"Through the Decades" 40th Birthday Celebration

I really wanted to start this post with the quote, "Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...", because it's an iconic quote from the 1970s. However, seeing as this post is about a 40th birthday party, I thought it wouldn't be the most appropriate way to honor these two really groovy people!  

Quotes and 70's jargon aside, 1972 wasn't so long, long ago, and it was a very special year because Marcy and Dave were born! Husband and wife, Marcy and Dave both celebrated their 40th birthdays in August and planned a big birthday dinner with friends and family. But, this wasn't just to be any birthday dinner. They wanted to make it fun and special, and have a good time reflecting on their lives so far.

I was honored when Marcy asked me to help her create a fun twist for their celebration. Since there were going to be a good number of people in attendance, Marcy thought that having name tags for the guests would be a great way for everyone to get to know each other. But. how to make them fun?

Since there were going to be just about 40 guests, we decided to create a "through the decades" theme. Each guest would get a name tag with their name, along with a year, and a factoid about that particular year. The years spanned 1972 to 2012, to reflect Marcy and Dave's life. The factoids were fun tid bits about both popular culture AND important moments in Dave and Marcy's lives. 

Each decade was designed in a graphic style reminiscent of that point in time. Researching THAT was so much fun!

We decided to style the name tags more like badges that the guests could wear around their necks. Thus, fun conversation starters were born!

Here are some images!

A sample of the name tags. One from each decade.

My, how technology has infiltrated our lives! Close up of the nametag from the 2000s

Close up of the name tag representing the 1990s. Can you identify the font?

Like, totally awesome! Name tag with an 80s flair (A personal note. Marcy, my client, is from New York, hence the factoid. Being from Massachusetts, I had to have a moment of silence before formatting this particular tag. Sigh... Bill Buckner...)

Atari's packaging of the video game PONG was the inspiration for the name tags representing 70s style. 

Table names were also created for the party. One for each decade.

80s name tag and table name

Table name and name tag representing the 1990s

Table name and name tag in style we all recognize!


This was just such a fun project to work on! It was fun to find out interesting facts about the past 40 years, and about Marcy and Dave. Coming up with designs to reflect the style and culture of the past 40 years was also an exciting challenge!

I truly loved this project, and I do have to say, I had a blast through every step of the way.

Happy Birthday, Marcy and Dave! Here's to 40 more!

And, with that, I say,

"Goodnight, John-Boy"
(cheesy 70s reference)