The ultimate guide to your 18th birthday! Even though 18 is the age you can legally drink in the UK, here are some ideas that will be perfect for everyone, drinking or not – just add alcohol if you prefer (and if the law allows!)
Here are 18th birthday ideas for the high school graduate or for the girly girl, ready for college birthday gifts that are perfect for someone going off to college and epic ways to celebrate turning 18 and becoming an adult!
What should I do for my 18th birthday?
1. Wear a birthday crown and sash
To feel like the princess you are on your special day.
2. Enjoy big balloons
3. Swim in the sea with friends
Whether it’s cold or warm, this is the perfect adrenaline rush and a birthday you’ll always remember (just stay safe and adhere to all safety advice!)
4. Set up the perfect Aphrodite inspired girls night in party
5. Visit the most instagrammable cafe in your area
6. Hold a roller disco
Such a ‘Barbie-esque’ thing to do, I don’t know why I think of Barbie, but it’s such a cool vintage party idea!
7. Visit a cat cafe
Fulfill your lifelong dream and spend your birthday surrounded by cats and kittens, one of the best 18th birthday ideas!
8. A 24 hour gameathon
Stay up for 24 hours in your favourite virtual world to celebrate your birthday!
9. Dinner and a movie
An oldie but a goodie, sometimes it’s the best ever way to celebrate your birthday and means you can spend some quality time with your loved ones.
10. Visit an amusement park
11. Go on a glamorous road trip
To a famous location
12. Get a tattoo
You can legally get a tattoo now you have reached the age of adulthood!
13. Go to a concert
14. A birthday shopping trip or shopping spree
15. Take professional photos
16. Go glamping
17. Visit a water park
18. Arrange a masked ball
19. Enjoy a cupcake pullapart
20. Throw a vintage dance
This is an adorable birthday idea, plus it will be hilarious watching your classmates and friends trying to master Lindyhop. You could create some really gorgeous vintage inspired decor to accord with your theme and even go for milkshakes afterwards!
21. Treat yourself to a new perfume
You’ll always associate the scent with memories of your 18th birthday
What should I do for my 18th birthday with no friends?
1. Eat rose and vanilla macarons
2. A baking challenge
At home to make a brand new recipe you always wanted to try. Light a rose scented candle, scent your home with your new bake and get flour everywhere!
3. Spend the whole day in a rose garden
Or any flower garden! Immerse yourself in the sights and smells and delight in the fragrance
4. Buy yourself a memorable piece of jewellery
A piece you’ve always wanted to wear
5. Open lots of blind boxes
6. Visit a beautiful historical location
Or stately home – even dress up to accord and feel at one with the dreamy aurroundings!
7. Get your hair cut and professionally styled
8. Attend a beauty workshop or masterclass
9. Visit a glamorous location
Whether it is a high end store, a fashion house or museum (fascinating!) or one of the most instagrammable locations, it will be such a special, memorable and magical experience.
10. Visit an animal sanctuary
11. Get your makeup done professionally
12. Try on lacy and beautiful day dresses
And buy your favourite one
13. Get your nails done
Check out some girly french tip nails here and gorgeous marble nail art designs for inspiration!
14. Order an entire giant Millie’s cookie for yourself
No feeling guilty for not sharing with others!
15. Gift yourself a big bouquet of flowers
16. Make a manifestation wall
With everything you love and want to surround yourself with now you have entered adulthood! Create a beautiful gallery wall and frame beautiful prints of the locations you want to visit, the things you want to wear, all the goals you’d love to achieve.
What can I do for my 18th birthday with no money?
1. Take a flower petal bath
2. Hold a puppy party
Invite your friends and their dogs too, as a little celebratory get together for your pets. You could even bake them a dog friendly cake to share!
