This blog post is 21st birthday ideas.
Your 21st birthday is a big deal worth celebrating in an unforgettable way!
Whether you’re thinking of throwing a huge birthday party, or want to do something special outside with a few besties, you deserve an unforgettable celebration you and your friends will remember for years to come!
There are so many thing to do for your 21st birthday!
From outdoor activities, special trips, at home birthday parties, and more! In this post, we’ll cover the best 21st birthday ideas – from fun things to do for 21st birthday, unique 21st birthday ideas at home, and fun 21st birthday party themes you can follow to set up the perfect at home 21st birthday party.
Let’s get started!
Note: This site contains affiliate links, view our disclaimer for more information.
21st Birthday Ideas
Table of Contents
How do you throw a good 21st party?
If you are planning your 21st birthday, here are some steps to follow to throw a good 21st party:
1. Think about what YOU want – this is your party, your celebration, think with yourself if you want more of a chill event, or a fun wild party. Do you want to throw your party at home? or maybe somewhere else like a bar or a cool venue?
Once you decide what’s your vibe, everything else will fall into place!
2. Decide on a date and let your friends know – decide on a date for your party! Whether it’s your actual birthday or a day before/after/later that weekend/etc. Once you decide, let your friends know asap!
3. Choose your party theme – now comes the fun part! Deciding what 21st birthday party theme to go for! All you need to do is to choose a fun party theme (you can definitely check out the list at the bottom of this post), and plan your food, drinks, and decorations accordingly.
4. Personalize your party – I love personalizing birthday parties with custom decorations, party favors, custom cake/cupcakes, and any personal touches that will make the party feel YOURS.
5. Keep it fun – make sure there are snacks and water out all night, and of course – make sure you are all having a fun and unforgettable time together!
Things to do For 21st Birthday:
1. Have a Beach Picnic
If weather allows it, consider throwing a fun beach picnic party for your birthday!
I LOVE picnics, and I’m a beach lover from the deep of my soul, so I couldn’t not include this fun idea!
You can either plan the picnic yourself, and order pizza, or prep food in advance, as well as getting a beautiful birthday cake.
As for the setup, get a cute picnic blanket that matches your style, and decorate the area with some flowers, wine glasses, and decorations to set up the mood.
2. Concert
There’s no better occasion to go to a concert of your favorite artist with your besties!
If there’s a concert happening near your birthday, grab your besties and go watch a fun concert for your bday!
Â
3. Go on a Girls Road Trip
There’s nothing better than a fun girls road trip! Grab your besties for your 21st birthday and plan a fun girls road trip.
You can eve just book a cute Airbnb a couple hours away, and plan a fun road trip to there with a few stops on the way, or even stop at a cute restaurant on the way.
Plus, you can explore different shops and bars at your destination and have a fun day together.
Â
4. Las Vegas Trip!
Vegas is THE PERFECT 21st birthday getaway!
It’s the ultimate destination to celebrate the fact that you are finally legal!
You can either plan a fun girls friend group trip to Vegas, or even an exciting getaway with your partner.
Â
5. Relaxing Beach Day
A relaxing beach day with your closest friends sounds a dream birthday celebration to me!
If your birthday is in the summer, you can’t go wrong with a relaxing beach bar.
You can either hire those beach birthday setup companies and throw something big, or you can keep it casual and invite your best friends, order pizza, maybe buy a few beers in advance, and have a fun day at the beach!
6. Pole dancing class
One of the most popular 21st birthday ideas for girls is definitely a pole dancing class!
This is a fun dancing class you can privately book for you and your best friends.
7. Wine & Cheese tasting
For the fancier gals, you can’t go wrong with a fun wine & cheese tasting adventure with your besties!
There are many beautiful places that offer wine and cheese tastings, and you can find the nearest one to you and reserve a table for you and your friends.
You can try different types of wine, and different cheeses, and just enjoy being together and drinking delicious wine and eating delicious cheese.
Â
8. Besties Camping Trip
I LOVE birthday camping trips! Especially if your birthday is in the summer, you can’t go wrong with a fun camping trip with your best friends.
You can all buy groceries and alcohol, and have a fun camping getaway at the beach, or at a reserved area in nature, and just enjoy time with friends in nature.
Â
9. Bar Crawl
You are finally 21, you are finally legal, and it’s time to take advantage of that at your local bars!
A bar crawl is a common and fun way to celebrate your 21st bday! Check out what are the popular bars in your area, grab your besties, and try them all!
Â
at Home 21st Birthday Ideas:
I LOVE dinner parties! They bring such a fun and classy vibe to your celebration, and I LOVE decorating tables.
This is definitely one of the easiest 21st birthday ideas, because all you need to do is to make (or order) your favorite meals and desserts, and serve them in beautiful dishes, decorate your dinner table, and have an amazing time with your best friends.
Â
Slumber parties are the ultimate girls night celebrations!
All you need for the perfect slumber parties is a great movie, you can order in your favorite food, cozy blankets, a place for all of your besties to sleep, and definitely a few bottles of wine and champagne 😉
Â
If you have a decent-sized backyard, you can setup a fun backyard movie night party for your best friends!
You can either set it up in a cozy vibe with throw blankets and pillows, as seen in the image above, or you can utilize outdoor furniture if you have.
Also, don’t forget popcorn, and delicious snacks you and your friends can eat during the movie!
Â
I love a fun paint & sip night with my girlfriends! This is SUCH a fun girls night idea.
You can either pre-make delicious cocktails, or even include in your paint & sip party a cocktails making session together, and then drink them while painting.
