Birthday party planning: Conclusion

After almost two months of planning, the big 40th birthday party for my now fiancé came and went.

In the final weeks, I spent most of my time with the smaller details.  My living room started filling up with boxes of decorations, friends and family started getting assignments and things quickly came together.

Now that the party has come and gone, I can say that the theme was Mardi Gras.  For food, we had red beans and rice with Po' Boy sandwiches.  We had smoked pork and ribs and a side salad.  We set up buffet tables and laid out plates with the food as well as floral decor:

The hall was decorated with Mardi Gras decorations bought at Oriental Trading and we had tables strewn with beads and feathered masks.  One table was designated for cards and gifts and another had picture albums of Roberts life.  There was a side room where I set up a slide show and a full sized cutout for people to take pictures with:

I didn't have many tables set up to eat at since I wanted people to walk around and socialize.  I didn't specify a dress code but encouraged people to dress up and have fun.  Several guests brought their own masks and beads and a few wore fancy dresses.

The cake done by my friend Allison at Cake Done Right, was fantastic.  Chocolate with vanilla icing.  Very delicious.  Thank you Allison!

Thanks to my friend Brenda at Botanicals by Brenda for her help with the flowers Friday morning!  For the buffet table, I found large three champagne glasses at Michaels for $38. I filled the bottom with colorful beads and two floral lights.  I then place aspidistra leaves inside to cover the foam.  The flowers used were yellow roses, purple snap dragons, blue gentian, and peacock feathers.  I place more beads around the design and place a feather mask inside:

For the gift table, I found three green candle holders of different sizes at Home Goods, one of my favorite places to shop.  The containers cost $15 all together.  I used purple tulips, red freesia and yellow roses in one of the containers and placed electric candles in the other two.  I put a feather accent in it just for fun:

For the photo table, I found three cubes of varying sizes in my collection of things and place curly willow inside as well as some beads.  I then put 3-4 tulips in each arrangement and secured it to curly willow coming out of the cube:

To save money on entertainment, I downloaded a bunch of Louis Armstrong and other jazz albums and connected an amp to my iPod.  Cost me $34 to have music play all night long.

The party was very successful and the birthday boy had a blast!  All in all, the party totaled around $1700 including food, floral and other decor.  Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy!

Pseudo-surprise party: Update!

The big 4-0 party five weeks away and things are getting done.

The only rough spot I've hit so far was with the venue.  Their contract wasn't very clear that they require a $500 security deposit on top of the rental fee, so I had to scramble to find that money.  When planning a party, be sure to ask about all the fee's associated with rentals so you don't run into this problem.  I should have known better to ask!

This week I met with my friend, Allison, owner of Cake Done Right.  She will be designing and making the cake for the party.  I am very excited to see what she comes up with!

I also ordered some fun cups from a site called Beau-Coup.  The prices were very reasonable, but I have yet to see the product.  Once they get in, I will take a picture and write a review.

I am still shopping around for the best prices on decorations.  So far Oriental Trading Co. is the front runner, but I will be heading to Diddums this week to price some things there.

This week I will be solidifying the guest list.  Instead of a paper invitation, I will be using the E-vite service.  It saves money and a tree!  You could also use social networking sites like Facebook, but you can't personalize the invitation.

So much left to do!  Off I go!

Planning a pseudo-surprise party

The love of my life is turning the big 4-0 this year which means, PARTY TIME!

I can't give away too much because he reads this blog (he knows there is a party, but doesn't know any of the details), but I thought I'd use the event as an excuse to blog some tips in planning a birthday party.

The beginning steps of planning a party like this are:

1) Find a venue:  You can rent a venue or you can hold the party at your house or even a willing friend.  I decided I wanted to use mostly Redwood City vendors to support local businesses soI went looking for a venue that was low cost and located in town.  I found a small, not widely known place called The Redwood City Woman's Club located on Clinton Ave near Sequoia High School.  For 100 guests, 5 hours including set up and tear down, a janitor service, a security guard and venue rental, I am paying a total of $680.  The site includes a full kitchen with a side room attached that is perfect for a buffet table, a sitting room, a stage and a large hall for dancing or eating a sit down dinner.  The staff is very accommodating and excited to work with you on your event.   So far, I highly recommend it.  As the party planning progresses, I will let you know if my feelings change.

2) Pick a theme: This is one thing I will have to keep hush hush on, but for some ideas, check out Oriental Trading or Shindigz.

3) Create a Guest List:  Not much to say about this one.  Still working on it, but getting him to sit down and tell me who to invite has been like pulling teeth!

4) Create a budget:  Parties cost money no matter what.  Create a budget that your pocket book can handle and shop around to find the best prices.

5) Get help:  I've asked friends and family to help with certain aspects of the party like the cake and photography. I will also get a team of people to help me with the set up and tear down the day of.

Once you have these five steps done, you can start getting creative!  If there is anything else I can share over the course of the planning process, I will.  After the party there will be a full post on everything that happened with pictures.

Off to finish planning!