hay, time flies so fast talaga! i can’t believe that my baby is now 4yo!!!
during the 1st bday Pooh party planning, i promised hubby na 1st and 7th birthdays lang ang party namin for Austin. but knowing me and how addicted i am to parties (kaya nga party planner ako eh, hehe), tumawad pa ako kay hubby ng 1st 3 bdays na lang. =)
and since hubby is also one party-addict like me, pinagbigyan nya ang luho ko and had simple parties on Austin’s 2nd and 3rd birthdays.
Austin’s 2nd birthday was a pool party with Barney as theme, since he was my son’s (and every little kid i guesss) favorite that time.
Austin’s 3rd birthday was a basketball party because that was the time when he was really into all kinds of balls and basketballs of all sorts. to the extent na may mini court kami na nakasabit sa loob ng van, hehe.
and so we thought, that was the last party na, next will be on the 7th. but we were wrong!!! i just can’t stopped myself from thinking about my son’s party theme came November 2008, hehe.
because of Austin’s addiction (is an understatement) to alphabets & numbers, we decided to enroll him already at the early age of 3yo. he was enrolled in Nursery and most of his classmates were already 4yo, but he was the only one who knew (recite & write) the alphabets and numbers (1-100). he can even count 1-100 in Filipino and 1-20 in Spanish (thanks to Dora). he also knows the hand alphabets (i thought him!) and guess what, he can recite the alphabets BACKWARDS! (no one thought him this because we ourselves can’t recite it backwards, hehe). that’s how addicted he is to alphabets (since birth)!!!
so thinking of a theme for his birthday was really a breeze. but thinking of unique ideas that my son would enjoy and executing them was the real challenge.
during the party, we had a Registration Table where guests were given an “Activity Guide”. written here all the activities for the day, schedules, instructions, and everything you need to know to enjoy the party.
kids were also given their own IDs and all the materials needed for the activities a.k.a ’seatwork’. =)
next on the list would be to proceed to the “Photo Me” booth and have their pictures taken.
then kids had to do their ’seatworks’ with the help of their parents.
after the activities, host asked the kids to fall in line and went around the venue to check (study) the different educational boards pasted around.
after that, the party program started. it began with an exercise (my toes…) and a question & answer about the educational boards. followed by a guessing & spelling game, then a bring me (school related things) game.
for adults, we had 2 games. the shapes (of face) drawing and butt spelling where everybody went hilarious seeing all those moving butts.
after that was Recess time.
then we had Class Picture and candle blowing. it was also the actual birthdays of my 2 assistants and the twin distant relatives of hubby, so i bought each one of them mini cakes and we greeted them as well.
and the most awaited, the Awarding of Winners. kids stayed in front showing off their artworks one by one. and we picked 1 winner for every category. the parents were just so proud of their kids and ‘their’ works.
then we had the giving of lootbags and farewell speech.
the party lasted for 4 hours, grabe!!! the longest party we had in 4 years. it started at 230 and ended 630pm. everybody just enjoyed finishing the activities and the food, that no one noticed that we were partying long enough already. =)
it was indeed one happy and fulfilling party!
i’ll just list all the details of the party and the rates (for some) to help some party planning parents. =)
1. Invitations – we did a 2D invite with a 2D blackboard where the party details were written, just like some announcement in school.
to incorporate the theme to the wording was one task i’m truly proud of. medyo corny but i really hit it, swak na swak, hehe. (ABC-123)
“Austin’s Birthday Celebration… as he turns (not) 1, (not) 2, (not) 3, but 4 yo! =)
2. Parang Pavillion (venue in Marikina) rent at P2,500 ONLY! – for the past 3 parties, it was always held in Marikina, because we and most of our guests are from there. it’s the first time i saw the Pavillion and i liked it right away because it was big and pretty new. the rate is also CHEAP! plus we had freebies because MIL is a friend of the caretaker. they also had tables & chairs for rental already, as well as sound system , so it was really very convenient for us.
3. Host (English hosting, balloon twisting & games) P3,500 – she’s one of my favorite hosts because she’s pretty, nice and a really good “talker”. she dressed up as a ‘PE teacher’ and i liked the way she managed the kids.
4. Face Painter (P2,200) – he is my favorite talent as his hands are really good in painting and can do beautiful glitter art as well.
5. Venue Décor (styro backdrop, balloons, letter mylars, blocks, cake arch, etc.) – of course, forte ko to kaya i managed all these things. kinarir ko talagang buuin yung mga blocks from divi noh, hehe. everybody loved the outcome and as usual, ubos ang balloons after the party. =)
6. Cake & cupcakes – i designed my own cake and cupcakes and gave it to my supplier. it looked really nice and of course tasted good.
