The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we do many things in our daily lives, especially how we celebrate our birthdays. Normally we set up  all our party decorations, make Tik Toks with our girls, or blow the candles off our cake surrounded by our family and friends. But don’t worry girl, the pandemic can’t stop you from having all the birthday fun. You can still have a fun celebration by hosting your first virtual birthday party! We will show you how to plan your virtual celebration in three easy steps.

Step One: Choose Your Platform 

The first step to planning your virtual birthday party is choosing the platform you will use to host your virtual celebration. This step is similar to selecting a venue or deciding where you’d like to host your in-person birthday celebrations. When choosing your platform, think about how many people you’d like to invite to your birthday party and how long your party will be because each platform has different features and limitations. You can test each of the platforms to see which one is best for you.

Zoom

Many of you may already be familiar with Zoom as you might’ve used it for your classes or to keep in touch with your family and friends. Zoom is an ideal platform to host a virtual birthday celebration because it has a variety of great features. To celebrate with Zoom’s Basic Plan, you can hold 40-minute meetings for up to 100 guests and once the 40 minutes is complete, you can extend the meeting by starting a new one.

Quick Tips for Celebrating with Zoom:

• Schedule your meeting for the date and time you’d like to have your virtual celebration and keep the Meeting ID number and link to share with your party guests
• During your celebration, get creative with Zoom reactions and virtual backgrounds for the ultimate birthday vibes
• Record the meeting to capture all the birthday fun

Houseparty

Houseparty is another great platform you can use to gather your friends for a fun celebration. Houseparty lets you invite up to seven of your BFF’s in a room to play games. Their game selection includes the popular Heads Up, UNO, Finish the Song Lyrics, Chips and Guac, Quick Draw, Word Racers, and Pick Me. Houseparty also has an option that lets you enjoy a karaoke session during your celebration.

Quick Tips for Celebrating with Houseparty:

• Lock your room or enable private mode to avoid any unexpected party guests
• Send a Face Mail or pass a note to remind your guests the party will be starting soon 

Skype 

Skype is ideal for celebrations with large groups of people. Skype’s free group video calls allow you to chat with up to 50 people for a maximum of four hours at a time. Skype is quick and easy to use because your guests don’t have to create an account and can join the call right from their internet browser! 

Quick Tips for Celebrating with Skype

•  Share photos and videos in the chat  
•  Use the chat to keep track of winners of challenges or games

Step Two: Create Your Invite 

Once you’ve selected the platform you’ll be using, the next step is to create and send out your virtual invitations. When creating your virtual invite include the date, time, platform, and link to your virtual celebration. If you’re using Zoom you can include the meeting ID on the invite. You could also personalize your invitations by adding your guest’s name and a different animal or flower to each invite. If you want to express your creativity, here are the best free websites to design your virtual invitations:

Canva 

Canva is a free graphic design website that has a variety of pre-designed templates you can customize to create your invite. They also have the option to design one from scratch. If you’re using Zoom you can also design your own personalized virtual background with Canva’s virtual background templates to be used during your celebration! 

Adobe Spark 

Adobe Spark is another free graphic design website that provides pre-designed templates and the option to create your own birthday invitations. You could also use Adobe Spark to design a welcome slide to be shared on your screen when your guests arrive at your virtual celebration.

Step Three: Plan your Activities! 

The final but most important step when hosting a virtual celebration is to plan some fun virtual activities! There are a lot of activities you can include in your birthday celebration. Don’t be afraid to get creative and impress your friends with some memorable activities. Here are some creative birthday party activities you can include in your virtual celebration:

Birthday Slideshow

Get the party started with a cute birthday slideshow that features pictures of you and your girl gang with your favourite tunes playing in the background. Feel free to include all those funny selfies you’ve sent to your group chat. 

Virtual Games

There’s nothing like some healthy competition between your girl gang. Here are a few virtual party games that will bring out the competitive spirit in all your party guests.

• Create a personalized game of Who Knows the Birthday Girl Best or Who’s the Most Likely To using Kahoot
• Host your own version of Elle’s Song Association Game, choose 15 words and see who can successfully sing a song with the word under 30 seconds.
• Host a Trivia Night by gathering some interesting facts about your favourite shows, movies, celebrities, or music. 

Movie Night

Watch your girl gang’s favourite movie with Google Chrome’s Netflix Party extension. Just select the movie you’d like to watch and share the link to your party. If you have trouble deciding which movie to watch, let your girls vote by sharing a poll in the group chat.

Slumber Party

Put on a comfy outfit and prepare for a night of relaxation and pampering yourself! Send a care package with some sheet masks, nail polish, bath bombs, and lotion so you and your girls can enjoy a night of self-care and girl chat. 

Send a Girl Gang Strong Celebration Box 

If you need a quick and simple way to bring the celebration to your friends, Girl Gang Strong’s Celebration Box has all the birthday essentials you need to celebrate with your girl gang! Beauty products for a slumber party, treats for your movie night, and fun challenges for your girl gang! The Celebration Box features a great selection of items including some fun tips for your virtual celebration. Just send a box to each of your guests to celebrate with you and to thank them for attending your virtual birthday party.