19th Birthday Party Ideas – 25 Creative Ideas
Sandwiched between two traditionally milestone birthdays, 19th Birthday Party Ideas, the 19th birthday is the last one before full adulthood and the responsibilities multiply. This is a large transition time in anyone’s life and should be celebrated in a way that can be remembered and share the personality and interests of the guest of honor.
Many 19th birthday party ideas focus on building new memories or reliving old ones. As the last birthday of the teen years, your 19th birthday party deserves to be an original idea that everyone can enjoy.
Original 19th Birthday Party Ideas
1. Bonfire
Bonfires are a common way that teens and young adults have been celebrating for generations now. Choose a safe space that is far from buildings and homes, where the fire can be contained. For added meaning have guests bring ideas of things to leave in the past, you can all write them on paper and throw them in the fire.
2. Spa Day
Grab your closest friends or family and head out for a spa day. Enjoy a facial and massage or get a manicure and pedicure.
3. 19th Birthday Beach Party
If you live near the beach, you can grab your towels and umbrellas, take a speaker for quiet music, and join your closest friends at the beach. You can have cupcakes and swim the afternoon away. If you don’t live near the beach, you can go away for a weekend or even just one night.
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4. Have a Photo Shoot
Choose a few outfits, have your hair done, and invite your besties if you want, for a professional photo shoot. It’s an experience you’ll remember, and you will have great pictures to share and remind you of the day.
5. Host A Games Night
For an original spin on 19th birthday ideas, plan a game night. Choose favorites from your childhood or select a new game to try. You can play as many as you like, and even split into teams for some.
6. 19th Birthday Road Trip!
A road trip is often seen as a rite of passage and helps to usher teens into adulthood as they travel without their parents and find new places and experiences. Select a friend or two and a destination that you are excited to see and head off. The more planned it is the more likely you will see all the things you want to see, but leaving spare time for impulsiveness can help you find exciting new places along the way.
7. Go to a Concert
If there is a band or entertainer you’d like to see this is a great opportunity to go. Experiences are a great gift and if you can get a concert t-shirt or sweater while you’re there you can share the memory with friends for years to come.
8. Throwback Slumber Party
Relive the slumber parties of your childhood by having your best friends bring their pajamas and sleeping bags, play board games or watch movies, and even build a blanket fort to sleep in if you want. Other activities can include at-home facials, video games, or just spending time talking about memories and goals and ordering supper.
9. BBQ Themed on Your Birth Year
Host a BBQ and have it themed around the year you were born. Choose decorations that are in the colors that were popular, such as neon, rose gold, or natural colors. Make foods that were popular at parties during the year of your birth, and use decorations for shows, bands, and other pop culture from that year. You can create a playlist of the top songs from that year and have everyone dress up in clothing that was common then.
10. Paint or Craft Night
Select a new skill or craft and book a craft night. Paint nights, flower arranging, pottery and many other experiences can be a fun way to bond with friends. You will each have made something at the end of the night that you will take home and enjoy for years to come.
11. Have a Roller Rink Party
If your city, or one near you, has a roller rink this is a great opportunity to lace up a pair of roller skates and spend the night gliding around the rink. You can request specific songs, enjoy a snack or even a full meal, and have your birthday cake all at the location and avoid extra cleanup at home.
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12. Create an Art Show of Your Life
Using presentation boards set up a memory station for each of your 19 years of life. Include pictures, art you made, vacations, songs, shows you watched, and anything else you can think of. Guests can move through the displays and share their favorite memories, even adding to the displays if they want.
13. Movie Night
You can rent out a movie theatre or book a birthday party at one. This allows you to use the party room for presents and cake, and you can select the movie to play. Theatre snacks and having the entire space for you and your friends or family can create a fun atmosphere that is not a lot of work for the host, and everyone is sure to have fun. If a theatre is not available, you can set up a white sheet and projector in the backyard or have a movie night in your living room with those who mean the most to you.
14. Go Out for a Fancy 19th Birthday Dinner
Use this opportunity to find a fancy restaurant, dress up, and go out for a nice meal. Some of your closest friends or your immediate family can attend with you, and everyone can share the enjoyment of dressing up and wearing clothes they do not always get to wear. Most restaurants will make any of the fancy alcoholic drinks in a virgin version so you can enjoy the drinks without the alcohol.
