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Normally Jay and I take a trip over Halloween but this year it just wasn't in the cards. Jay fully retired, sold his NYC digs, bought a new house in a small rural NY suburb and immediately after moving had to leave town for a week for an engagement he'd scheduled previously.
Between packing, moving, unpacking, getting him settled in the new house and getting him off for his week long engagement, we had our hands full. Yet his brother, Jude wasn't about to let him retire without throwing him an over-the-top, no expense spared retirement bash. We ended up combining 3 parties into 1 combination party - retirement, house warming/open house and a bit of a Halloween touch because Jay was upset we'd miss traveling over Halloween.
Even though I had no budget, that's not how I roll. I do things as inexpensively as possible regardless of budget or no budget. You can adapt the retirement portion of the party to any occupation as it's a very flexible theme to work with. My dilemma was how to combine all 3 themes and make it all work together?
(I'll let you be the judge of that).
I do have to mention there's no way Dee, Jude and I could've made this bash work without all of our friends, who very generously volunteered to help us in every way possible. Super bunch of people! THANK YOU ALL!
You'd think by now the man would know NOT to give copies of his house keys to the 3 of us! But on rare occasion he's just not the brightest Crayola in the box. He'd no sooner taken off and retracted his landing gear than Jude was on the phone to us : "OK HE'S OFF...GO!" - signaling us to start redecorating the house he'd just spent 2 weeks putting together and getting in order.
As far as Jay knew, Jude had flown me back home to Wisconsin the week prior. In reality I'd been hiding out at Jude's and Dee's house so Dee and I could prepare all of the invitations and other party work that needed to be done. We'd been on Zoom calls to one another for a couple of months planning everything out. We'd planned all the staging so had a blueprint to work from in order to get everything done on time.
Jay's house is large so there's no way we could decorate the entire house. Instead, we chose what areas of the house guest would utilize and what parts of the house would be off limits. We'd decided to make each room we'd be decorating into a different unit of the hospital: Entry foyer, living room and bar area, dining room, den, 2 guest bathrooms and the patio/pool area. We gals would decorate the interior, Jude and his guy friends would do the exterior of the house.
We modified a Scrappy Tails haunted house invitation to look like a hospital - shown at right.
We made only one version of invitation given the time constraint we were under...for those close friends who would be invited to stay for the dinner party after the open house, we included a note saying so in their invitation.
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We requested everyone come in a medically themed costume.
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We invited them to bring their swim suit to swim in the pool.
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We requested all guests RSVP (Including children) so that the caterers had a plate count and we'd have an estimate on how much buffet (snack) fare would be needed for the open house guests.
We also asked everyone to carpool as much as possible. It's really hard to pull a surprise off on Jay and he would've known something was up had he seen (and recognized his friends) cars parked all around his house. We'd invited his neighbors and they were gracious enough to allow guests to park in their driveways...but we had a contingency plan in place just in case.
Dee would be picking Jay up at the airport. She suffers from asthma and has an inhaler. She's also a very good actress so she was going to take an asthma attack and when they hit Jay's street, have him dig in her purse for
Jay likes things that light up and glow in the dark.
I love making pop up cards and invitations.
Scrappy Tails had these really cute LIT pop up haunted house tutorials.
her inhaler - which she had in her pocket the entire time. This would keeps Jay's eyes in her purse and not on the street seeing cars we didn't want him seeing. (Yes, we are devious)
Dee must've put on an Academy Award winning performance because the ploy worked like a charm - and scared the hell out of Jay when he couldn't find her inhaler. LOL
I mention this because these practicalities can mean the difference between success and failure in pulling off a big surprise party.
Note: Jay is a very private man and did not want the location or photos of his house posted online so I made mockups that come as close to what his house looks like as possible.
Front Entry to House
I have to say the guys did a fantastic job!
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2 door hangers $16
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Signs - I stenciled on foam board
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Hospital sign - Jude cleaned out the hospital storerooms of stuff not used anymore
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Cardboard standee of Jay (life-sized)
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Bloody shoeprint decals from my Halloween stash
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Pumpkin - made and donated by an OR nurse
Foyer Entry
When you walk through the front door you're in the foyer. There's a staircase to the upstairs on your right and next to it a little nook. Beyond the stairway is a hallway that leads to French doors that open to his living room.
Everything came from my Halloween stash except the 1 cardboard standee on the stairs $100 and the black feather strands. The strands came from Temu, on sale $4 each.
The tree branches Dee and I scavenged from the woods and spray painted black.
