My client, Dessa (who also happened to be a good friend of my husband’s sister!), was telling me all about how she was at wit’s end with her 3 boys. As any parent of a boy can attest to, boys can be quite a handful, not to mention having 3 of them under 1 roof!
And so imagine Dessa’s pure bliss when her 4th child turned out to be Dara, her one and only daughter! This was how she described it to me, and so the theme: Sunshine and Lemonade! What better way to convey the happiness that Dara brought into her life?
The whole point of the party was all about happiness, sunshine, rainbows, and lemonade. And so we settled on the colors of: pink and yellow. A great way to introduce you to the party would be through the ceiling treatment and the table set-up:
I think The Plaza Catering did an amazing job dressing up the tables and chairs; they fit right into the theme and venue! We had bronze Tiffany chairs, cheery yellow table covers topped with light pink runners, pink and yellow polka-dot helium balloons, and of course, light pink swags alternated with yellow polka-dot lanterns! The helium balloons are an important touch to the decor: it serves as a sort of “in-between” or connector for the on-the-ground decor (tables, swags, centerpiece), and the ceiling decor (swags, lanterns).
Because the client had a LOT of guests, we decided to do a mixture of round and rectangular tables, in alternating rows!
The entrance set-up is both a photo-op and a gallery of family pictures centering on Dara:
And here is the birthday celebrant herself, with the doting mom!
One of my favorite graphic pieces in the photo-op set is this wonderful quote:
When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade
I truly believe, with all my heart, how true this saying is. One can never really predict what Life throws at you, but whatever it is, we have to make the best of it. If there is one thing I learned recently, it’s that people can find value in the most unexpected of places. If you’d told me back in college that I would be an event stylist of children’s parties, I would have laughed my ass off. But a series of events and circumstances have led me here, so here I am, making lemonade 24/7, and loving every minute of it.
The stage set-up was sweet and simple, and fell perfectly in line with all the rest of the party. We even had our own lemon tree placed to the right! (the kids went nuts trying snatch the fake lemons off the leaves!)
Special credit should be made to Happy Folks Studio for all these wonderful photos! These guys are the best! Check out their website here.
Here’s my 2nd favorite quote:
You know the song? I love singing this to my children, simply because it is so true.
The party also had an extensive and different kind of dessert area set-up. Instead of the usual area for dessert, we devised THREE different tables that contained various kinds of food items: cakes, lemonade, and candies!
Aren’t they all so cute?
My favorite pastry of all, however, was Dara’s own cake:
So simple but so daintily done!
We used a centerpiece that is a customized watering can, with Dara Rose labeled on it and filled with lemons and a pinwheel. Dessa brought with her bags upon bags of chocolate treats, so the Party Magic team and I helped her scatter the chocolates all over the tables!
The giveaways were absolutely adorable. Yes, you guessed it. Lemons in a jar!
In addition, the party involved crafts and activity booths, such as painting pots, and decorating your own slippers!
Here’s a look at the pots again, this time already painted by the kids!
Kudos to Gladys and her team at Crafts & Party Bucket for a wonderfully set-up booth and well thought-out activities!
Great job to Mommy Dessa for a well organized party! A truly happy celebration for Dara’s 1st!
‘Til the next party,
Michelle
may i know what venue this is?
Hi Pam, this was in White Space Makati. :)