9 Ways to Celebrate a COVID-19 Special Occasion
We have missed out on a lot of things to celebrate since COVID-19 hit in March. Weddings, graduations, births celebrations all have been forced to become smaller, more intimate gatherings if not canceled altogether. I know, I personally have experienced my college graduation getting pushed back (twice). It can be super discouraging not knowing when that special event in your life will be happening. This forces us to get creative, and even though it isn’t as great as the actual event doing small things to celebrate, make up for it! So if you're the one with the special event or maybe it is for your loved ones, here are ideas to help you celebrate!
A Video Collage
A video collage of messages from loved ones can be super meaningful regardless of what is happening around us. Send out a mass message to all your loved ones, special people in their lives. Ask them to send a small video of them to let the person know how proud they are of them or to congratulate them. Once they send it back to you, you can use iMovie on any Apple product to put together a video. It's a super meaningful gift and can be kept for a lifetime! Who isn't a video camera expert at this point? We’ve literally been spending all our lives on Zoom any ways. Recording a simple video shouldn’t be too difficult for our more technically challenged loved ones.
Make a Fancy Meal or Order In
I don’t know about anyone else, but food can make or break an event for me. If a loved one would go out of their way to make me a fancy dinner or order one, I would assume they did something wrong. JOKING! But honestly I would feel special, there is something about someone I love going above and beyond just for me that I love! If your loved one is celebrating a big accomplishment, you should definitely go all out for them! Even if it’s just simple Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets (my ultimate comfort food) or as expensive as lobster or sushi, make it at home or order it. The important thing is to make it special and make sure they know that they are special.
Get Dressed up
There is something about putting a full face of makeup on and real pants that makes the day special. Lately, I’ve been wearing leggings and sweatshirts every day, so any excuse to dress up is one I will take. It's all about celebrating the small things in life. So for any special occasion in your life, put on some real pants or a skirt or dress. Take the time (like we used to) to feel your most fabulous. And have anyone in your house do it too. Take some pictures to remember the occasion. When my sorority’s semi-formal was canceled due to COVID-19, we all dressed up anyway and celebrated our last semi-formal.
Before I graduated, my house had a themed Thursday (Thursday nights we always went out). We had so many different themes; glitter, greek gods and goddesses, and even male celebrities. Getting dressed up in all the outfits, just gave us something to be excited about.
Microevent
A microevent is a tiny gathering of people. Rather than having a giant wedding celebration, a microevent would be only the essential people within a wedding, the wedding party and immediate family members. It's the people that mean the most, also add the most to a celebration. Hopefully, those people have been keeping safe due to COVID-19, but if not then you have to make those tough decisions of who can come.
Cameo
If you have never heard of Cameo, you're missing out! Cameo provides you with an avenue to talk to celebrities (well kind of). You pay celebrities a set amount to say whatever message you would like them to say. They have all sorts of celebrities for all kinds of prices. For example, if your loved one happens to love Real Housewives on Bravo, you could pay to have their favorite housewife congratulate them on their big event. However, prices do vary. Nene Leaks is $500, whereas new housewives can be under $100. They definitely have a celebrity for everyone from athletes to movie stars, there is alot to choose from. Cameo
Special Deliveries
No every day task gets me more excited than opening a package. I love to open them, even if it’s just toilet paper from Amazon that i ordered yesterday. I still love it! It just makes me feel so special. So imagine sending a package to your loved one to celebrate a special occasion in their lives. Even if you can not be with them right now, a special delivery will let them know you were thinking about them (and it gives them an excuse to call). Nowadays, you can literally send someone anything; flowers, food, or a gift box. Here’s a few I found that really make the occasion:
Happy Box Store- this company is great! They allow you to pick super cute gifts to send to loved ones. They have a variety of cute boxes and amazing gifts to choose from. Or don’t feel like putting together your own box, that's cool too. They have already curated boxes ready to ship just include your message.
Milk Bar Store- Send some sweet treats to help your loved one celebrate!
Parade
If you're fortunate enough to live close to your loved one, organize a car parade or even walking parade for them. Have all your family and friends decorate their cars and drive to your loved one’s home. It will be a complete surprise, and they will feel super special. You can get super creative with this one. But this works for every special occasion; a birthday celebration, a graduation, and even a new baby being born. It's a great opportunity to all come together for a loved one and get to see them kind of.
obviously not like this, much more social distanced!
An Outdoor Celebration
Even though it's getting a little colder now and the likelihood of wanting to stand outside for a long period of time is definitely going down, an outdoor celebration can still be fun (especially, if you live somewhere warm). I suggest getting outdoor heaters and lighting a bonfire. The bigger the better. Everyone can bring their own snack and drinks. The point is to just be together all celebrating a momentous occasion. Also, if you have a bonfire in the middle of everyone, then you will be forced to stay 6 feet apart due to the fire directly in front of you!
Decorate
Decorating is an excellent way to make someone feel special! When I was younger (and hopefully still now) my parents would hang a Happy Birthday banner above the door to our bedroom when it was our birthday. It made us feel so special, that I continued this tradition when I went to college. Whenever it was my best friend's birthday or valentines day, I would blow up A TON of balloons, hang a banner, and decorate the rest of her room. I had a super fun time decorating her room, and she felt special for the rest of the week as all the decoration stayed there. After I graduated, my parents have done the same. They hung a 2020 graduation banner in the kitchen. It makes me feel so special when I see it every day over the past 6 months.
This was my best friends 21st birthday. We decorated the whole house for it!
Even though we aren’t in the ideal situation, there are still ways to celebrate our’s and our loved ones’ special occasions and big events. All we have to do is get creative and have some fun, if you're smiling, it is more likely that others around you will smile and be happy too.