50th Birthday Party
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Rustic barn for 50th birthday party
June 2011
Does anyone know of any large rustic barns for rent near Berkeley? We would love to rent a large open barn for a party in the countryside. anon
it's not out in the countryside, but in downtown oakland,the pardee mansion has an old coach house that fits the bill. http://www.pardeehome.org/
my girlfriend rented it for her 50th birthday party and it was very cute all decorated with twinkly lights, luminarias along the walkways, buffet table etc. the grounds are lovely and the mansion serves as a beautiful backdrop. the party was a hoot! but yes, it is right smack dab in downtown next to the highway. rent was very reasonable as i remember. darn it, let's barn it!
Garin Park in Hayward has a lovely barn where I have square danced at different park events. You could rent it maybe. It is a wonderful setting. anon
Band & Dancing for 5oth Bday - 100 people
Feb 2004
I'm looking for an in-door rental facility in the East Bay for my husbands 50th Birthday party. The facility will need to accommodate a band, dancing, and 100+ guests. We're on a budget so I'd like to keep the cost of that hall down to about $600. I've looked at the existing recommendations on the website, but still need additional suggestions
My husband & I got married at the Sequoia Lodge in the Oakland hills. It's run by Oakland Parks & Rec. It's a beautiful lodge with full facilities;we had 80 guests, catering, a DJ with dancing, and full seating with tables, and the room could have held more. The price was reasonable at the time, but I don't know what it is now. Give them a call for a price and a look-see. andrea
If you're interested in Berkeley, you might want to check out facilities on and around campus. There are large meeting rooms in the student union building and in some of the residential facilities. Extension has a building in downtown Berkeley (around the corner from the main library) with a large ballroom with a beamed ceiling and a fireplace. I have no idea the cost of these rooms. Good luck anon
I have rented the City of Albany's Community Room. Its large enough for your party, resonable rates, and they do the table/chair set up for you. The Coordinator I worked with was Jess and his number is 510-559-7217. Chelle
You might try the Sons of Norway Hall on MacArthur about a block south of Fruitvalle. I think they can accomodate about 100 and they are very reasonable. Parking is tight, but you can probably use the Safeway lot next door. A number of AC Transit lines run near by so your guests can easily use the bus or come up from BART. Have fun! David
Try the Joaquin Miller Community Center. http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/facilities/rental_joaquinmiller.asp The City of Oakland also has other sites available to rent. Merrilee
I know a great place for your party - Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland. I am the facilities manager for the church and handle all the rentals. Our social hall easily acommodates 100 folks, a band, and dancing. The view of Lake Merritt is wonderful, too. Please give me a call at 510-465- 4793 and we can discuss details. By the way, we also rent out our sanctuary for weddings and holy unions. We have meeting space as well. so if anyone is looking for an East Bay location for their event, please give me a call! You can check our website at www.lakemerrittumc.com for pictures. B Avalon
Here are 2 ideas that I enjoyed for my own or somebody else's: hot-air balloon ride in Napa, weekend house rental someplace fun for everybody such as Inverness, Monterey, Sea Ranch, (Hawaii?!)
I just turned 50 too so I have also given this some thought. Depending on their interests, you could do a cooking class together, a group art class, afternoon tea, visit Filoli Gardens (the flowers in Spring time must be amazing). Filoli also has afternoon tea, you just have to book ahead. If you have the budget for it, you can even rent their event space and have a full out afternoon tea among the flowers, but last I checked it was very expensive. My neighbor does this tea mixing class at her little shop at the Alameda called Sips Global Teas, and I know she does lovely little tea workshops or just tea pairing. There's also a stained glass class in Alameda that has always looked interesting, and I've wanted to do for ages. In the past, we also plan little overnight trips to Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg that includes dinner and a nice hotel, just for one night, which is low key and yet special. Happy Birthday!
whale watching!
It depends on her interests -- If she likes the outdoors, maybe Stinson Beach and a picnic; if she likes art, SFMOMA, or the DeYoung both of which have nearby restaurants. For just the family maybe a weekend trip to Monterey aquarium, or to Sea Ranch. I had one friend who did a 50th at her gym, where everyone had time to use the facilities, and then there was dancing and food in a community room.
Hi! We did my 50th birthday for about a dozen people at Kitchen on Fire in North Berkeley. It’s a professional kitchen. The chef there did a cooking demo and instructions. We then all cooked the dishes together and then ate an amazing meal. The staff there did all the clean up as we had a lovely dinner and dessert. My husband and I selected the menu with the chef ahead of time. We brought our own wine. It was an incredibly fun and memorable event, and all my guests told me they had a great time. We also all got the recipes so we could cook the dishes at home later. Highly recommend it.
My friend from college and I had a joint dinner at home inviting siblings and a few mutual friends - 12 total. It was fancy, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, 2 starters, each plated, main course plated, palate cleanser and three sweet courses - including petite fours and chocolates. Each course was inspired by our backgrounds and where we have loved and travelled so for us, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Italy, and France were influences. We hired a cook to assist but did a lot of work ourselves (my husband has a small restaurant and he did A LOT). We selected wines for each course and had to buy extra plates to fill in the set of 12 my friend had as over the years there had been breakage. Soooo fun!
I love the ideas already shared! Another idea is afternoon tea at a fun venue like Filoli House & Garden, Son & Garden, etc. A full afternoon tea is quite the pampered experience, especially if someone has never done it before, or even if they have!
I did a cheese-making class with friends and we all had a great time: https://www.farmcurious.com/collections/classes
I loved my 50th celebration: my partner arranged for the Medicine Ball music ensemble to do a Mardi Gras style marching band down my street to my door. Granted we live on a fairly quiet street so we didn’t have to reserve/block off our street. Medicine Ball will put together an ensemble to play any kind of music you like — jazz, zydeco, rock, blues….
While what constitutes a satisfactory milestone birthday celebration depends on the preferences of the individual, I would encourage you to do something spectacular.
For our 50th birthdays, my husband and I and our son and daughter, then ages 12 and 10, rented horses, pack mules, and.a guide and rode into the high Sierra from the Golden Trout Wilderness to the headwaters of the Kern River. It was ten days up and back. Campfires, meteor showers, crossing rocky passes.
For various reasons, we can never replicate that experience. But we have the evidentiary photos, and it was marvelous fun that will last a lifetime in our hearts.
BTW - I may be the only person in town who once got a bad meal at Chez Panisse, just sayin,
Chez Panisse is a bit yawn. I second the idea of a weekend away somewhere fun. Go to SC and have dinner at Shadowbrook. Or axe throwing followed by dinner somewhere high energy and fun. Have a full weekend or full day in SF doing city things - cafes in NB, dim sum chinatown, cable cars, drinks at the Tonga, theater etc etc. You live next to a world class city ... Do something you've never done before. Take a surfing lesson, do a super long hike at Pt Reyes and stay out there or Bodega which has some nice properties, have some kind of adventure -or challenge yourself in some way to do something rad to show the kids how it's done at 50!
What is the budget?
A one night situation or gateway?
Quiet or cheerful?
so many options…..