vintage Schoolhouse theme for the party. I borrowed decor from family and friends and my grandma helped find some old school photos of her. I purchased a file with vintage flashcards on etsy that I printed out and used for bunting and banners around the room, as well as children’s books and flashcards. The welcome table had a vintage schoolhouse chair and school bell, as well as a school photo of my mom when she was in Kindergarten and some old books near the guest book.

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

A found a sketch of a woman who looked like a young teacher and traced over it, coloring it in with chalk. I put her in front of a chalkboard and then scanned in the image to make signs. One of them asked people to sign the guest book, and others were the labels on small packs of crayons that were at everyone’s seats.

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

I found the idea for the invitation on pinterest, and loved that it looked like a teacher’s school file. I used the first school photo of my mom from the 80’s which was fun for everyone to see.

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

2. Find a fun venue: We had first talked about having the party at my parents house, but I didn’t want my mom to worry about cleaning and getting the house ready, wondering how many people would fit, and having to clean up after it was over. My mom started looking at local restaurants and found the 500 Club, which was a perfect option. They have a large event space off of the main restaurant and a beautiful outdoor space people could mingle in. The best part was that they were fine to let me decorate any way I wanted.

The restaurant was outside of town a bit and many people had never been there. It was fun for people to experience a new venue, and the food was delicious.

3. Surprise & Delight your Guest of Honor: Until my mom walked into the restaurant, the only thing she had seen was the invitation. I had kept the Vintage School House theme and all of the decorations and details a secret. It was so much fun to watch her walk in and see everything for the first time. She and my grandparents walked around and had a chance to look at all of the fun details before guests arrived.

I knew my mom wanted to give a short speech and share her funniest kindergarten stories and quotes, and she asked if I wanted to say something as well. While we were setting up, I taped 28 party poppers (one for each year she was a teacher) under the guests chairs. After my mom spoke, I got up to give a short speech and congratulate her on 28 amazing years of teaching. I asked people to look under their chairs to see if they had a party popper, then asked my mom to come up front with me. I queued for the music to be turned up with Kool & The Gang’s Celebration song, and asked everyone to pull their poppers while putting an Officially Retired sash on my mom. It was my favorite moment of the evening and something people were still talking about as they left.

4. Surprise & Delight Your Guests: We had a variety of candy on the tables, and each spot had a fun placemat I created with games and riddles, little packs of crayons with labels that matched the sketch of my mom at a chalkboard, and a custom pencil. A few weeks before the party I asked my mom to send me a list of things she wasn’t going to miss saying to her students repeatedly, and a list of things she wouldn’t miss hearing them say. Most of them were funny so I picked my top 5 and had those sayings put on 5 different colored pencils. I HAVE TO PEE was my favorite but I was a little worried that people might not find it as funny as I did. That ended up being the most popular saying and 3 teachers came up to me later to say they were going to use it as their hall pass for kids who needed to go to the bathroom.

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

5. Make it FUN: When people first walked in, they were given a raffle ticket. Throughout the party we choose numbers from a hat and people won gift cards and boxes of movie candy.

The restaurant also had a great sound system, and since most of the guests were teachers, I created a playlist that included songs like 9 to 5 (Dolly Parton), I’m Free (The Rolling Stones), School’s Out (Alice Cooper), 40 Hour Week (Alabama) and Take This Job and Shove It (Johnny Paycheck).

I used a roll of white paper on each table that I made to look like a giant ruler by cutting out numbers and making tick marks with a sharpie. Tables were decorated with globes, vases full of yellow pencils or rulers, school buses, and vintage school books. I also created ABC cards that had the words of things that would fill her new life- B is for Biking, T is for Traveling, N is for Naps, and so on. They were cut out and scattered on tables around the room.

