Happy 40th birthday: wishes, video ideas and GIFs

Forty is the birthday of reading-glasses jokes and black balloons. A little of that is fun, but a video lasts longer than a party, so keep the teasing affectionate.

• Then and now. A photo from their twenties beside a recent one, with a cheeky line in between.
• Things they say now. A card listing their newest catchphrases (“Is it cold in here, or is it me?”).
• The children as reporters. Ask the kids what they think forty means. Their answers are usually the best part of the video.
• Turn it round. End with what the last decade has brought: the family, the move, the job, the friendships.

At forty the people in the video span generations: parents, siblings, school friends, colleagues. One person puts the video together; ask everyone else to film a short clip on their phone and send it to you. There is no shared upload link.

What to ask each person to say

• Their name and how they know the birthday person.
• One memory, in a sentence or two.
• One wish for the next ten years.
• Fifteen seconds at most, so the messages don’t take over.

The what to say in a birthday video message guide has more prompts to send round.

Under Add music you can choose one of the site’s own Happy Birthday arrangements, which are free to use, including in public posts. Or pick a song from the year they turned 18 and add the file from your device; people tend to love the music of their late teens most. Social networks may mute well-known tracks in public posts, but a video sent privately is unaffected.