OR, you can keep it casual and get delicious wine bottles and taste different types of wines while painting!
Also, don’t forget to get your paint & sip kit from Amazon.
This is the best priced pack I found, you can either get a pack of 8, or they also have a great deal of 16 kits too.
If your birthday is near Halloween, a costume birthday party is a MUST!
And it is definitely one of the best 21st birthday ideas you can’t throw all year round. So take advantage of that!
Get some alcohol, make sure everyone dresses up for Halloween, and have a fun party!
You can also decorate your place with fun Halloween party decorations, and get a Halloween themed birthday cake to complete your celebration.
Â
A fun and casual 21st birthday party idea is throwing a drinking games night!
You are finally legal, you can finally buy alcohol legally, so a fun idea to celebrate that is to grab your best friends and have a wild 😉 drinking games night!
You can grab different liquor, beers, wine, or any other type of alcohol you like, and buy a few drinking games you can all play together and get drunk.
Â
Last but not least, is throwing an epic at-home birthday party!
You can’t go wrong with ordering pizza or different food, stocking up on snacks and candies, and telling everyone to bring their favorite alcohol!
You can decide on a birthday party theme from the list below, and decorate your place accordingly/order food accordingly/and have so much fun!
Â
21st Birthday Party Themes:
1. Classy black & white party theme
Starting it off classy with a classy white & black bows party aesthetic!
You can get this custom made paper party banner on Etsy, and tell the seller exactly what to write so it matches your aesthetic.
Also, these black and white bows balloons from Amazon are too cute to pass on, and don’t forget these 21 black balloons to complete your design along with this black party backdrop.
This will be SO CUTE for your birthday pics!
2. Disco Party Theme
I LOVE a fun disco party theme for birthdays!
And I also love how this girl decorated into the very small details! From the silver party backdrop, the fun disco balloons, to the disco ball bucket and cute table runner, to her actual disco outfit!
Also, the birthday cake is SO PRETTY.
3. RIP Fake ID Party Theme
What’s a more ICONIC 21st birthday party theme than a fun RIP FAKE ID party?!
This is a funny and aesthetic birthday theme you can definitely not go wrong with.
I love this RIP FAKE ID balloons banner from Etsy, and you can complete your setup with a fun silver party backdrop.
Also, a fun idea you can do is get mini alcohol bottles, and decorate them with these RIP FAKE ID labels, and make a little aesthetic setup.
Oh and btw, I highly recommend checking out this cute themed party invite you can text your friends!
4. Lemons Birthday Party Theme
When life gives you lemons, throw a lemon-themed 21st birthday party!
This is such a cute birthday party theme! From the lemon themed balloons, the custom birthday sign from Etsy, and you can set up a fun food table with different meals, snacks, and desserts.
5. Rose Gold Aesthetic
For my rose gold loving girlies, you can’t go wrong with a rose gold themed birthday party!
Here’s a beautiful idea for a rose gold dinner party setup.
You can get the balloons party banner on Amazon, and I love the cute rose gold heart balloons!
Also, you can recreate the dinner table with matching flowers and vases centerpieces, and you can also get rose gold candlestick holders with matching swirl candlesticks to set up the mood.
6. Gold Party Aesthetic
Moving on to a gold themed 21st birthday party!
It’s classy, beautiful, and will definitely be perfect for any girl 🙂
You can get the gold party backdrop on Amazon of course, along with matching gold balloons.
Don’t forget a custom birthday paper banner from Etsy, and a beautiful gold birthday outfit to match!
7. Let's Get Wild Party Theme
For my wild girlies, how cute is this “Let’s Get Wild” party theme for your birthday?!
All you need is a custom made party banner, a red party backdrop, matching red & black balloons, and leopard touches like this leopard print tableware set!
8. Cowgirl Birthday Party Theme
The cowgirl party aesthetic is very popular among 21st birthday party girls these past few years, and I’m totally here for it!
You can plan a super playful and fun birthday party by decorating your place cowgirl-style with cowgirl print balloons and fun cowgirl themed tableware, and my favorite in the image above – a playful cowgirl outfit for the birthday girl!
9. Drunk Barbie Birthday Theme
I think drunk Barbie themed parties are PERFECT and iconic for 21st birthdays!
It’s the perfect chance for you to go for a drunk Barbie theme.
You can create a funny birthday cake with a drunk Barbie topper – all you need is a Barbie doll and miniature cake toppers of a toilet and wine bottles lol
I found these custom birthday cups you can get on Etsy and design something funny with.
Also, I would definitely get Barbie themed balloons and other decorations to make your party a completed drunk Barbie party theme
10. Fancy Red Birthday Party Theme
Red is such an empowering, feminine color, and I LOVE a red party theme for women at any age!
You can’t go wrong with red balloons, and of course – a custom made party banner from Etsy.
BUT, another thing I’m loving is this custom 21st birthday sign that you can completely personalize, then download and print from Etsy.
You can personalize it exactly however you want, and tell the seller your aesthetic and colors, and get a cute 21st birthday sign photo prop to take cute birthday pics with!
11. Classy White Party Theme
Last but not least for today, and perfect for minimalist/clean girl aesthetic girlies – a clean white party aesthetic!
This is definitely an easy one – white party decorations, white balloons, a classy white cake, and a beautiful custom party backdrop from Etsy!
That’s it for now! I hope you found some super fun 21st birthday ideas to plan the perfect 21st birthday party for you! 🙂
OTHER POST'S YOU MAY LIKE...
Free Download
DAILY PLANNER ORGANIZER
This blog post was about 21st birthday ideas.
