Menopause Parties Are Trending. Here’s How to Throw One

From dancing to focusing on self-care, here’s how to ring in your new phase of life

Emily Guy Birken,

AARP

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Published September 17, 2025

A graphic illustration shows four older adult women clinking champagne glasses at a menopause party. There are flame-shaped balloons and a ‘congrats grad’ sign in the room

A menopause party with friends can be a fun and empowering way to celebrate "the change."

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In the months after Dixie Lincoln-Nichols’ last period, she felt an ache that she describes as a desire for something celebratory. “I’m not a party person,” she says. “But my body was asking.”

As cofounder of the online menopause support community Life in the Pause, Lincoln-Nichols is no stranger to the myriad ways women celebrate, honor and even delight in the change of life. Once a year, Life in the Pause hosts a festival to educate, empower and encourage menopausal women.

Menopause — defined as 12 full months without a menstrual period, and occurring in U.S. women at the average age of 51 — marks the end of perimenopause, which can last as long as a decade. Previous generations often kept menopause behind closed doors, but many modern women are refusing to age in silence.

Enter the menopause party.

Partying through ‘The Change’

Baltimore resident Jillian Manko was delighted when she received an invitation to the party her friend (and my sister) Tracie Guy-Decker was calling a “Hot Flash Mob.” “I cracked up and said I had to be there,” Manko says. “Usually every stage of womanhood feels like it’s accompanied with a sad trombone noise. Tracie’s the first person I ever heard of to celebrate that milestone.”

Parties like Guy-Decker’s are part of a growing trend to embrace menopause without embarrassment. Halle Berry called her menopause party a “She-esta” and urges women to throw their own. You’ll also find memes, jokes, and theme ideas all over Pinterest and TikTok.

“These parties allow women to have a collective celebration together,” says Beth Braun, a menopause coach with Elektra Health, a digital health company that offers holistic clinical menopause care and education via telemedicine. “Celebrating is kind of recognizing the power of femininity and older women.”

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Allison Joyce, who also attended Guy-Decker’s menopause party, was inspired to host one for herself when the time comes. “It's a great excuse for a party; plus it goes a long way toward destigmatizing the subject of menopause. It should be celebrated,” Joyce says.

When you’re ready to plan your own party, Braun suggests thinking about how you like to socialize. Do you want a coed bash or just your best girlfriends? Will it be an all-ages crowd or only friends of a certain age? Do you prefer a dance party with 500 of your closest friends or a library date with two other people?

With that in mind, let's get ready to party!

Irreverent party ideas to let loose

Lisa Arbetter, author of the menopause journal WTF Is Happening to Me?!, offers several playful party ideas for the menopausal woman who refuses to take the change — or herself — too seriously.

Hot-flash dance: Dress in your finest Footloose and Flashdance-era fashion, including ripped sweatshirts, leggings and neon headbands, and dance the night away to an all-’80s playlist. A spicy menu, from Bloody Marys to hot tamales, rounds out the theme. But consider passing fans and ice packs around as party favors, since hot foods can intensify hot flashes.
Funeral for your period: Wearing black for mourning (with a touch of red to show you’re not really going to miss that time of the month) will set the tone of this cheeky party. If you’re crafty, Arbetter recommends making tombstone table tents (“RIP Aunt Flo,” for example). For a group activity, try a ceremonial tampon-toss game where each person says something they’re done with forever, then throws a tampon into a coffin-shaped box. Burying it in the backyard is optional.
All-night rager: “This idea is basically a slumber party/rave, because during perimenopause, no one can sleep and everyone is angry,” Arbetter jokes. Turn on the house music, invite your friends to come wearing their baggy jeans, crop tops, Manic Panic hair color and body glitter, and dance yourselves sane. Decorations can include black lights and a fog machine. Give out glow sticks and candy necklaces as party favors.

Empowering parties to celebrate strength

Braun loves menopause celebrations that are bold and joyful for all participants. She offers three party ideas that proclaim, “I am menopausal — hear me roar!”

Goddess party: This is a great multigenerational celebration, since any woman can be divine. Embrace your goddess era and invite women of all ages (and even girls) to celebrate with you. Decorate with candles and flowers, and plan a soundtrack of music by empowering women artists like Beyoncé, Nina Simone, Sharon Jones and Roberta Flack, just to name a few. For activities, bring in a henna tattoo artist or a tarot card reader. End the night with each woman and girl sharing a piece of wisdom, because we can all learn from each other.
Untamed party: “People are calling perimenopause and menopause ‘cougar puberty,’” Braun says. Why not celebrate it with this party theme? Decorate with palm plants and animal-print tablecloths, and serve “Lion’s Tail” cocktails. For snacks, think blood-red finger foods like cherry tomatoes, strawberries and mini red velvet cupcakes. Ask guests to wear leopard-print, snakeskin or other animal-themed clothes. And play soft music, because that’s what soothes the savage beast.
Tea party: Braun describes this theme as “embracing your inner Maggie Smith” through a highly curated tea party. Invite your friends to dress to the nines, and prepare or attend a traditional tea service, complete with sandwiches and cakes. If you DIY, have friends bring their own mismatched china. The ritual is the point: It affirms the power of togetherness and friendship, and commemorates a rite of passage.

Self-care and reflection to help navigate the transition

Lincoln-Nichols focuses on how self-care and celebration can go hand in hand. Here are her party ideas for women who want to feel cherished as they navigate this life transition.

Magic mirror “selfabration”: Mirror work is where “you literally stand in front of the mirror and say affirming words to yourself,” says Lincoln-Nichols. Learning to do mirror work during menopause can be an act of radical self-care. For this celebration, purchase a number of inexpensive hand mirrors and crafting supplies. Adorn your home with positive messages, and play upbeat music while you and your guests decorate and write affirmations on your mirrors. Finish the celebration by sharing something you love about yourselves and one another.
Ancestral connections: Lincoln-Nichols believes that embracing our ties to our ancestors can help support women through the change. Build and honor your own ancestral connections by asking friends to a gathering where they bring pictures or other mementos of their foremothers. Serve refreshments you associate with your own matriarchs. Together, share stories and lessons from these ancestral women who have been where you are now.

Keep in mind, there’s no wrong way to celebrate menopause

When Lincoln-Nichols woke up on the anniversary of her last period — the day she called her “menoversary” — she gave her body the celebration it was asking for, even if it wasn’t exactly a balloons-and-streamers kind of party.

“I just leaned into what I was feeling,” she says. “I got up and did qigong. I put on music and danced, winding myself to the ground and back up again. I wrote down my appreciation for my body. I called my mom and my sisters. I embraced the day in a way that felt right to me.”

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Emily Guy Birken is a Plutus Award-winning freelance writer specializing in the science of irrational money behaviors. Her work appears in outlets like AARP: The Magazine, Fast Company and Yahoo Finance. She’s the author of several personal-finance books, including Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management, written with Joe Saul-Sehy.