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i’m matt james

professional event producer

  • 27 years event-planning experience
  • Winner of 30 industry awards
  • Clients include:
  • Elton John,
  • Stella McCartney,
  • Sarah Jessica Parker,
  • Kevin Spacey……and more

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Matt James professional event planner
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40th birthday invitation ideas

the idea

‘through the years’ invitations

Bring a smile to guestsโ€™ faces by treating them to old photos of the 40th birthday boy / girl โ€˜through the yearsโ€™ with a custom photo collage invitation

There are both black or white versions, available here, for most milestone birthdays, so all you have to do is upload your own photos. For other ages, use this monogram version here, then use the ‘personalize’ button to replace the letters of the monogram with the age you require.

40th birthday party photo collage invitation showing the birthday boy 'through the years'
reverse view of photo collage party invitations with black background and white custom text
the idea

custom video invitations

Save on printing & postage and avoid lost or delayed mail with an animated custom video 40th birthday party invitation that you can send via Whatsapp, iMessage, Messenger, or email.

There are lots of different designs available, some with photos and some without, and all wording can be customized to fit your event. Check out all the options here.

For a 40th birthday, I recommend using an old photo of the birthday boy / girl when they were younger, in addition to a more recent one. It just makes the invitation more unique and interesting for party guests, who might not have ever seen what they looked like as a cute baby.

animated digital video 40th birthday party invitations displayed on mobile phone screen
animated custom video party invitation displayed on mobile phone screens for any age birthday or occasion
animated custom video party invitation displayed on mobile phone screens for any age birthday or occasion
animated custom video party invitation displayed on mobile phone screens for any age birthday or occasion
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Matt James professional event planner
the idea

well designed invitations

Check out this site for the biggest range of 40th birthday invitation ideas. This is probably my favorite site for invitations as there are just so many different styles available; vintage, sophisticated, lighthearted, printable etc and they’re much less commercial looking than a lot of other birthday invitation sites.

vintage airmail 40th birthday invitations
custom photo face and words 40th birthday invitations
Breakfast at Tiffany's 40th birthday invitations
custom cheers & Beers 40th birthday invitations

I particularly like these printable cartoon-style 40th birthday invitations (below) where they’ll illustrate the birthday boy or girl from any photo (below center for examples).

custom cheers & beers with 40th birthday invitations
personalized cartoons for 40th birthday invitations
Great Gatsby art deco-style 40th birthday invitations
photo collage 40th birthday invitations
the idea

PHOTO INVITATIONS

This site here is particularly good for simple and modern photo-based 40th birthday invitations, although they also have some cute illustrated ones too.

the big 4-O custom photo 40th birthday invitations
vintage feast & merriment 40th birthday invitations
custom photo 40th birthday invitation
custom photo 40th birthday invitations
the idea

elegant INVITATIONS

If you’re looking for more chic and sophisticated 40th birthday invitations, check out this site.

Note that they have a lot of great illustrated invitations, such as the ones below, but they are not listed under the milestone birthday section on their websiteโ€”so be sure to check out their general party invitations too and then just customize the text accordingly.

Illustrated martini cocktail 40th birthday invitations
illustrated 40th birthday invitations for women
illustration of beers chilling 40th birthday invitations
Let's party cocktail 40th birthday invitations
the idea

LASER CUT INVITATIONS

Laser cutting can add some really intricate designs, cut outs, and patterns to printed invitations, giving them a delicate, sophisticated, and expensive look and feel. They’re often used for weddings, but I think they’re a great way to make 40th birthday invitations just that little bit more special. 

Browse the full range here or click on any of the images below to view that design.

Laser-cut invitations
Laser-cut invitations
Laser-cut invitation
Laser-cut invitations
the idea

Balloon invitations

If youโ€™re looking for something more unusual, these balloon invitations will make a great first impression. The invitation details are actually printed onto the balloon so wouldnโ€™t need a separate printed invitation. Check them out here.

I think a nice way to present these would be to print a custom message (something like โ€œplease inflate and save the dateโ€) onto a decorative tag, which you can pick up here for around 35 cents each, tie it on with ribbon or string and mail them out in small gifts boxes filled with confetti or tissue paper (like in the example below right from Jenny Cookies). 

There are various different size and color jewelry boxes, available here or alternatively here, that you can mail them out in.

Pink balloon birthday invitation
Customizable luggage tags
Balloon invitation
Boxed invitation
the idea

ANAGLYPH 3D INVITATIONS WITH GLASSES

Another fun and unusual idea for party invitations are these anaglyph 3D ones that come with old-school 3D glasses for guests to decipher the details. The examples below are from wedding invitations, save the dates, and kid’s parties but all can be customized for 40th birthdays.

Of the best 3D photo invitations Iโ€™ve found, Option 1 below, are available here or Option 2 below is available here (Note: Option 2 doesnโ€™t come with 3D glasses but you can pick them up here). For 3D invitations without photos, the best Iโ€™ve found are available here (Option 3 below), or here (Option 4 below), or here (not pictured).

