Last week we Celebrated a very Happy Birthday Party to mark Miss Piper turning the BIG Two.
It wasn’t a massive affair just close family and friends sharing in our special day as we didn’t want Piper so overwhelmed that she couldn’t enjoy her day. We had just 8 children in total and the afternoon could not have been more perfect.
We had been away on holidays for the nine days leading up to the party and only returned home the night before the big day so I was determined not to stress myself out and keep it as low key as possible. Most of the setup was done before we went away so on the morning of the party we only had the lawn to mow, a quick shop and some food to prepare.
Here’s how we did it and a few party planning tips that work for me:
Decide on a theme – Go easy on yourself here, pick something easy that you have seen heaps of, it makes shopping easier as you’re not running around looking for random things that don’t exist (been there done that) and its also better on the budget. Plus remember a theme can be as easy as just a colour all you need is something that ties it all together for you.
I fell in love with all the beautiful tableware and accessories at little Ginger who had everything in the colours I had in mind and once I made contact they were full of helpful suggestions that made my planning and decisions easy. The kids just loved the pom pom and ribbon wands that they could play with during the party then were able to take home as gifts from Piper for attending.
This time our theme was Olaf (from Frozen) One of Pipers all time favs. But I didn’t want the over the top Frozen Princess Theme so we tried to stay with more of a colour theme with aqua, white, silver and blue and just added Olaf in, mind you while shopping leading up to the party some Princess merchandise did keep finding its way into my trolley.
When planning your styling choose a couple of areas to style and spend the money on just those areas. Don’t waste time and money trying to style everything and anything, it’s better to have a couple of areas looking great than odd decorations spread out all over the room.
Organise and set up as much as you can as early as you can – when a party is on the horizon and I’m in the last couple of weeks before the big day, I try to do something every day even if it’s just something small.
Tip – Pipers grandma even made the cupcakes three weeks before the day and put them in my freezer and the icing the week before and put it in the fridge, so all I had to do on the day was defrost, put the icing on top and pop the decoration in!
Food – Ask for help! If you have any budding chefs, grandmas or aunties around, usually they wont mind whipping up a tray of sandwiches and if that’s not an option and its stressing you out then buy it from the shop! As long as the kids have something to eat they are not usually that fussy. Big hits at our party were the kids finger sandwiches with ham and cheese, the fruit platter full of fun finger sized fruit and of course cake!
Our stunning cake was made by a family friend and topped off with a stunning personalised cake topper from Bambini Boutique
Tip – Get a good cake topper and you can’t go wrong!
Last but not least,
The birthday outfit being the fashionista that Miss P is, this is an all important one at the top of our list! A couple of main things that must be considered is that it has to be practical, a romper/playsuit is perfect at two if Piper couldn’t have sat comfortably on the floor, played in the yard and ran around or had been wearing something that tripped her up or made her itchy then she would not have enjoyed her day and would have insisted on being naked for the duration of the party.
As soon as I saw this stunning playsuit from Bouni and Bhati I knew we had found just the right amount of sparkle and frill, the perfect Frozen colour and it was lined so didn’t scratch plus no skirts so we didn’t spend the day seeing undies in all our photos. It couldn’t have been more perfect, and has left us wanting one in every colour.
And that Flower Crown – well is there anything more magical, this was custom made to our theme by the very talented Avierley Boutique we just let her know our colour theme and then let her surprise us with this masterpiece complete with butterflies. I am so happy with the outcome it was so perfect. I don’t know what this amazing lady does to her crowns to make them stay on children’s heads but Piper wore this crown for the whole party, it stayed in place and was obviously very comfortable as Piper didn’t touch or ask for it to be removed the entire time.
So that’s it, a beautiful afternoon spent celebrating our big Miss Two, just add some amazing party decorations, great friends and a cake and TA DA! Best party ever…. Now to start planning the Dinosaur party for Mr 9 in only 4 weeks time!!
Love Kerry and Miss Piper xoxo