It has been a while , I know. I haven't been putting attention on my blog, it is because I am trying to balance my time as an employee and as a mother, not that I am complaining but it is a challenge. But I am happy to say that everything is working perfectly well, I go to work at 6am, leave at 3pm, I'll be home by 4:30 and then spend time with my daughter who is turning 1 on November 1st, 2013. And speaking of her birthday, I know that first time moms out there are probably driving nuts on how to put their kid's birthday without turning into a headless chicken or making their kid's birthday a disaster.
I started planning about my daughter's birthday with the support of my partner and dealing with him is not easy, we have to compromise and try to make ends meet, and luckily he is compromising.
So before I get my hands tied with my daughter's birthday, here are a few things that might be useful to you and your husband or the entire family.
Number 1. Budget. Always come prepared with the moolah. If you are planning a themed party then expect to pay more. So far, we allocated a lot, I rather not say how much, but it cost my husband 2 months of his paycheck and a little of mine to prepare for this party.
Number 2. Date and Time and Venue. It won't be a problem if you plan to celebrate the party on a weekend, but in our case my daughter's birthday is on November 1st, and it is a challenge to get hold of people's schedules knowing that everyone is on holiday mode, so we had to change the date to November 2nd, which is a Saturday! Yay!!!! Since it is also our daughter's Christening, we had to schedule the ceremony at an earlier time and the party at around lunch time which kinda works for us and the guests since we know that they might have other plans after. To avoid any conflicts with your guests, you can also send them a "save the date" message via text or Facebook, if you want to be more creative, you can use this site to create a personalized save the date messages in the future.
Looking for a venue is a little challenging since we wanted something spacious but not too expensive, there are a lot of subdivisions in our area that has our requirements, however some clubhouses would require residential sponsors of which you can pay less.
Looking for a venue is a little challenging since we wanted something spacious but not too expensive, there are a lot of subdivisions in our area that has our requirements, however some clubhouses would require residential sponsors of which you can pay less.
Number 3. Theme. When we learned about my pregnancy, my husband started calling my daughter "Peanut" And for some reason we ended up buying monkey stuff toys and shirts and toys, so we decided that we want to have a monkey-themed party for her, and not to look too girly, I decided to have a pink and green motif to go along with it.
Number 4. Invitations. Depending on what your theme is for the party, there are a lot of websites that can help you with designing your own invitations, you can also use photos from the net. A long time ago, we go to shops that can design or make a party invitation layout and some might rip you off with lots of money for a job that you can actually do better, check out http://pizap.com/pizap or tinyprints.com and be torn with a lot of nice looking theme inspired invites for your little ones. You can also create your own thank you tags and nametags for the kids! Or you can always do away with invitations via Facebook by creating events and having guests confirm ahead of time.
Number 5. The Guests List. Now that you are ready with your invites, who do you invite, there are a couple of things that you need to consider before you go crazy inviting everyone, one is how many people are coming to the party and how close they are to the family. If you have a rough figure of how many should be included in your guests list, it is also good to consider of how many family members from your side and from your hubby's side is coming, you don't want to leave out people that really matters to the family, it is a good thing that husband and I have common friends so that should not be a problem.
Number 6. The Food. It was a walk in the park for me but not my husband. He is a chef and he wanted everything perfect most especially the food. Depending on how much your budget is for the food, but make sure you have at least 3-4 main courses, 1-2 desserts. But know that you can add more if you want. I also advise that if you are going to have your food catered, take time to do food tasting first before agreeing with your caterer, I am sure they will accommodate your request if they want to do business with you. Do not forget that this is a birthday party for the kids, so you can have your own kiddie buffet and this is something that you can prepare, and to add more fun, you can also put pastry or candy buffet for the little ones.
Number 7. The Cake. Just like the food, we are able to get a good deal for the cake, I had to do a little cake shopping over the net for the cake designs and asked the pastry chef to create little monkey cupcakes for the kids and for the adults too!
Number 8. Party Treats and Favors. Some of the things that I will enumerate below is not really necessary, especially if you are restricted with your budget. I will also take the liberty of posting the prices (*prices might change depending on the promo and the time of year.)
* Entertainment - this includes clowns and magic shows, the clowns or the magicians will be the one to host not the whole party but the part where they will need to perform. As for the Alvarez clowns, they asked for our program to see the flow and where they need to insert the show. The rent costs us 2,000php, the sound system on the other hand is something you can bargain with depending on the season and how many hours they need to be there at the event, since it's just a children's party, you just need the basic sound system, and advise them to bring child friendly songs for playback.
* Food Carts - there are a lot of food carts that you can find in sulit.com.ph, there are plenty of foodcarts to choose from as well:
- Ice cream - 2,500 - 3,000 php
- Cotton candy - 2,000 - 3,000 php
* Loot Bags and Games Prices - I don't think I should explain further, Divisoria is the place to be, you can ask anyone or the kuliglig drivers to bring you to Sto. Cristo St. You can find candies and toys in bulk! It's a retailers heaven!
* Balloons - you can find suppliers in sulit.com.ph, you can also buy deflated balloons and create your own designs as you wish, create your own centerpieces depending on the theme.
Putting it all together is a good kind of stress, it also helps the family to bond by doing their share of the tasks, it will be more fun if you have a big family so you can create committees of some sort! To all parents who are stressing about putting it together, the only thing that you can worry about is putting your funds all together and the rest is just a breeze! Have fun!
Number 6. The Food. It was a walk in the park for me but not my husband. He is a chef and he wanted everything perfect most especially the food. Depending on how much your budget is for the food, but make sure you have at least 3-4 main courses, 1-2 desserts. But know that you can add more if you want. I also advise that if you are going to have your food catered, take time to do food tasting first before agreeing with your caterer, I am sure they will accommodate your request if they want to do business with you. Do not forget that this is a birthday party for the kids, so you can have your own kiddie buffet and this is something that you can prepare, and to add more fun, you can also put pastry or candy buffet for the little ones.
Number 7. The Cake. Just like the food, we are able to get a good deal for the cake, I had to do a little cake shopping over the net for the cake designs and asked the pastry chef to create little monkey cupcakes for the kids and for the adults too!
Number 8. Party Treats and Favors. Some of the things that I will enumerate below is not really necessary, especially if you are restricted with your budget. I will also take the liberty of posting the prices (*prices might change depending on the promo and the time of year.)
* Entertainment - this includes clowns and magic shows, the clowns or the magicians will be the one to host not the whole party but the part where they will need to perform. As for the Alvarez clowns, they asked for our program to see the flow and where they need to insert the show. The rent costs us 2,000php, the sound system on the other hand is something you can bargain with depending on the season and how many hours they need to be there at the event, since it's just a children's party, you just need the basic sound system, and advise them to bring child friendly songs for playback.
* Food Carts - there are a lot of food carts that you can find in sulit.com.ph, there are plenty of foodcarts to choose from as well:
- Ice cream - 2,500 - 3,000 php
- Cotton candy - 2,000 - 3,000 php
* Loot Bags and Games Prices - I don't think I should explain further, Divisoria is the place to be, you can ask anyone or the kuliglig drivers to bring you to Sto. Cristo St. You can find candies and toys in bulk! It's a retailers heaven!
* Balloons - you can find suppliers in sulit.com.ph, you can also buy deflated balloons and create your own designs as you wish, create your own centerpieces depending on the theme.
Putting it all together is a good kind of stress, it also helps the family to bond by doing their share of the tasks, it will be more fun if you have a big family so you can create committees of some sort! To all parents who are stressing about putting it together, the only thing that you can worry about is putting your funds all together and the rest is just a breeze! Have fun!