3D wedding invitation
Option 1: 3D photo invitations
3D wedding or birthday invitation
Option 1: 3D photo invitations
3D birthday invitation
Option 2: 3D photo invitation
3D invitations
Option 3: no photo
the idea

WOOD INVITATIONS

Another fun way to make your 40th birthday invitations a little more special is to have them printed / engraved onto wood. There are lots of different styles available, including some really intricate laser-cut designs, such as the tree design pictured below.

Often these are used as wedding invitations, but again, all the text can be customized, so they can easily be used for birthdays and other special occasions. Check out the full range here.

Wooden invitation and RSVP card
Wooden invitation
Wooden invitation and paper bag envelope
Laser-cut invitation
the idea

IN THE STYLE OFโ€ฆ.

A great way to make attention-grabbing 40th birthday invitations is to design them in the style of something familiarโ€”a passport, newspaper, telegram, ticket etc. Itโ€™s a trick often used by professional party planners to reinforce a particular theme.

The two best sites for these type of themed invitations are this one here and also this one here. Because both these sites have so many different designs, it helps if you have an idea of the item you want your invitation to resemble, and then enter a description into the search box on each site e.g. โ€œcassette invitationโ€ or โ€œnewspaper invitationโ€โ€”otherwise itโ€™s a little bit like looking for a needle in a haystack!

For any of the invitations pictured below, just click on the image to go to the relevant site.

Vintage telegram invitation
Personalized one dollar note
Vintage audio cassette invitation
Passport-style invitations
Newspaper headline invitation
book invitations
Airline ticket wedding invitation
Old-style Library book checkout 40th birthday invitation
the idea

3D OBJECT INVITATIONS

Another trick used by professional party planners is to incorporate a three dimensional object into the design of our party invitationsโ€”which instantly makes people sit up and take notice. People just love to receive unusual invitationsโ€”and often they’re not expecting a 3D object to arrive in the mail so it really captures their imagination and gets them excited about the party. Below are some great examples from professional events, including a couple by my own company Left Field Productions.

Update: a lot of people have asked where to buy ornate keys like in the example below, so I’m including a link to these here. It’s also a good place to start for other 3D objects you might want to use as your invitations.

Alternatively, check out  this site here for inexpensive novelties and party favorsโ€”such as disposable sunglasses, foam baseballs, rubber duckies etcโ€”that you can use depending on your birthday party theme / occasion.

Vintage Key invitation
Key invitation by Jika Gonzรกlez for BizBash.
Golden Ticket chocolate bar invitation
Chocolate bar invitation by Left Field Productions.
rubber snake birthday party invitation
Rubber snake invitation Left Field Productions.
Giles Deacon London Fashion Week invitation
Giles Deacon Fashion Week invitation via Wallpaper.

If you’re going to use an object as your invitation, I would suggest keeping the printed card part (with the details on) simple. All you really need to do is have the birthday party details printed onto a custom tag (like in the London Dry Gin key and rubber snake examples above), which you can pick up here for around 35 cents each, tie it on with ribbon or string, and mail them out in small gifts boxes. 

There are various different size and color jewelry boxes, available here or alternatively here, that you can mail them out in.

Alternatively, if you want to make the tags a little more special you can also have them made out of wood for only $2 each, check them out here, or transparent acrylic for around $5 each, check them out there.

Boxed invitation
Custom tags
Wood tags
Acrylic tags
the idea

READY-MADE 3D OBJECT INVITATIONS

It’s also worth having a browse on this site for ready-made 3D object invitations that you can use for a 40th birthday, such these pharmacy prescription bottle invitations, available here, real vinyl record invitations with personalized labels, available here, or personalized fortune cookies, available here.

These are just a few examples I stumbled across but I’m sure there are lots of others on that site (including different design options for the examples below) so be sure to search for specific ideas, e.g. “Flip Flop invitations” or “Vinyl Record Invitations” to see what else you might find.

Pill bottle 40th birthday invitation
vinyl record 40th birthday invitation
custom fortune cookies 40th birthday invitation
the idea

PERSONALIZED CANDY BAR INVITATIONS

These personalized printable candy bar wrappers are a great way to combine a 3D object invitation with the “In the style of…” approach to your 40th birthday invitations.

The Hershey Bar wrapper, below, is a good alternative to the Wonka Bar wrappers mentioned before if you want to create candy bar invitations for an adult birthday.

There are lots of of custom candy bar wrappers available online, but most are intended as favors so they don’t have enough space to communicate all the party details in order for them to be used as invitations. This design is different in that the nutrition information box on the reverse has been adapted to accommodate all the party details. Check it out here.

Alternatively, the same designer has other custom candy bar printable wrappers available, such as SnickersRolo, and Nestle Crunch (click brand name to go to that option).

While these haven’t been designed specifically to be used as invitations, the designer offers a “custom modify” upgrade option for only $5 available here, so she can add additional text on the reverse to communicate all the birthday party details.

