Can I plan a milestone birthday or anniversary party in Morocco?

Morocco is one of my favourite places in the world for a milestone celebration — a fortieth, a fiftieth, a big anniversary, a family reunion with a reason. There are no legal formalities to navigate as with a wedding, so it's pure design: I get to build an experience around the person or the couple. The country's natural theatre — the riads, the desert, the souks, the music — means even a simple gathering feels lavish and unmistakably special.

The format I reach for most is taking over a private riad or villa as your base, then layering experiences across two or three days. A themed welcome dinner with a feast cooked on-site and gnaoua or andalusi musicians; a day excursion to the Agafay desert with quad bikes or a lantern dinner; a private cooking class or a hammam-and-spa afternoon; a hot-air balloon flight at dawn for the headline morning. For a big birthday, a surprise element — a flash of fireworks the city permits, a belly-dance or fire performance, a personalised cake — lands beautifully.

Anniversaries lean more intimate and romantic, and there the script changes: a private dinner on a rooftop or a dune, a couples' hammam, a vow renewal woven in, a photographer for the morning after. I've arranged surprise anniversary trips where one partner had no idea until the riad door opened, and the planning there is all about discretion and timing. Either way, the ingredients are flexible — you tell me the person and the milestone, and I assemble it.

On lead time: a group party with travelling guests wants three to six months so people can book and a villa can be secured on your dates, while an intimate couple's celebration can come together in weeks. Budget scales exactly with guest count and how many premium experiences you stack on. My honest advice is to pick one or two showstopper moments rather than cramming the schedule — the gaps to wander a souk or nap by the pool are part of what makes it a holiday, not just an event.