Throw a Backwards Birthday Party

If you're tired of throwing the same birthday parties every year, you should try a backwards birthday party. With this kind of party, everything is done, worn, or decorated in reverse. Guests wear their clothes backwards. Dessert is served first. Writing on banners appears backwards... You get the picture. Because of this unique twist, the planning can be just as much fun as the party itself. Chances are you'll enjoy writing the invitations, decorating the party space, preparing the food, and setting up the entertainment.

Steps

Writing the Invitations

1. Reverse the orientation of the card. You can do this with blank cards from your local department store. Start writing on what would normally be the back. On the inside of the invite, begin the text on the left page. Continue writing on the right page.
2. Use backwards spelling, where appropriate. Of course, you don't want to turn a fun invitation into a chore for you or your reader. However, you could spell key words or abbreviations, such as “birthday” or “R.S.V.P.,” in reverse. Alternatively, you could write the entire invite with backwards sentences and lettering. Add a header telling your reader to hold up the invite to a mirror. You could use ideas like:
   • You're invited to Susie's YTRAP YADHTRIB!
   • We need to know how much DOOF and SKNIRD to serve. P.V.S.R. to jsmith@emailaddress.com.
   • “Mirror, mirror and some light! Help me read this backward invite.” From here, you could start with the R.S.V.P. section, putting the letters, words, and sentences in reverse.
3. Word the invitation like a thank-you note. If backwards writing isn't for you, try working backwards in time. “Thank” your invitees for attending the party. Make sure you include details that wouldn't normally go in a thank-you card. This includes the date, time, place, R.S.V.P. info, etc. You could say:
   • Thank you for coming to Susie's backwards birthday party on June 1, 2018. We hope you enjoyed spending time at the local skating rink located at 123 Yellow Brick Road from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. We really appreciate everyone who informed us they couldn't make it by emailing jsmith@emailaddress.com. This gave us a better idea of how much food to order.
4. Provide instructions for your guests. Tell them to wear their clothes backwards and talk backwards. (A few words and phrases are okay.) Ask them to write backwards on the card and to-and-from tags on the gifts they buy. You could also ask them to wrap the gifts with the wrong side facing outward.

Setting Up the Party Space

1. Reverse the entrance and exit, if possible. Tell your guests to enter through the back door and exit through the front door. Ask them to walk backwards as they come in and walk out. Have them say, “Goodbye” as they come in and “Hello” as they leave.
   • If you're throwing the party at a public place like a skating rink, you might not be able to reverse the entrance and exit for safety reasons. Work with the owner or manager for improvisation ideas.
2. Hang decorations backwards and upside down. If you have individual banner letters, hang them from right to left. For a single banner, you could use stencils placed backwards or create a backwards banner with design software. If you're using balloons, blow them up and fasten them off with a string. Hang them from the ceiling by taping the string to the ceiling.
3. Put the place settings under the table. Set the chairs aside or stash them in a closet for the party. Lay the tablecloth on the floor under the table and arrange the place settings around the perimeter. Have everyone sit on pillows or directly on the floor when the food is served.
4. Play movies in reverse. You can do this with free websites or software like iMovie. Upload the movie and follow the instructions for reversal. Alternatively, you could play a movie backwards in Quicktime by advancing the movie to the end and pressing the “Reverse” button. The only drawback is that the Quicktime option doesn't produce sound.

Organizing the Food

1. Serve dessert first. Don't make your guests wait for the cake or cupcakes. Make it the main course! To make the meal even more interesting, have everyone eat their cake slices starting with the wider end. If you're serving cupcakes, try having them start at the unfrosted end.
2. Make lunch (or dinner) look like dessert. Use savory ingredients in a dish that looks sweet. You could make meatloaf (or lentil loaf) “cupcakes.” In this dish, the loaf stands in as the cake. Spread mashed potatoes over the top as a savory “frosting.”
3. Make inside-out sandwiches. Cut each slice of bread into halves or quarters. Do the same with the deli slices you plan to use. Place the deli slices and lettuce on the outside of the bread. Smear the spread on the opposite side of the main ingredients. Then, place the other slice of bread on top of the spread and continue loading the lettuce and deli slices on the other side. Hold everything together with a large toothpick.

Setting Up the Entertainment

1. Play cool potato. This game flips the rules of hot potato. Have the guests pass around an object while a backmasked song plays in the background. When the music stops, the person holding the object wins a prize.
2. Flip pin the tail on the donkey. Blindfold each player and have them work with a picture of a donkey, as you would in the regular game. You can do this two different ways. The first is to have your guests try to pin a nose on the donkey and give a prize to the one who gets closest. The other option is to give the prize to the person who pins the tail farthest away from the backside of the donkey.
3. Play sardines. This game is a reversal of hide-and-seek. One player hides while the rest try to find them. As each player finds the person hiding, they hide in that same spot. The game ends when all but one person is hiding. That person gets to hide first if you decide to play Round 2.
4. Have backwards karaoke. Start by backmasking instrumental versions of the birthday person's favorite songs. Then, transcribe the lyrics backwards by hand or with word processing software. Print enough copies for everyone.

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Sources and Citations

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