Darcy Miller Threw Martha an Iconic Party—Here Are Her Top Tips for Making Any Birthday Special

One reason I love celebrating everything is that it gives me the opportunity to think about the people I care about and what I love about them. The key to any celebration is to make it personal; the touches that make a party “so them” also make it memorable and meaningful for guests. So when I throw a birthday party, I think about the honoree and how I can fill the party with personal details about them.

You can personalize almost every aspect of a party—which is what I did when I offered to host Martha Stewart's 70th birthday party. It was intimidating to think about hosting a party for a woman renowned for entertaining, but when I started thinking about celebrating my friend and former boss, pulling the party together became a lot of fun.

I started by making a list of the things that make me think of Martha—who she is, what she’s known for, and the things she loves to do. You can pick one idea or twenty—whatever feels right.

Then, I found creative ways to incorporate personal touches into every aspect of the party. Here are some tips to help you celebrate an important person in your life.

Set the Tone With the Invitation

A personalized invite sets the tone for the entire event and puts the focus on the person being celebrated. Whether you send it digitally or in the mail, the invite should get your guests excited. I love to draw, so I drew a portrait of Martha, plus a few things she loves (like a bottle of bubbly), and had those drawings, plus the relevant info, printed on a party blower to set a fun, festive mood. If you’re not an artist, you might personalize an invitation with photos instead. Side-by-side photos taken decades apart are great for milestone birthdays or anniversaries. You can have them printed on a paper invite, or get creative and print them on scrolls, print out a “boarding pass” for a travel-themed party, or send a message in a bottle, for example.

Highlight Their Hobbies

When figuring out how to personalize, a person’s hobbies are a great source of inspiration. Most people have a hobby or two—Martha excels at so many that I couldn’t decide how to pick. I decided it would be fun to draw Martha doing what she loves, from antiquing to gardening to yoga. Then, I printed those out and had pop-up Marthas everywhere.

You could reflect someone's hobbies in words or concepts—if you’re throwing a big party for someone who loves to travel, for example, each table could be inspired by a place they’ve been.

Be Strategic With the Décor

This is where I went to my list of Martha’s favorite things and thought about what she’d like to be surrounded by on her birthday. You don't have to go overboard on décor and cover the whole space—pick a few surprising details, and you will wow your guest of honor and your guests. Martha is the biggest Scrabble fan I know, so I made a banner shaped like Scrabble letters. I had a photo of her beloved pet printed into a wall decal, so her pup could be at the party in spirit. (Wall decals also make great backdrops for photo booths.) You can take this idea and run with it; if your friend loves pickleball, for example, turn balls or paddles into a centerpiece or have some on hand for photos. If they’re into tie-dye, fill the place with psychedelic details.

Serve Their Favorite Food and Drink

This part is easy—serve the honoree’s favorites! For Martha, that meant salted caramel chocolate cake from Baked. She also loves anything lemon-flavored, so we had a lemony cocktail. Then, go the extra mile and personalize the items further by adding a special something—a cake-topper for the cake, like Martha’s gold "M," or a cocktail flag, like the "I Love Martha" banner coming out of these cocktail-in-a-lemon cups. You can also make cupcake toppers or hors d’oeuvres picks by printing photos or drawings of the person you’re celebrating and taping them to toothpicks. Here, we served hors d’oeuvres that looked like mini flower pots alongside my drawing of Martha doing one of her favorite things—gardening.

Give Customized Favors

Guests at Martha’s party took home tote bags with maps showing Martha’s favorite spots in Manhattan. I love supporting small businesses; these custom bags came from Maptote and were filled with some of Martha’s other favorite things and treats from some of the places shown on the map.

However you choose to celebrate the person whose party it is, highlighting the activities, places, or things someone loves is a foolproof way to throw a party everyone will remember for years.