We didn't want guests going upstairs so the standee blocked them from doing that. It was the most difficult thing to stage in order to get it to stand on stairs yet in the right position.
Monofilament fishing line to the rescue! We ended up tying it off to the stair railing to hold it in place.
Foyer Hallway
I don't think I need to explain this one to anyone who's sat in a waiting room waiting to see the doctor.
The skeletons were all from my Halloween stash. The gurney and IV stand came from Jude's raid on the hospital storerooms. The jar with the heart in it: We took a plastic model Jay had of a heart and put it in a jar of water with red food coloring in the water. I made the wall sign and icicles previously for one of my winter parties.
The heart wall art came from Jay's office. The caption bubbles I had cut from white cardboard stock and hand lettered.
Living Room & Bar Area
We hung a sign on the French doors that read DOCTORS LOUNGE.
The fireplace is the focal point of the living room so we focused on that to start.
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We all loved the piece over the fireplace. It's a $50 kit you assemble. (Regularly priced at $93).
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We bought a roll of sheer black gauzy fabric from Temu to make the drapes. $11
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For the nurse we used 2 identical cardboard standees. We gathered a piece of white gauzy fabric for the skirt, glued it to the back of one of the standees, then glued the 2 standees together so the fabric was sandwiched between them. This way if the nurse spun guests would see 2 finished sides of the nurse. $100
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We turned it into a hospital by adding the hospital sign (cardboard), the Code Blue Hospital (made from cardboard) and DIY cardboard ambulance.
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The white blood candles came from my Halloween stash as did my mannequin that we turned into a mummy by wrapping it in Ace bandages.
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The carts with the surgical instrument trays came from the hospital storerooms.
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Jude bought the loveseat cover. $88
The second conversation area in the living room we turned into RADIOLOGY.
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The backdrop was one we had custom made. $50
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The DANGER RADIATION cubicle was a Halloween decoration I'd made out of a corrugated refrigerator shipping box - painted, then smudged with scrapbooking ink to make it look old. The guy inside was one of the animatronics my late husband had made.
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Standee of Jay: $146 We removed the piece that makes it stand and glued it right to the photo backdrop.
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I stenciled the Radiology sign on corrugated and the throw pillow came from my Halloween stash.
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The flat x-ray table we used as a coffee table we made out of corrugated. The candy dish is a bedpan.
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The throw on the back of the sofa is x-ray printed fabric we bought. Dee hemmed all 4 sides and our throw was finished, We got our fabric from Etsy but it's been discontinued since.
For the bar we kept it simple so the hired bartenders could work without clutter in the way.
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The faux cobwebs we strung on the lights came from my Halloween stash.
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The specimen cups came from the hospital.
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I hand painted the Spookeasy bar sign on a piece of scrap wood I had.
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Dee filled a plastic pumpkin she had with Halloween candy for guests to help themselves.
The Den
When we received the RSVP's back we discovered there were a lot more of Jay's little patients coming than we'd planned on, so we needed something to keep them entertained. The nurses came to our rescue. They set up the den as a doctor's office where the little ones could play.
They got all of the supplies for the kids room, stocked it and on the day of the party they took shifts manning the room to keep an eye on the kids and teach them some basic First Aid.
They did such a good job we 'lost' Jay for over an hour. Dee finally found him sitting on the floor, his head wrapped in gauze, bandages covering him, thermometer in his mouth, one girl reading 'his' x-ray, another listening to his heart.
I don't know who was having more fun - he or the kids. Although he did say if he ever saw another jelly bean 'pill' it would be too soon.
The Guest Bathrooms
The bathroom with the tub in it we turned into HYDROTHERAPY.
Everything in this bathroom were things Dee and I had previously or had on hand.
The second bathroom we turned into SURGERY.
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We hung a white bedsheet over the wall behind the bathtub to look like a surgery curtain. In the tub we placed a small oblong table Jay had, covered it with another white bedsheet to make it look like an operating table and copiedthe Bowels Gone Bad pumpkin surgery on the table, shown below left.
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The pre-op room is a door banner. $8
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We strung faux cobwebs on the chandelier.
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On the fireplace mantle we placed a surgical pan, surgical scissors and 'bloody' gauze we'd made with red food coloring.
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We stenciled a surgery sign on white card stock and next to it hung some hospital scrubs.
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The mad surgeon is a cardboard standee. $25
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The chloroform towel came from Amazon. $11
The Dining Room
Although the dining room was decorated it was closed off until the open house was over.
Guest of Honor's Dining Chair
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Dee rented the dinnerware and the skeleton servers on the server.