Hershey Candy Bar invitation
Rolover candy invitation
Snickers-style candy bar invitation
Crunch candy bar invitation
the idea

COOKIE INVITATIONS

Cookies are another fun way to send out unusual 3D 40th birthday invitationsโ€”just wrap them in cellophane bags, add one of these custom favor tags (you can edit the text online to include all your birthday party details), then mail them out in shipping boxes (or DVD/CD box mailers might work well).

In terms of the cookies, you could make these yourself using a custom-made cookie cutter based on the face of the birthday boy or girl (below left). Check these out here.

Alternatively, you can have these made for you from a photoโ€”available here. Another option is to have a photo recreated onto a cookie, available here, or simply use a decorated cookie that fits with your birthday party themeโ€”just search here.

custom face portrait Cookie-Cutter
Custom cartoon portrait cookies
Custom photo cookies
decorated cookies resembling mason jars
the idea

CAKE POSTCARDS

For something really unusual, how about sending a cake postcard as your 40th birthday invitation?! These hand-made almost life-like cake slices have a card attached one side and can be sent through the mail as they areโ€”just apply postage! Check them out here

Update: There are several suppliers offering these, but my personal favorite is this supplier here. Not only are her cakes the most realistic looking, she doesn’t use a basic looking postcard (like some of the ones below) and offers to hand-write the cards and pop them in the mail for you.

cake slice postcard
Birthday cake slice invitation
Cake slice postcard
Cake slice postcard
the idea

FOIL-PRESSED INVITATIONS

This site has a range of beautiful foil-pressed invitations that have a metallic finish that shimmers as it catches the light.

I think these are stunning; so chic and luxurious. Although some of the designs are intended as holiday party invitations, all the text is fully customizable and many of the patterns are abstract, so they can be used as 40th birthday invitations.

This site also has a good range of other well-designed invitations that aren’t foil pressed. Check out the full range here.

Foil-pressed invitations
Foil-pressed invitations
Green foil-pressed invitation
foil-pressed invitation
the idea

RETRO INVITATIONS

Another way to make your 40th birthday invitations stand out is to go for a fun retro design. The two best site for retro-style invitations are this site here, and also this one here.

Vintage-style pool party invitation
retro surprise birthday invitation
Retro Oakland postcard invitation
Retro ladies hair salon postcard invitations
the idea

ACRYLIC INVITATIONS

These transparent acrylic invitations are another great way to create a big first impression. They’re often used as modern and unusual wedding invitations, but the text is fully customizable so they can be used for 40th birthday invitations. Check out the full range here.

transparent acrylic invitations
Transparent acrylic invitation
Transparent acrylic invitation
Transparent acrylic invitation
the idea

CUSTOM PORTRAIT / CARTOON INVITATIONS

Another fun way to customize birthday invitations is to have a custom portrait or cartoon made of the person celebrating. There are many different styles of portraits available here, or click on any of the images below to see more of those particular styles.

Some of these are intended as wedding invitations and so feature couples and families, but most of the designers will happily customize these if you’re looking to feature just one person to use as 40th birthday invitations.

Custom portrait invitation
Custom portrait invitation
Custom cartoon invitations
Custom cartoons made from photos
the idea

JIGSAW PUZZLE INVITATIONS

Sending your 40th birthday invitations out in pieces for the recipient to assemble will surely create a big first impression! This wooden jigsaw puzzle style invitation, available here, is great value. Alternatively, this seller has a number of different card designs available here, such as the examples below, or check out all card options here.

Wood jigsaw invitation
Wood jigsaw invitation
Jigsaw invitations
Jigsaw invitations
the idea

CROSSWORD PUZZLE INVITATIONS

These custom crossword puzzle invitations are often used for weddings and save the dates, but there’s no reason why they can’t be used as 40th birthday invitations.

The clues and answers you provide are a great way to really make the invitation personal (and test how well the recipient knows the host!). Check out a range of options here, or I quite like the photo ones shown below, available here.

Don’t be put off by the cheesy stock photos used in the examples below, with the right photo I think these will look great.

Custom crossword puzzle invitations
Custom crossword puzzle invitation
Custom crossword puzzle invitation
the idea

COOTIE CATCHER INVITATIONS

These custom cootie catcher invitations are also a fun way to test the recipient’s knowledge of the person being celebrated by including questions and answers about them along with the 40th birthday party details.

There are lots of different designs available, check them out here.

Cootie catcher invitations
Cootie catcher invitation
Cootie catcher invitation
Cootie catcher invitations
the idea

METAL INVITATIONS

I’m including these fantastic metal invitations just because they’re so unique, but unfortunately they require a minimum order of 50 which might make them too expensive for some people unless they have a healthy budget. Check them out here.

Metal invitations
Metal invitations
Metal invitations
Metal invitations
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more 40th birthday party ideas

Hit the ‘Read More’ button below to check out my main page of 40th birthday party ideas.

'celebrating 40 years' 40th birthday party dessert table tapestry backdrop with photos showing the guest of honor 'through the years'
young woman standing with a group of friends at a party holding up fan faces of her face in front of theirs
too late to die young rude balloon birthday party decorations
woman standing next to a custom pinata of herself at a birthday party

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