40th Surprise B-Day party! Ideas??

You definitely should provide some type of food, even if it's just appetizers and dessert. Try going to Walmart or to a "bulk" store such as Costco or Sams if you have a membership and buy some frozen appetizers such as miniature grilled chicken quesidillas with sour cream, mini quiches, party meatballs, and place these out on platters buffet style. You could also make a salad (green salad or pasta salad) and all of this can be done on a budget. I also think it's good that you are going tp provide beverages. Make sure you have both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. You could always do just beer and wine. I don't think it's a big deal to ask for a $5 cover charge, so long as your guests get something for their 5 bucks. You can't invite people to a party, expect them to pay, and then not provide food/drink/entertainment.

Here are some other ideas: Put pictures of your husband from different stages throughout his life around the room.

Give everyone a "decade quiz" from whatever decade your husband was born (I'm guessing it's the 60's) and the person with the most right answers can win a prize (such as a gift certificate to a restaurant, movies, bottle of wine, etc... nothing too expensive).

And definitely do a cake. (It's a birthday party after all) If you can't afford a fancy cake, you can usually order one from your local supermarket for not too much money or you can make one. Just make sure you order one large enough for the number of people that you invite. This way you will definitely have enough... better to have more than not enough. Decorate the cake in a 60's theme, or have the bakery put a picture of your husband in the middle. There are lots of cute things you can do and still make the party relatively cost friendly... but definitely don't make it look "cheap". Good luck.

Hmmm, you're throwing a party and booked a band and a location. Yet you still expect your guests to pay a cover charge? And you think you might buy a cake to feed your guests? It's a party! If I were invited to a party I would HOPE that the host/hostess would not expect me to foot the bill for food & drink on top of buying a birthday gift. What kind of celebration is that?! How about buying a few rounds of beer and put pitchers on the tables? Are you renting out the entire pub for the evening? Add a small buffet table for snacks and cake. If you're planning on making this a special party, then you you actually need to spend a bit of money. If you were looking for cheap, then plan on a party at your home.

Some ideas. Check with the place you are having the party and ask about their policy about bringing your own food. If you can, then what about pot luck?

If not, then ask about setting up a special menu with special pricing... Things like pizza (maybe by the slice), appetizers, or a theme (taco bar, oriental, Italian, etc.) You ARE bringing a couple of hundred paying customers, right?

If you can do pot luck, hold a contest... vote for the best dish, and the best dish in each category (salads, desserts, Italian, and so on).

A cake is a must, but talk to the venue and ask for a cake for about half the crowd you expect, then ask for a "back-up" plan if more people show ( a generic sheet cake decorated for the birthday and an undecorated for back-up should suffice.).

Don't be shy. Ask the pub managers what they can or will do for your specific budget. They want it to be good for you, it's good business for them.

you should definitely have some snacks- veggie tray, finger sandwich tray, taco dip, chips and dip- whatever. Cake too!More food is always better than not enough- you will be at a bar so people will want to eat later in the night. I hope you are including free beer for the guests also? If it's going to be a longer party I'd suggest to bring the food out a bit later in the evening so they don;t gobble it all up right away. Skip the games, maybe you can make a picture board of your husband to put up so guests can look at pics of him throughout the years (find really funny ones!!). get one of those frames you can sign so the guests can say Happy Birthday and later you can insert a nice picture from the party.

well you can just plan anything you want, just think wat is the bestt hing for them!