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The medical toilet came from the hospital.
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The surgeon statue 'centerpiece' was a gift to Jay from Ashley and Chase.
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Dee and I sewed the medical scrubs champagne bottle covers.
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Dee had bought the medical table runner and retirement banner but I don't know where from.
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We used red painter's tape to make the EKG tracing on the wall.
Patio
The backyard is the crowning glory of the house. It's what sold Jay on the house. It's kind of unique in that the patio is built around small 'islands' of dwarf birch trees.
At left is how the backyard is laid out.
For the open house portion of the day we decided to do a simple BBQ/buffet .The guys took turns BBQing.
We had the caterer set up extra tables in back for open house guests.
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The pumpkins are leaf bags stuffed with leaves.
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I don't know where the guys got the inner tubes but the skeletons were from my Halloween stash as were the 2 floating ghosts. The throw pillows were from Dee's Halloween decorations.
We used disposable everything on the guest tables for the open house. Dee and I made the centerpiece caduceus and Happy Retirement on my Cricut. The purple, black and silver 'foliage' on the bottom of the centerpiece are just squares of tissue paper bunched up and twisted at the bottom to hot glue that end into place.
The bases are half floral foam rounds. that everything got hot glued into. We also hot glued Happy Retirement to a plastic drinking straw, punched a hole in the floral foam for the straw and hot glued that into place.
They're very simple to make! Optional: Take a decorative edge scrapbooking scissors and cut the edges of the tissue paper squares before gathering and twisting them at one end and gluing that end into the floral foam.
The guys kept the bar area decor simple - one of the ghosts from my Halloween stash and a carved pumpkin.
APPETIZERS
Spanakopita Appetizer
Shrimp Cocktail Cups
Bruschetta
Crawfish Beignets
Cranberry Meatballs
Candied Bacon Deviled Eggs
MAINS & SIDES
Skull Burgers
Marinated Steak & Veggie Kabobs
Watermelon, Feta, Mint Salad
Caprese Salad Cups
Baked Beans
Charcuterie Board
Cheese & Herb Potato Fans
Melt in Your Mouth Potatoes
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
We set up a sweets and candy table too.
Of course, we had to have cake and Dee found the perfect cake for Jay, at left. She had a bakery in New York make it up. Jay didn't want to cut into it!
We had a few cakes in order to feed 300 people.
I debated including this because I don't want to sound pretentious here. But it does present a viable solution when it comes to gift buying when it comes to that someone who has everything they want or need. - wracking your brains trying to figure out what to give them, spending hours shopping...
Jude had already bought Jay his retirement gift when Dee suggested we open up an invitation to guests to chip on his gift if they so desired. Any contributions were kept strictly confidential simply because some people can afford more than others - besides, it's the thought that counts.
I made up 3 cards so that everyone had room to sign, to give to Jay with his gift.
Jude was very clever about the way he went about giving Jay his birthday gift. He had a key sawn in half and gift wrapped it in a little box.
Jay's confusion was evident when he opened the box.
Jude explained "We have to take a ride to where your gift is. We're going to blindfold you."
Four of his friends had rigged up a live feed from that location so everyone could watch Jay receive his gift from all of them on the house TV's.
We walked him out, still blindfolded, and faced him toward the airport runway. We removed the blindfold and handed him the signed cards to read.
He was still confused. "You're sending me on a trip somewhere?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Jude answered. "You're taking yourself on a trip. Your gift is behind you.
He turned around...and burst into tears, speechless. It was the only time I ever saw him cry like that.
It had been his dream to own a Learjet. But like I said, he wasn't the kind of man to spend a whole lot of money on himself. So to him, owning a Learjet was pretty much a pipe dream.
Why the key sawn in half? A Learjet takes 2 CPL (Commercial Pilots License) licensed pilots to fly it.
Both Jay and Jude have their CPL so the jet is half Jude's and half Jay's as they'd
be flying the jet together.
Jude:"Well quit standing there bawling like a baby and go look at our jet!"
He was like a kid in a candy store, going over every inch of that Learjet. Of course, the two of them had to take it for a spin. If you're curious as to what it's like to fly in a Learjet...
A Learjet is considerably more complex than flying Jay's Beechcraft is - and much faster!
In general, the most popular models of Learjet travel at between 515 to 562 mph. By comparison, Jay's Beechcraft can travel 166 to 198 mph with top speeds in the 200–224 mph range - about half the speed of a Learjet. With as much as the guys fly, this was actually a smart decision on Jude's part. I've never seen Jay happier and that makes me happy.
