It starts with a theme.
We were pushing and shoving our way through a busy street
market in Hong Kong. It was Gab’s first out of the country trip and she just
turned 8 months. We figured she’d be big enough to experience things and young
enough to be carried and we didn’t yet have to chase her.
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| Baby-wearing Gab at HK Disneyland |
So there I was baby
wearing her in a market full of exquisite finds… when suddenly a unique stall
caught my eye. They have on display beautiful hair pieces like the ones you see
in 168 but better designs and quality, they had “payonetas” with
textured/uneven patterned gem stones, ones which you see being worn by donyas.
They also had dainty bracelets with ribbons and laces that you slap on your arm
for it to curl around your wrist. Oh wow, I feel like I’m in an old Hollywood
studio full of props!
And so I checked my cash on hand and I blew them all on
assorted trinkets because right then and there I told myself this will be
Gaby’s theme, though I did not yet had a term for it but I said this is it! I’m
buying these for the “DRESS ME UP” station!
4 months left and counting.
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| Do I look Hampton-like mommy? (see stage mom, reflection) |
After that whirlwind of ideas, I knew what I wanted for her
birthday but I just became too busy to continue with the preparation. Every now
and then I would brain storm with my family about what we should do and who we
should invite. We knew we wanted it to be simple but the grandma just can’t
help making it another one of her “bonggang debuts” (she already had 4 by the
way, which includes her own, my sister and mine plus my brother’s wedding)
Gaby’s birthday is her new chance to throw a party! This means… DAMAGE a.k.a.
expenses! The grandfather decided that we celebrate the party in Anvaya and I
liked the idea since (honestly) it meant that I can invite those that we
“should” invite and only those who are dear to us will be able to come and make
that effort to go all the way to Bataan! It’s perfect!
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| Trying out the hairpieces on Gab |
So we had a venue and Anvaya Club was supposedly the one to
do all the catering, activities, setup, etc. But no… They initially said yes to
us but since the date we wanted fell on a Lenten season, they had a lot of
activities happening on that day. It means they won’t be able to accommodate
our event and we didn’t want to be a bother so luckily, my ninong’s private
resort just opened and it’s just 7 minutes away from Anvaya (yes we timed it). The
place is perfect for our Hampton themed party (we decided to name the theme
Hampton/Polo/Tea party). It has a big lawn and an infinity pool, a pavilion and
a huge wooden plank that we envisioned to be the stage. The thing is, it is
just a venue.
So we had a venue and a theme.
When I blinked, Gaby is 10 months old. 2 months to go before
her big day. I said to myself, I used to work at this stuff and I didn’t want
to hire any stylist or coordinator to do all the things I used to getting paid
for in the first place. So I was stubborn, despite all my mother’s reactions
about getting a professional that specializes in kiddie parties. I was intent
in doing it all on my own. I thought that if I was going to have a baby once
and my baby is turning 1 and getting Christened once I didn’t want to miss a
single detail of it. WARNING: It is not cheaper to do this. But I thought it
will be. Haha! I did my research and I compiled a lot of pegs for the look and color combinations that I want. You will want to narrow your theme down to a few pegs and really try to stick to it.
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| What people should wear PEG |
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| What people should wear PEG |
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| Treats station PEG |
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| Color combination PEG |
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| Wooden signage |
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| overall look and feel |
So we chose a studio to do Gab’s shots for her invitation. I
went with my friend’s advice and tried out The Little Angel’s studio. We were very happy when we met the sisters from The Little Angel’s studio
and one of them turned out to be a choir member of mine back in elementary! So
we had Gab’s photo shoot and the results were awesome that it fitted really
well with our theme. We also got them for the event coverage and photo booth,
plus we were given a great good deal!
After getting the high-res files from the shoot, I
immediately designed the layout of the invites and had them proofed. I printed
them on photo paper, cut, pasted them onto boards and inside envelopes they
went. And I made Save-the-dates on paper magnets as well. I figured Gab and I
could be side by side on people’s fridges because I also had those during my
debut and people told me that my face is still on their fridge doors! We also had her gift registry at Rustan's and Hobbes & Landes and almost all her gifts came from the lists we had. People now are more understanding about gift registries as they want you to have things that you and your baby want and need so gift registries are done a month before the event and before the invitations are sent out.
We had a theme, a venue and we had invitations! So that’s
probably 20% done or 10%?
We finalized all our list of invites and then we had a total
of 130 guests to be invited. We tried really hard to cut them down but it just
wasn’t possible. Good thing Gaby didn’t have a father side to add to the
invitees! Teehee! Fast forward a total of 115 guests arrived to the party and
so my party-expert mom was right that we should always expect 10% less of the
invites to actually come. The invitations were distributed a month early
because the venue is far and people had to be informed early so that they can
fix their schedules.
I mapped all the stations and activities we wanted during
the event. We wanted to have, a croquet station, shoot the ring, tea station,
canapés, ice cream and ice cones, refreshments station, dress me up and egg
painting (since the date is near easter and Peter rabbit seemed like a good
addition to our tea party). I went to Divisoria once a week to buy all the
supplies for the stations as well as for the centerpieces and decorations that
I will be DIY-ing. I spent 5-10K for each time I visited Divi and I was being
cheap, take note. I also bought a lot of different fabrics that we will be
using on tables and tents. I also had my friends start doing paper puffs and
lanterns. Thanks friends!
