Forty’s a pretty big deal, right?

I remember many moons ago when I thought forty was soooo old.  Now I realize, its actually kind of an awesome era.  You’ve survived your younger years, and best of all are probably finally aware of who you are and what you want out of life.

That deserves some celebration.

So when my favorite fisherman on the planet had a 40th birthday on the horizon, I knew it was go big, or go home. What resulted was a REEL big  celebration of my greatest catch!

40th Birthday – Destination Party

We’re pretty blessed to have a small circle of friends we’ve stayed close to since college.  We all have kids close in age and plan “fr-amily” vacations yearly.

We all live within 4-5 hours of the NC Coast.  My husband is a saltwater fishing enthusiast, so we found  a spot in Topsail Beach close to his favorite fishing charter.  We’ve stayed in Topsail Island many times, but this time we landed on the perfect beach house.

I know this is a party post, but guys..I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you about this oasis on the beach.  My husband fell in love with it the instant he saw it and it did not disappoint.

This 6 bedroom dome shaped house had the most incredible windows everywhere.

There were goregous ocean themed stained glass features throughout the house.  The whole house was a vibe and seemed effortlessly styled.

There were two amazing decks (one with a hot tub), two outdoor showers (one in an enclosed room) and there was even an incredible indoor crow’s nest with two hammocks hanging.

The dome shaped ceilings were amazing.  The owners even left a light show projecter that sprayed the ceilings with twinkling stars every night.

I digress…but if you’re ever in Topsail Beach, NC, you need to check this place out!

A Reel Big One Birthday Party Decorations

Since my husband is such an angling euthasiast, the party theme was easy to decide.  I’d seen cute decorations for first birthday parties with a fishing theme and decided to modify them for an adult.

Since this was a destination party, I was limited in what I could bring, but I did spend a few hours throwing some fun crafts together to decorate the house.

I knew I wanted to find a fun way to display some pictures through the years.  I grabbed a couple of sheets of posterboard and cut them out in the shape of four and zero. After, I added some double sided tape and stuck the pictures on.

I was pretty proud of how this Reelin’ in 40 banner turned out!  I used navy cardstock to cut out the pennents with my Silhouette. The fishing rod SVG came from Etsy and cut it out along with some letters. I used twine to connect the flags.

This little banner was somewhat of a pain to assememble but the result was worth it.

I also cut out a bunch of hooks and fish and tied them to twine.  We used them to decorate all around the house.

The fisherman was another SVG I found on Etsy.  I used it to help create this cute chalkboard sign.

Just for fun I created some “Hubby-kabobs” and we threw them in some empty beer bottles and decorated them with twine and hooks.  We used these as centerpieces around the house.  The table runner pictured was made of burlap and a starfish seashell from Amazon.

Between pictures and decorations, his  face was plastered all over the house.  It was hilarious.  This sign was another quick project with my silhouette.

This was a quick and simple design in my Silhouette Software.  The chalkboard it’s on was a Target Dollar spot find I’ve been waiting to use.  I whipped up some quick text and this was the end result!

Reel Big One Birthday Party Food

Between our friends and all the combined kids, and our extended family who rented a house nearby, there were a little over twenty guests.  My husband had plans to grill that evening so we kept the party food simple and threw together a couple of fun charcuterie boards.

These were easier than expected.  We raided the deli & cheese section at Publix and hit the jackpot.  I added a fun “Take the Bait” sign above our boards.

My mother-in-law whipped up a chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese icing. I’d planned on making a cute cake topper but ran out of time. Instead I used a hilarious picture of my husband’s face superimposed on a cartoon fisherman. We added 4 and 0 candles and some sparkler candles for fun.

The drink menu was simple, kids stuck with the juice boxes and the adults got the good stuff.  Did I mention this place came with an open pantry policy?  There were already tons of mixers available and between what was there and what we brought, we could’ve easily relieved our college days on this trip.

But forty has kids, multiple day hangovers, responsibility and all that fun stuff, so we couldn’t quite fully channel our inner 20-year-olds.

This one doesn’t fit with the fishing theme, but I’m told drinking always goes well with fishing.

Reel Big One Birthday Party Outfit

Ok…so I didn’t really make him wear an outfit, but I did make him a pretty sweet shirt!

This is another Etsy SVG that I modified and added my own text to.

So that’s how we party destination style for a 40th.  Between a night of Reel Big Birthday party fun, and many days relaxing on the beach, this birthday getaway won’t be one we soon forget!

Like this party?  Be sure to check out my party page, where I’ve got tons of party idea posts for many, many different party themes!

And don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, where I love to pin all of my favorite birthday party ideas!