3. Organize a puppy sleepover
4. Collect all the free samples you can and try them all
5. Locate all the birthday freebies in the shops around your area
6. Go to the beach
7. Swim in the sea with friends
8. Camp out or stay at a haunted location
This is perfect for if your birthday falls around Halloween
9. Go camping
10. A traditional birthday party with a cool theme
This is one of the coolest budget ideas as you can DIY a lot of the decor and come up with an exciting theme. There are so many cute ones to try, like ‘diamonds are a girls best friend’ or Legally Blonde, or Friends, sometimes the cheesiest ones are the most fun ever!
11. Plant a garden with your friends
12. Set up a water park in your back yard
So much fun and cheaper than visiting a real water park, just ask around your friends and fellow students to see if they have water slides and apparatus you can borrow. A good idea is to ask every guest kindly to bring any water apparatus they have, then put everything together to create an at home water park!
13. Go stargazing or watch the sunrise
Why not see in your birthday by watching the sun rise on your special day
14. Make candyfloss topped cocktails or mocktails
15. Make a cupcake pullapart
These are epic for parties and really become the perfect centrepiece, without hardly costing anything at all! Just produce a large batch of fairy cakes or cupcakes, arrange them in your desired way, such as in the shape of a number, letter or initials, for example ’18’, then smother icing and decorations over the top, as if it were just one cake.
16. Throw a flower festival
Decorate with foliage entwined with balloons, fairy lights and petal confetti. You could even make a flower wall backdrop with paper flowers!
17. Set up a baking competition or challenge
Between your friends! Why not divide in to two teams and have a super fun bakeoff! Don’t forget to reserve at least one person to be the judge of the competition. You could make alcoholic dishes or non alcoholic dishes – the former might mean the alcohol goes elsewhere other than the bake, but is a great way to enjoy drinking with friends. Sober or drunk, this game is so much fun and the losers could be made to wash up afterwards!
What do you buy someone for an 18th birthday?
1. Buy them a birthday sash and crown
2. A stunning keepsake box
One of the best 18th birthday gift ideas, if you’re looking for birthday gift ideas for an 18 year old female, look no further!
Placing objects you hold dear in a special container such as a keepsake box will protect them for years to come. You could even personalise it with the name of your recipient, or with a beautiful quote. It could even be a music box, you are never too old to receive one of these beautiful creations and it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the milestone of turning 18!
3. A beautiful and girly planner
This is perfect for if they are heading off to college, helping them with organising everything!
4. Gift a set of eco friendly beauty essentials
5. A beautiful photo album
This makes such a beautiful gift and you can even personalise with their name or a beautiful quote engraved on it, they will be sure to treasure it forever. Even with the advent of all things digital in the world, photo albums are a beautiful way to look over your photos, cards, letters, and other items that are sized well to be placed in an album, a way of displaying their most precious memories and protecting them for future generations. It’s one of the best college birthday gifts for their 18th birthday as they can use it to treasure the memories they make and as a little memento of their loved ones back at home. Definitely check out more gifts for college girls here!
6. A photo printer
They can use to print their favourite photos for their album. You could even gift them a special photo album every year for their birthday for them to fill up with new memories, one of the most special gift ideas they will always be so grateful for!
7. Dainty jewellery
8. A digital frame
Digital frames are convenient and artful devices that can sync directly with your phone and can display a multitude of photos! It’s easy to switch out different genres, such as family or a recent trip or graduation if you so choose and you can even create a slideshow.
9. Make a gallery wall for them
This is a really creative and special gift idea that is perfect for their 18th birthday! Simply create a beautiful arrangement of special photos and framed quotes on their wall, to make it look breathtakingly pretty. This is also one of the It may be one of the more unusual 18th birthday gift ideas but they will remember it forever.
10. A pretty and girly new mixer for baking
11. A ‘now you’re an adult’ box
I hope you enjoyed these girliest things to do on your birthday! Check out these college party ideas for more fun party games for your 18th birthday! ♡
Also check out this ultimate college life hacks section, filled with dorm room decor ideas for 2022 and beyond, what to bring to college and university and girly graduation ideas, perfect for when it’s time to graduate high school or college!
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