When he returned to the house Jay personally thanked every person who signed those cards and donated to his getting his Learjet.
We didn't need that many activities but we lined some up just in case.
Which Surgeon?
This is a super easy game to set up and play. You can adapt it to any profession. We used surgeons and their OR team. Sit each surgeon in a chair in a horizontal row with room behind them. Give each one a number to identify them.
Give each guest a pencil and paper.
The rules are simple. Someone asks a question about a surgeon. Guests write down the number of the surgeon they think the question best pertains to. If they get an answer wrong, they put a checkmark next to that answer to score themselves.
After the guests have written down the answer, the OR team lines up behind the surgeon they think the question best pertains to. The surgeons are not allowed to turn around during the game to see who or how many are lining up behind them for each question.
For example:
Question: Which surgeon would most likely play this song in the OR?
Each guest writes down the number of the surgeon they would guess would play that song in the OR.
Once the guests have finished answering on their paper, the OR team members line up behind the surgeon they feel would be
most likely to play that song in the OR.
The OR team may split between surgeons but it's the surgeon with the most OR team members behind him/her that is the correct answer. If there's a tie between 2 surgeons then either answer would be counted as correct.
Guests score themselves by placing a checkmark next to the answers they got wrong. Whoever gets the most correct answers wins the game.
After guests have answered all of the questions and scored themselves, then read off each question along with the surgeon that had the most OR team members lined up behind him/her. The surgeons' reactions can be quite funny!
Here are some questions you could use:
Which surgeon is likely to show up late for surgery because they overslept?
Which surgeon would fake illness to get out of being on call after partying all night?
Which surgeon is the biggest flirt?
Which surgeon would be most likely to buy you a cup of coffee?
Which surgeon would be the most likely to say "OOOPS!" in surgery?
Which surgeon is most likely to yell at you if you make a mistake during surgery?
Which surgeon would most likely tell you “I became a surgeon because ‘playing Operation as a kid’ sounded like good training.” ?
Which surgeon would be most likely to name his/her scalpel?
Which surgeon's pet peeve is patients Googling their own medical condition?
Which surgeon has the best sense of humor?
Which surgeon would brag he/she had the steadiest hands in the OR and then spill their coffee right before the procedure? (Jude! As Jay points at him and every OR team member lines up behind him!)
Every OR team has their own treasure trove of funny OR experiences and you can also use some of those!
Example: Which surgeon was going to operate on the patient that started counting backward from 100 under anesthesia, got to 97, then slurred his speech and closed his eyes - only seconds later to open them and yell, “JUST KIDDING!” — scaring the whole team before passing out?
Or...
Which surgeon had the 16-year-old heart surgery patient that joked, “Look! Now all I need is a toe tag!” when he saw his feet were sticking out of the sheets?
Or...
Which surgeon once asked for crazy glue, a bra hook, and a rubber band — and the nurse thought he was joking until she realized it was a real request?
These kind of true stories are funny in themselves...apart from playing the game! And they're stories that patients' families never hear about! Which makes the game all that more humorous.
Who Knows the Retiree Best?
(This game is even tougher with someone like Jay, who's very private and seldom talks about himself.)
Another similar game is Retiree Bingo. Instead of numbers, the caller reads off things that relate to the retiree, similar to the above. Guests mark which things called match their Bingo card. The first one to get a Bingo yells "RETIREMENT!" Use a Printable Retirement Game Bundle to make cards quickly or you can make out your game sheet and print it out.
Printable Games
Printable games are a relatively inexpensive and easy way to entertain a large number of guests.
To play, simply print out the game and distribute it to players. Each player can write down their answers on a piece of paper, and once all players have answered all 20 questions, the answers can be revealed to determine the winner.
Doctors can answer these really fast so we had them play against one another and the one who completed it in the fastest time, won.
Includes full answer sheet. Get it here $3.95
The Memory Jar
This one is tougher than it looks!
Guests look at a series of emoji combinations and try to decode common medical terms and phrases. From anatomy references to healthcare-related words, this game keeps players thinking and laughing at the same time.
Designed for instant fun and easy setup, this printable game is a crowd-pleaser that gets everyone involved—no complicated prep required!
Answer key is included. Buy here $1.50
Make a DIY Memory Jar and have guests write their favorite memory of the retiree on a slip of paper and put it in the jar.
At the end of the party we glued these into a scrapbook of the party we'd made for Jay.
Jay said it was a retirement party he'll never forget. Mission accomplished.
Hope you enjoyed the trip to Spooktacular Sleepy Hollow!