15. Decorate with 19s
Use the number 19 to decorate everywhere. This is one of the easiest 19th birthday party ideas, and it can be as simple as ordering balloons and premade decorations, or as original as finding jerseys from your favorite sports team, hiding 1s and 9s throughout the space, or placing groupings of 19 items such as gummy bears, stars, etc. in different locations throughout the space.
16. Go Karting
Go Karts are fun no matter what age, and driving is one of the things that becomes more important as you age. Enjoy driving just for fun with your friends with go-karts and then a pizza supper or other meal.
17. Make Your Own Non-alcoholic Bar
While 19 is still under the legal drinking age, it is getting closer and many will be excited to be able to enjoy the mixed drinks that others enjoy. To celebrate this birthday, you can set up a bar that has all the ingredients except alcohol, including tiny drink umbrellas, grenadine, assort pop and flavors, and even a margarita drink machine without adding alcohol. Creating an Italian Soda bar can mimic an actual bar as well and allows guests to create their own drink flavors.
18. Rent a Hotel and See a Show
For an adult feeling a 19th birthday rent a hotel room for the night and go to see a show. You can see an opera, a movie, a play, or a candlelight concert This will be an experience that you will never forget and after the show or entertainment that you choose, you can all go back to the hotel for the evening. It’s a great place to get dressed up to go and a fun way to spend the night after.
19. 19th Birthday Backyard Picnic
Keep it a simple 19th birthday celebration with a backyard picnic! Put out throw pillows or meditation cushions for seating, lay down blankets on the ground, and set out snacks or a meal that you can enjoy with your friends. It can be as detailed and the foods as exotic as you like, or it can be basics like sandwiches and iced tea. Make the day about you.
20. Pool Party
If you have a pool party it is easy to invite everyone over, put up some decorations, and spend the day together. If you do not, then you can rent space at a public pool, or buy tickets to a waterpark or other water-based experience. For anyone who loves swimming, this is a great birthday party choice.
21. Have Guests Share Their Favorite Memory with You
Whatever style of party you have, you can have each guest share out loud or write down their favorite memory of you. This is something that will not cost a lot of money and will help remind you of the difference that you make in people’s lives.
22. Take an Art Class
Find the nearest art class and sign up! This can be a one-day thing or a short series, and you can do it alone or with a group of friends.
23. Take a Cooking Class
This is a common age for teens to become more independent and begin planning to move out on their own, go to college, or move in with roommates. Make that transition and little easier and have a great party by taking a cooking class.
24. Design Your Room Contest
At your party, it can be fun to have activities for guests, and a fun activity that is easy to do is a design your room contest. Provide magazines, drawing materials, and paint or fabric swatches, then ask your guests to design what they think your room will look like when you redecorate, when you move into a college dorm, or when you are settling into your first apartment. Not only is this fun for guests, but you can gather lots of ideas on what you actually might want your space to look like.
25. Go to the Zoo
Don’t leave your childhood behind just yet! Lots of zoos are open later in the evenings to allow adults and older teens to enjoy the experience as well. Choose a day and time, during the day if you want to do supper after or later if you want to have lunch first and gather your best friends to go to the zoo. You can see all of your favorite animals and get some time outside with the people who you want to spend time with most.
26. Mamma Mia Party
A Mamma Mia party is the ultimate celebration for a teen girl who loves music, dancing, and a touch of retro glamour. It’s a chance to transport herself to the sun-drenched shores of Greece, where carefree moments and unforgettable friendships come alive. The infectious energy of ABBA’s timeless hits will have her and her friends singing and dancing their hearts out, creating memories they’ll ch
Ideas for 19th Birthday Party Final Note
When planning a 19th party either for yourself or someone else, it can seem overwhelming with so many choices. Hopefully, these top 19th birthday ideas will help you to find a place to start and help you plan a party that fits the guest of honor well. This is the last step before adulthood is reached, and it should be celebrated as much as the other milestone birthdays that surround it. When planning remember to have a backup plan for outside events due to weather, to invite the people who the birthday person is closest to, and encourage activities that will help them bond and build memories that will last a lifetime.
About Author
Jane Sheriff is the founder, creative director, party planner and mom of three. She started Darling Celebrations back in 2012 to share easy and beautiful ideas for celebrating the special events in life.
