I’ve always connoted wellness, and all it encompasses, with quiet moments—I’m no wellness expert, but I certainly appreciate my daily meditation and occasional massage for solitude. Even during a group yoga or workout class, despite being surrounded by others, the self-grounding these activities present overpower outside noise so that I could be the only person in the room.
During a recent lymphatic drainage treatment at the new Remedy Place in Boston, I was surprised to learn about their open-floor plan that encourages social wellness, where small group gatherings are popular, especially birthday parties. As an aging millennial, I may not “sip Bacardi like it’s my birthday” anymore, but you can bet I still sip ice-cold martinis to celebrate my new year. So to think about spending my special day in an icy cold plunge—not in solitude, but with my friends watching me—threw me for a loop.
“Although wellness is deeply personal, when you make it social, it becomes that much more impactful; there’s laughter, deep conversation, moments of stillness, and it’s a completely different kind of celebration,” says Jonathan Leary, founder and CEO of Remedy Place, who says the social wellness club’s four locations have hosted birthday parties for a wide range of ages. Leary himself recently attended a friend’s birthday at their SoHo club where the group rotated through cryotherapy, lymphatic compression, and finished with a guided ice bath. “What stood out most wasn’t the experiences themselves, but the energy in the room; everyone was present, phones down, genuinely connecting,” he recalls.
In a world where wellness continues to dominate headlines, we’ve already witnessed how traditional debaucherous events have been replaced by more conscious hours, from corporate retreats to bachelorette workouts, so it only makes sense that wellness birthday parties are now on the rise—from days stacked with Reformer pilates and health bowls followed by a spa day to med spas with thermal circuits and group saunas.
At Lolu, a boutique social sauna and cold plunge studio in Nashville, the demand for birthday buyouts began with a personal ritual that sparked guests to organize more than a solo session on their big day. “It all started with surprising [guests] during their cold plunge sessions by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and having them blow out a candle on a floating donut,” shares cofounder Chirag Challa, who recently hosted his own birthday celebration at Lolu. “Many of my birthdays have started at 7 p.m. and gone into the wee hours of the morning,” he says. “I was stoked this year to plan a 7 a.m. birthday party that started with a run, followed by contrast therapy. My favorite highlight was walking into the sauna and seeing all my homies while Rüfüs Du Sol was playing on the speakers.”
As someone who’s planned the majority of my adult birthdays around dinners, dancing and DJs, I can relate to the sense of calm this change of pace must bring, despite the certain hesitation that some friends might show by branding this as a birthday “party.”
“What’s the song—‘It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to?’” jokes Lauren Clawson, who celebrated her 40th birthday at Longevity Club in Charleston, South Carolina. “If anyone wasn’t thrilled about sweating it out at 10 a.m., I didn’t hear about it directly,” says Clawson about the Sweat Therapy class she arranged for 14 of her closest friends followed by fresh juice on the rooftop and a healthful lunch.
According to Longevity Club’s owner, Jennie Brooks, demand for their private wellness-themed parties has grown 300 percent in the past five years. Each booking is tailored to the clients’ vision and can include a traditional fitness class than wellness routine (like HIIT or barre then a soundbath meditation and infrared sauna) or a “Lunch and Learn” where a nutritionist educates over a locally catered and healthful lunch. “Incorporating wellness into milestone events is a great way to celebrate your health and your community,” says Brooks.
While group getaways to wellness retreats or holistic-focused hotels is nothing new, hotel spas from Turks and Caicos to Tipperary, Ireland have also noticed a steady uptick in both day bookings and multi-day weekends—so much so that they’ve added dedicated packages catered to birthday reservations.
“We really saw this trend start picking up in the post-COVID period with groups approaching wellness celebrations with much more purpose—they re not just booking spa time, they re curating meaningful experiences centered around self-care and connection,” explains Holly Edgin, director of spa at The Maybourne Beverly Hills. Edgin says she plans “several” birthday bookings a week, usually consisting of three to six women who come in for an entire spa day.
Since 2023, Civana Wellness Resort Spa in Arizona has witnessed a 48 percent rise in social milestone retreats, with birthdays as a clear majority. To meet this growing demand, Civana now offers a dedicated social retreat specialist who collaborates with each group to curate their customized itinerary. They most recently hosted a 60th birthday party which included a private Aqua Therapy Circuit, sound healing and intention-setting ceremonies.
“Wellness birthdays offer a chance to step away from the noise, celebrate in a beautiful setting, and return home feeling better than when you arrived,” says Seamus Redmond, online manager at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland. While Ireland may not be well known as a wellness destination, Redmond shared that over the last two years the resort received a steady increase of requests for birthday wellness experiences. This summer, they added three new offerings, including the Recharge Health Bar, fitness classes in The Secret Garden and a curated offering of clean beauty and athleisure at The Boutique.
At the start of 2025, Wymara Resort + Villas in the Turks and Caicos also launched a new daily wellness schedule that presents guests with unlimited complimentary classes, including sunset yoga, sound bath meditation, HIIT workouts and mat pilates. The resort has particularly recognized an uptick among women traveling together for milestone birthdays like 30, 35, 40, 50 and 60 from Greater New York and Miami as key markets.
“There’s something deeply meaningful about celebrating another year of life by investing in your wellbeing alongside the people you love most,” Edgin emphasizes. “It’s celebration with intention—and that feels very aligned with where luxury wellness is heading.”