Milestone birthdays
A moment, made forever.
A milestone birthday, made into one piece by everyone who came.
What this one is actually like.
A milestone birthday is usually one afternoon in one house, and it is the only kind of birthday with a guest list wider than the family — cousins who have not been in the same room since the last one, and two or three friends who knew the person before anyone else in the room did.
The people holding the best photographs are rarely the people organising the party. A sixtieth is being organised by someone born after most of the good pictures were taken.
It is a date nobody argues about. Round numbers get planned six months out, which is more lead time than any other occasion on this list.
Forty people will take photographs that afternoon. The person the day is about will see almost none of them, because the pictures stay on the phones of the people who took them.
One link. Everyone adds their piece.
Send one link to the group you are already in. People add photos, notes, a voice message from the car — no accounts, nothing to download. You approve what goes in. We compose it into a single work, print it on archival stock, and send it to the person the occasion is about.
Running one of these.
- How long to give people
- Two weeks is enough. Send the link the day the invitations go out, not the week of the party.
- How many usually contribute
- Eight to fifteen people contribute at a family milestone. Grandchildren contribute at close to twice the rate of anyone else.
- What to ask them for
- Name the year and the place. "Brighton, 1994, the caravan" does more work than a paragraph about what someone means to you.
Three pieces.
Each one sets how many people can add to it, and the largest size you can order. Choose any size up to that — the price is for the piece, not the inches.
Classic
12 × 12 in
Select Classic- Archival inks
- Gallery-grade paper
- Voice notes not included
- Living Memory
Heirloom
20 × 28 in
Select Heirloom- Custom art tweaks
- Certificate of authenticity
- Voice notes
- Living Memory