7. Food Carts [cotton candy (P1,700), snow cone (P1,800), chips (P1,800), squidballs (P1,800)& ice cream (P2,200)] – feeling ko, these are the things na binebenta sa school canteen (or areas outside the school, hehe) kaya eto na lang din ang pinili kong carts. as usual, it was a hit, especially ang aming squidballs na 3 years nang present sa parties namin kasi laging hinahanap ng mga adults.
8. Food for Adults (baked mac, rice, fried chicken, shanghai & bbq; leche flan, puto & fruits) – we just prepared our own food, kasi MIL loves to cook. and since simple lang naman ang usual na nabibili sa school canteen, kinarir na din namin to. =)
9. Kiddie Meal [spag, hotdogs & chicken nuggets (na alphabets and letters)] – we also offer this service to our client’s parties, kaya kabisado na din to ng mga staffs ko. kanya-kanya silang luto because the hotdogs and nuggets were cooked on the spot.
10. Photographer (P3,000) – for the past 2 parties, we didn’t hire a photog, kaya naman salitan kami ni hubby sa pag-take ng pictures then. but i realized na we weren’t really enjoying our party that much kasi busy sa pag-document. now i know better, so i got one of my photogs to cover the event.
11. Videographer (P3,000) – this was really not a necessity because i only had this on the 1st birthday. but last minute, as in 2 days before the event, i decided to hire one. i just wanted to capture the smile and laughter of my son as he enjoyed all the letters and numbers around him. and now, every time i watched the video and see his precious smile and how he enjoyed his party, i realized that videographer is a must-have in every party.
12. Projector (P2,500) – this was also a last minute thing because i didn’t realize na kakayanin kong gumawa ng AVP on my own, hehe. kinarir ko talaga kasi i wanted to show my son’s talents and skills, kaya dapat talaga supported by videos nya. 2 nights kong pinag-puyatan ang AVP, at syempre, tuwang-tuwa din ang mga Lolo at Lola sa AVP, super proud sila sa apo nila. =)
13. OTS Photo w/ Magnet (P4,500 for 100 pcs) – this was my version of “Photo Me”, hehe. di ba kapag student ka, hindi pwedeng hindi ka magpa-picture sa “Photo Me”, kaya i thought of having this also. the guests enjoyed this naman, it also served as their party souvenir.
14. School Activities:
Paint your Shirt – i had the alphabets printed on white shirts and the kids designed the shirts with fabric pens.
Decorate your Cookie – i had letter cookies and icings, sprinkles, etc. to decorate their cookies.
Create your Bracelet – i gave the kids plain bracelets and they put the letters of their names and other designs on it.
Color your Frame – i just bought some character frames and the kids colored them with glitter pens.
Assemble your Puzzle – i just bought foam animal puzzles for the little kids to assemble.
15. Souvenirs (Lunch bags at P80 each and Stroller bags at 420 each) – of course, since school theme, i gave away Lunchbags to kids, complete with snacks and juice inside. i also had Stroller bags as major prizes for the Best in Activities winners.
16. Others (prizes, educational posters, id tags, games materials, poppers, etc) – good old Divisoria! =)
17. Austin’s shirt – i just had the letters iron-pressed sa supplier ko. and these letters were ‘singit’ from the “Power Of Ten”(of GMA 7) shirts i made for Janno and the gang, hahaha.
18. Our shirts c/o Giordano – that was the best we can find na may letters sa shirt, di nga lang complete sabi ng anak ko. =)
of all the 4 parties we’ve had for Austin, i would say that i loved this the most! mainly because:
a. my son really loved his theme as he is obsessed with letters & numbers, so just seeing all the decors around him, he was truly excited.
b. he is at his age where he knows, understands and really participates with the party program. he was not just the celebrator, he was really a part of the party, and i know that he truly enjoyed his party this time. whenever he sees alphabets and numbers now, he would always tell me “mama, party ko yan, di ba” =)
c. the kids enjoyed doing all the activities we’ve prepared for them.
d. i was happy to see the parents doing the activities with their kids, it was really a bonding moment for the families.
e. and i loved the sight of proud parents watching their kids lining up in front of the stage showing of their finished activities. the parents were all standing in front with all their cameras flashing, hehe. it was really a priceless moment. =)
thank you for reaching this far! and i hope i’ve given party planning mommies some ideas somehow.
it is truly my joy doing parties! and it double the fun when your kid already knows how to “party” on his own. and a “thank you kiss” is more than enough to cover everything we’ve done.
party details can be viewed here.
complete party pics can be seen here.