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| Kimono coasters from Taiwan |
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| Pretty Parasol for the dress me up station from SM |
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| Pretty cups from Paper Chic Studio, we also got the straws and milk bottles from them! |
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| Printed tissues from Divi, 35 per pack of 20 |
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| Standee with clips for the centerpieces and station labels |
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| PEARLS for the DRESS ME UP station |
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| From a bargain store in Subic, these are for the loose leaf tea |
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| Bought these from 168, centerpieces |
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| More "palamuti" for the treats spread |
The events people at Anvaya also recommended for us to
contact Jane and she is the go to person for events happening around Subic,
Olongapo, Bataan area. Jane is the nicest and the sweetest person! She
suggested a lot of nice things and had solutions to most of our dilemmas. We
threw some responsibilities at her like the catering, sounds, flowers, balloons,
fabricated tents out of bamboo and a lot of other miscellaneous stuff that will
be more practical to be sourced locally and not coming from Manila. I also
chose BAMBA to be our host. She is plump and happy as a teapot and we love her!
She turned out to be my inaanak’s host for his birthday 2 years back! We had
the food tasting and we were satisfied with the quality from Farfield Catering.
Whew!
Only a month left and I am panicking. I am about 60% done
and I only needed to get a host, make a map/passport for the guests,
activities, etc. Work on favors, prizes, decorations, have the fabrics sewn to
the right measurements, THE cake, pastries, and what nots, in short it is still
a long way to go.
This was when I remembered my kinakapatid. She was the one
who coordinated all our previous events. Her name is Christine Ong-Te, yes she
owns the company that did Julia Montes’ debut and at first I didn’t want to
bother her because she would just do it all for free! But I was panicking and
she kinda slapped me because I didn’t ask for her help earlier. So we sat down
and finalized and finalized everything. She had the idea to make the prizes
redeemable like on an arcade where kids get to collect tokens from stations and
activities and they get to choose prizes on a redemption booth at the end of
the day! I suggest you all do it this way because the kids loved it. She also
added the wishing tree station, balloon releasing activity and the fortune
telling station (this is when people guess which item Gab will be crawling to
and thus foretelling her future career, i.e. calculator, microphone, ball,
mouse)
She made sure everything is organized and recorded and she
took the liberty to bring Gaby’s cake which she just gave as a present in the
end, which! Looked so much like the peg I gave her. Thanks to Sugarbox by the
way! It looks so pretty!
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| The peg that we gave Sugarbox to copy (photo grabbed from the net) |
She also wanted big letters GABY on the stage which I
sourced out and had them made by Handicrafts atbp. We were very happy with the
paper mache letters and even happier that it was so affordable.
Ms. Christine a.k.a Atchy Pooh also took care of the candy
stations and her team helped us to execute and setup the venue on the day
itself. They also did on-the-day coordination for us and had her team man most
of the booths. Together with the local coordinator Jane, they used everything I bought from everywhere to design and setup the place. I’m so happy that I asked her to help and am so grateful with
the work her team has done for Gaby’s birthday. She even did my make-up!
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| IKEA KALAS sets were used to set-up the kiddie tables |
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| Paper Lanterns I bought from Divi, I got around 16 of these in different colors and sizes |
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| Very affordable paper book that we used to make the banderitas. It's tear and water proof! |
Weeks before the event, I had all my friends over to finish
the puffs, banderitas, favors.
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| I love my friends! |
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| Mini puffs for the tables |
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| Big puffs for the tents and stations |
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| In the end, we made about 50 of these |
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| Round fans |
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| Banderitas= cut fold tape and thread, 80 meters |
Inside the favor bags were, a beach towel rolled
and wraped in a kraft paper band, pulled together by a sticker printed with a
birthay quote, a small towellette rolled and tied with a ribbon, a Victoria’s
Secret body splash which we placed a sticker over to make it personalized for
Gaby’s birthday, and the bag we used were brown eco-bags with the birthday
quote printed on them.
They also used the bag to store all the giveaways they
got on the day from the dress-me-up station and the redemption booth.
Now we prepared a total of 80 items for the prizes. Each
categorized within 4 brackets with consisting token amounts to redeem. We
included baby, kids, boys and girls, adult friendly items. We even had 6
rabbits.
Lastly I layouted labels for the tea, signages for the stations and
made up rhymes for the station instructions. I had them all printed on sintra
boards. I also confirmed
with the local Church about the things we needed to bring and the time we
should be present for the Christening. I chose the old church over the new and
painted one since it felt more serene and spiritual for me. The pictures will
speak for themselves, I will show them to you later! Moving on…
I thought, kiddie parties are harder to do than debuts and
weddings since it didn’t have a clear template. But it is so much more fun
because you can be imaginative and creative to make it unique and memorable. And
don’t forget, it has to be picture perfect!
This is how we prepared for Gaby’s birthday and Christening.
Actual event notes and photos soon! Good luck on prepping
for your kid’s parties!
XOXO
Tiffany
