The Exotic Teapot

My brother who is retiring will be formally recognized at a dinner party by his employer. However, I would like to have a celebration party for him inviting his select friends and family members. Are you expected to have games at such an event or is it more of a mingling get together with cocktails, tea, coffee and snack foods? Unfortunately I have never been to one of these types of parties.

You can have a few games if you want, but not too many as it could take the attention away from your brother's retirement. Since this celebrates an important event in his life, I think it would be nice if some friends can share significant moments that they had with your brother. It's more memorable that way.

Some guests will bring retirement gifts for your brother. You may want to make your invitations indicate what your brother plans to do now that he is retiring. This will help guests know what to purchase if they do decide to bring a small gift. Knowing this could also help with your decorations. For example, if he plans to travel you could purchase some posters of places around the world. Or, if he plans to golf, your decorations could center on this activity.

Games would be good, but it should involve some facts or events in you brother's career. You can have a trivia game or a charades game, where the topics are about his first job, his first boss, his favourite office, and similar stuff.