18th Birthday Party Ideas

18th birthday party napkin


Host a sensational celebration with these 18th birthday party ideas. It might be hard to believe, but you are a legal adult. So, party on, spoil yourself, and have fun. 


18th birthday party napkin

Host a sensational celebration with these 18th birthday party ideas. It might be hard to believe, but you are a legal adult. So, party on, spoil yourself, and have fun. 



18th Birthday Party Invitations

Be simple for your party invitations and send out a group text at least a week before. Make sure to tell them the theme and if they need to bring anything or dress up a certain way. Then, the day of send a reminder about an hour before to make sure everyone shows up on time. Add a fun saying like “my childhood has expired” or “apparently now I’m a legal adult”.



18th Birthday Party Decoration Ideas

  • Have Mylar balloons of the number 18
  • Have a stack of post-it notes and have the guests write kind messages on them when they arrive. Then, post them on a board that has a marker outline of the number 18 to create a kind positive 18 message board. 
  • Photo booth - set up an area to take pictures with a shimmery backdrop
  • Have helium balloons resting against the ceiling with ribbon for people to grab
  • Have an 18th birthday tiara or hat for the guest of honor
  • Check out our teens / adults party pages for more party theme ideas. 



18th Birthday Party Activities and Games

  • Photo collage - when every guest arrives take a 0.5 photo with the guest of honor.
  • Brunch party - have your friends over for an elegant brunch with orange juice and sprite in champagne glasses and chocolate croissants with strawberries. 
  • Picnic date - have everyone bring a towel or blanket and pillows to create a comfy spot in the park. Bring food and drinks in coolers to keep cold. For the cake, give everyone a plastic wine glass to use as their place, this makes no cutting of the cake. 
  • Disposable cameras - when everyone arrives give them a camera, have them take candid pictures, and after get them developed and share in an online file. 
  • Dress as a celebrity - have the guests choose their favorite celebrity and come dressed as them with clothes, hair, makeup, music, etc.
  • Karaoke - rent a karaoke machine or use a microphone and sing. Make the mood more intense by lowering the lights and using a spotlight.
  • 18th photoshoot - do a photoshoot outside or inside and rank the photos from 1 to 18 by the end. For one of the photos, cut out the number 18 on a piece of paper and tape it to an empty toilet paper roll. Then, tape the whole thing around a flashlight to create the number 18 across the background/being the focal point of the picture when posing. 
  • Have a pizza party chill movie night by ordering in some pizza and just hanging out.
  • Play darts - set up the dart board in a carefully chosen spot, as not everyone is a master dart player and you do not want holes in your walls. 
  • Rent a hotel room/summer house - this is more a more expensive option
  • Photo scavenger hunt - have a list of items and go to the mall. You have to take a picture of each occurrence to prove you say it. 
  • Extreme nerf gun - divide into teams or have every person for themselves and give everyone a nerf gun. Then, spread out around the neighborhood, establishing boundaries and start. To make it more difficult, you have to send a picture of your location every so many minutes. This is especially fun at night and can be played until there is an ultimate winner. 
  • Go to the beach - spend time in the sun and then go out for ice cream 
  • Spa day - go to the spa, get your nails done, get a facial, etc.
  • Decorate sunglasses - get cheap trendy sunglasses and write over the lenses with permanent marker 
  • Bracelet making - have lots of colors of embroidery thread and make bracelets using simple patterns, like square-knot or ladder. You could also make bracelets using beads and necklace string (it is stretchy). These make fun party favors. 
  • Presentation night - assign each guest a different funny topic (i.e. if everyone was a pasta, what would they be) and they then have to make a short presentation with pictures on the topic and present it to the group. 
  • Go out to a restaurant 
  • Go to a bookstore
  • Try an extreme sport
  • Go to a concert 



18th Birthday Party Food Ideas

  • Aesthetic minimalist cake that has thick icing swipes and the number 18 in small white lettering
  • Have a layered cake with 18 candles 
  • Chocolate covered strawberries 
  • Fruit kabobs with strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries
  • Order pizza, or make individual pizzas
  • Go to a restaurant
  • Fruit punch with berries, lemon or lime slices and ice
  • Candy bar or candy kabobs 
  • Golden cake pops
  • Large nachos that take up the whole counter
  • Make your own tacos


chocolate covered strawberries and fruit
  • Aesthetic minimalist cake that has thick icing swipes and the number 18 in small white lettering
  • Have a layered cake with 18 candles 
  • Chocolate covered strawberries 
chocolate covered strawberries and fruit
  • Fruit kabobs with strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries
  • Order pizza, or make individual pizzas
  • Go to a restaurant
  • Fruit punch with berries, lemon or lime slices and ice
  • Candy bar or candy kabobs 
  • Golden cake pops
  • Large nachos that take up the whole counter
  • Make your own tacos



18th Birthday Party Ideas - Favors

  • Fun sunglasses
  • A mason jar filled with candy
  • Bracelets from the party or emodiary string
  • Aesthetic stickers
  • Printed photos from the party