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Teacher Retirement Party- Vintage Schoolhouse. Tips to throw a fantastic retirement party that your guests will remember and the guest of honor will love. www.11cupcakes.com 11cupcakes #retirementparty #teacherretirement

Happy Planning,

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Comments

  1. 1

    Hina Siddiqui says

    May 14, 2019 at 6:18 AM

    This is such a lovely post. Such Amazing fun ideas, and I think can be used for any party.

    Reply
  2. 2

    Claire says

    June 6, 2019 at 9:34 AM

    This sounds like a great party! I really love hosting parties and all the cute little extras.
    I’m supposed to be holding one for my birthday and to mark my Mum’s first angelborthday, feel inspired to get organised now x

    Reply
  3. 3

    Courtney Kramer says

    June 6, 2019 at 7:06 PM

    The amount of detail and thought that went into this party is amazing! So many good ideas for hosting a great party!

    Reply
  4. 4

    Charissa says

    June 7, 2019 at 7:47 AM

    These are such great (and thoughtful!) ideas for throwing a retirement party. I especially love the “permanent record” idea –so fun and cute! I’m sure she appreciated all your efforts and that it was a great party!

    Reply
  5. 5

    Sydney says

    June 7, 2019 at 9:23 AM

    This is so the perfect guide! It’s so helpful for us not so creative people!

    Reply
  6. 6

    Jennifer says

    June 17, 2020 at 2:00 PM

    This is a great plan for a retirement party. Could I ask if you have a copy of the placemat you made. I am looking for something similar, and your idea is perfect, if you willing to share. Thank you.

    Reply
  7. 7

    Heather marchinig says

    April 27, 2021 at 1:30 AM

    Absolutely adorable party! Where did you buy the permanent record invitation? I love it!!

    Reply
    • 8

      Holly says

      March 17, 2022 at 12:03 PM

      Thanks! I designed the invite.

      Reply
  8. 9

    Cristina says

    May 22, 2021 at 9:40 PM

    The placemat is beautiful. Where can we get a copy? Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • 10

      Holly says

      March 17, 2022 at 12:04 PM

      I designed them for the party but they aren’t for sale 🙂

      Reply
  9. 11

    Kris mena clifford says

    June 3, 2021 at 12:02 AM

    I would like to purchase your placemats.I hope
    I can buy them

    Reply
    • 12

      Holly says

      March 17, 2022 at 12:02 PM

      I designed them for the party but they aren’t for sale 🙂

      Reply
  10. 13

    Stephanie says

    August 18, 2021 at 5:05 PM

    What book did you use for the guest book? Looks like it’s a vintage storybook of some sort? I’m planning a retirement party soon and I love this idea!

    Reply
    • 14

      Holly says

      March 17, 2022 at 12:02 PM

      It’s called Celebrating You (and the beautiful person you are).

      Reply
  11. 15

    Lisette says

    March 10, 2022 at 4:32 PM

    Lovely idea! I am curious where you found the vintage chalkboard? I also like the vintage “Congrats” banner. Do you mind sharing your sources? Thanks in advance 🙂

    Reply
    • 16

      Holly says

      March 17, 2022 at 11:59 AM

      The vintage chalkboard is actually a poster I found at Paper Source. I purchased printable vintage ABC cards on etsy to make the banner.

      Reply
  12. 17

    Margo says

    April 21, 2022 at 10:11 PM

    Thk u. Great Teacher ideas!!! Gotta plan a teacher retirement party for June.

    Reply
  13. 18

    Laura says

    April 29, 2022 at 8:29 AM

    Such an amazing tribute to your momma. I’m retiring this year and this would completely stress me out to be the guest of honor, but I would love to throw this party for someone.

    Reply

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Creative party ideas, decorations, decor, tutorials, and DIY ideas for throwing a great party on a budget. Parties should be fun, not expensive!

Welcome! I'm Holly, and I started 11cupcakes to share creative party ideas, decorations, decor, tutorials, and DIY ideas for throwing a great party on a budget. Parties should be fun, not expensive!

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