Whether you are an employee, student, family member or friend, planning a retirement party for your loved one can be a tough job to do. Retirement is an emotional passage of rite and may trigger emotions of sadness and nostalgia. You need to throw a party in a way that does not trigger these emotions but rather makes your loved one happy and excited. The people you invite to the party truly depend on whose party are you planning. For instance, if you are planning a retirement party for your teacher and you know he is an introvert and is only comfortable around some students, then you should avoid inviting students he dislikes. Similarly, if your boss was very friendly and knew everyone from your department, then it would be very rude to not invite everyone. The guest list needs to be very appropriate.
The venue you throw the party in should be chosen after keeping the likes and dislikes of the retiree in your mind. You can give him or her gifts, design a theme for the party, give speeches, and many other things to make your party a memorable one. Here are some ideas that can help you plan the best retirement party for someone who is retiring:
1) Make a Compliment Box
Preparing a compliment box can be a nice way to express gratitude and love for the retiree. You can circulate cards at the workplace of the person who is retiring. Coworkers can sign the cards and write thoughtful notes. You can do this on either one card or you can circulate many cards, each for one coworker or student. Make sure that the messages you have written are not generic but genuinely apply to him or her.
2) Award Plaques
These are often given to employees and students as a reward for high achievements. As a boss, you can give awards plaques to your retiring employee as a symbol of recognition.
3) Gifts
You can also give gifts, but it is better to give something that actually would have a meaning to him or her. Rather than focusing on spending too much money on generic gifts, you can actually gift something that would be of greater importance. If you know your coworker loves gardening, then you can gift gardening tools instead of an expensive watch. Read How to Prepare a Meaningful Gift to see get more ideas.
4) Visual Display
You can also make use of technology and prepare a short video with pictures of the retiree and his coworkers taken along the journey. Other than the slideshow you can also hang pictures all around the venue. You can also make a customized cake with a meaningful picture on top.
5) Give a speech
The host must begin the party with an emotional speech that highlights the most important details of the retiree’s career. His struggles and achievements should be touched in detail. You must include humor in your speech to avoid getting too emotional.
6) Costumes
You can base your party around a theme. For example, if the retiree is a boring workaholic then everyone can dress in dull colors such as beige. Another idea to give a good tribute could be to dress like the retiree. This would be both fun and emotional at the same time.
7) Play Games
You can also play retirement party games. You can play games such as the memory bank, pocket scramble, talent contest, etc. You can also invite the guests one by one on stage to share a funny memory of the retiree. Read how you can make anyone’s retirement fun and apply these ideas to your party.
8) Fireworks
Fireworks denote celebration and should, therefore, be incorporated into your plan. These can also help cheer the retiree.
9) Budget
Make sure you set your budget according to the retiree. Spending too much for someone who doesn’t like wasting money will not be a good idea.
10) Record the party and create a photo booth
You should also record the party as you would be making a lot of memories for the retiree to take back home. You can take pictures of all the guests posing with the retiree. To make it more fun, you can also place a photo booth with different funny props.