MICHELLELAO.COM’S 1,000,000TH VIEW
A few weeks back, something curious happened: this blog was viewed for the millionth time.
Considering how this all started, that number is mind-blowing (at least to me).
You see, way back when I was still starting Party Magic, I had this idea. I realized that the kiddie party / event styling industry was so opaque that new moms (like myself back then) feel lost and adrift planning their child’s first party. Questions abound. What’s a good theme? Which suppliers should I get? What’s the total cost of a party??
So I set about to share with everyone the things I’ve learned in my journey as an event stylist. My sort of private “journal”, made public to be shared for all. This journal also shared the latest parties I’ve styled, of course!
My initial concept sketch for Jarrett’s birthday
A million views and hundreds of parties later, and here we are.
I am so grateful.
What’s the next stop from here? Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll reach it as long as I’m still having fun.
JARRETT AYRTON: A TRULY UNIQUE PARTY
My next foray into the Truly Unique Series is one that is otherworldly (you’ll get my pun as you read on ;p).
It all started with a sort of “blanket mandate” from my client, Jo: she wanted Jarrett’s party to be “clean”, “unique”, and with a blue-white-silver theme. Jo was also interested in the space/cosmic theme, but really wanted to veer away from the typically dark look of these parties.
My concept was this: why don’t we do a sort of cosmic theme, but this time with a splash of romantic, watercolor blue?
I sort of wanted to recreate what I did for Hailey’s Dreamy White Celebration, only this time, for a boy. The photo above is the initial concept sketch I made for Jarrett.
This is how it all turned out:
THANK YOU to Little Heartbeat for these lovely images!
Because the venue was Greenhills West clubhouse, I knew that the function room itself was inherently light and airy, mostly because of its high ceiling and white walls. To further enhance that, I decided to fully drape the ceiling with all-white cloth, then supplement it with white, silver, and grey hangings. Super love how it turned out. The focal point of the whole ceiling is the gigantic moon floating in the center!
But really, hats off to the team at Little Heartbeat. I mean, look at the angles on these photos!
If I had to choose one thing to focus on in a party which would have the largest impact, it would be the color palette.
I’ve seen countless events that have great production value, but are lacking in the color department. Having a well-defined, planned-out color board will give your party that refined, “instagrammable look”. A palatable visual feast.
For example, I love how the whites, silvers, and greys simply blended well together. This provided a very well “put together” look for the whole venue. But another purpose having the white-silver-grey combination blend together is that this light-color combination made the blues and blacks much much more appealing and stark:
On the stage, I used a “bursting” organic balloon arch that wrapped itself on the borders of the stage, falling down left and right into huge puddles of whites, greys, and silvers. But what I love most about this organic arch are those specialized black balloons with that sort of “marble” texture to them. Kind of reminds me of a black hole, or a dark planet!
Moreover, because the bordering is made up mostly of light colored items, it made the blue hues in the main backdrop stand out.
Now look at the dessert table above. Notice what stands out? It’s the blacks of course! Again, it’s that refined look that I’m after.
For the photo-op, I stuck with that clean look, and added various light-hued planets in the backdrop:
The Party Magic team and I inflated another organic balloon arch and attached one of the ends to the back part of the rocket, simulating “smoke” coming out of the rocket and spewing all across the floor!
I also wanted to surprise Jo with an additional element in the party, so I decided to include a real live space man! Say hi, space man!
Jarrett’s cake design was simply spot-on and tasteful. The ombre styling matched so well with the rest of the decor:
Cake and pastries by Niji Desserts!
Cake and pastries by Niji Desserts!
What I also love about Jarrett’s birthday party was that I got to play around with graphic design. Guests were greeted with this signage on the floor as they entered:
On both sides of the entrance, we set up this really cool signage:
Kudos as well to Jo for sourcing these cute giveaways!
The happiest of birthdays to our little cosmic traveler, Jarrett!
Love,
Michelle
