A PERFECT PARTY FOR A PERFECT GIRL

If you had a daughter turning 7, what theme would you choose for her? I always joke with my clients that for their child’s first birthday, the parents should choose their own favorite theme, because by the time he or she turns 7 years old, the child will already be doing the choosing for them!

So what type of girl is Ellie like?

First thing that pops to mind is that she is a gymnast:

Ellie in the process of doing a gymnast’s split-leap. Special thank you goes to Cocoon Studio for these pictures!

So it was literally a no-brainer that Ellie, being the gymnastics-enthusiast that she is, would choose a Gymnastics theme for her big 7th birthday!

Ellie’s Entrance

Ellie and the gang from Club Gymnastica

I just love the choice of this theme, because it comes totally out of left field. I mean, for the past 5 years, which past client of mine has ever suggested, or even thought of a gymnastics theme? None.

But a theme, no matter how unique it is, is only as good as how you flesh it out and execute it in real life. Here’s how Party Magic did it.

Let’s shout, hip hip, hooray, with Ellie and family!

CONCEPTUALIZING ELLIE’S GYMNASTICS PARTY: IT ALL STARTS WITH THE GRAPHICS

If at any point in time while you read my blog you had the impression that I do all the work, you are sorely mistaken. As with anything worth doing, it takes a team to execute our parties, and most of the time the whole process begins with the artwork.

For Ellie’s party, my amazing graphic artist Pat The Lion (you will find out more about her soon) custom-drew her own interpretation of Ellie-the-Gymnast, set in a gym background. This served as the main graphic for Ellie’s invitation:

Yes, for all of our invitations, Pat The Lion draws everything from scratch, using her handy digital drawing tablet.

For the invitation printing, my client Jake decided to do it 3-D: [Read more…]

I remember the night as clear as day.

It was one of our first events, and my husband and I were doing a mock-up of how the dessert table would look like for that party (the theme was Cat in the Hat). After displaying all the dessert jars and containers, and having been satisfied with the output, I told my husband to pack things up.

And then the unthinkable happened.

The table was one of those foldable ones with the bendable legs. My husband, perhaps in his rush to set up the table, forgot to lock the legs. So when he moved the table in one direction, one leg suddenly gave way, and all the glass jars fell on the floor in a loud crash. Amidst the heap of broken glass, my husband and I simply looked at each other in mute dismay, too tired to even produce a single squeak.

That was back in 2013, more than five years ago. Thankfully, everything turned out pretty good in the end:

A dessert set-up I will literally never forget: Xavi’s Cat in the Hat Party 

As you might have guessed by now, that was NOT the day that I became a better stylist. It was actually the night that I learned how to avoid being a bad one!

A NEW YEAR, SOME NEW REFLECTIONS

When I think about the year 2018, I only feel blessed. Yes, event styling can be a cruel mistress. She’s demanding of your time, quick to judge, hard to please. But underneath it all, if you put in the work and do things right, event styling is possibly one of the most rewarding jobs of all time:

2018 was also the year I felt that Party Magic had crossed some kind of threshold. In other words, I felt that we had soundly beaten the 2017 version of Party Magic. Knockout punch in the first round, really.

Some highlights from our year:

2018 was the year we first styled a Filipino-Chinese engagement (also known colloquially as tinghun). It was both an exhilarating, and terrifying experience.

I believe that all people are innately attuned to stories; facts and figures leave you with that cold, calculating feeling, while stories and people make you feel warm. Tell a person a good story or joke, and watch it spread like wildfire.

For a tinghun celebration, I believe it is also very important to convey a message, and a story. For this setting, it only makes sense to create a montage of family photos, from both sides (the bride and groom). It is also essential that the photos include at least 3 generations: the grandparents, the parents, all the way down to the grandchildren (including the siblings of the bride and groom).

If you present all of this within a rich and ornate setting, the story comes out effortlessly:

Party Magic also partnered up with Delightful Little Darlings for a pro-bono photoshoot for the children of Cancervants.  Despite how hectic the styling calendar can be, I wanted to find a way to give back. Thankfully, Den of Delightful Little Darlings contacted me, and I gladly said yes!

The brave people at Cancervants work hard to promote awareness and garner support for pediatric cancer patients. Part of their activities is raising awareness and money to support the medical needs of various children with cancer. For more information, click here.

2018 was also a year of experimentation; the Party Magic team and I were able to pull off parties that we would never thought was possible.

Such as, Ellie’s Gymtastic 7th Birthday: [Read more…]

LAZ AND LILY: A TALE OF TWO MIRACLES

A few years ago, I heard a story from a client that would stick to me up to this day:

For some time, my client and her husband found it hard to conceive a child. So they went to the Holy Land itself, Israel, and lo and behold, a child was conceived! Thus was their firstborn, Laz, dubbed the “miracle baby”. A year later, Party Magic helped the couple, Raul and Laurice, celebrate the miracle of life during Laz’s first birthday.

This was back in 2014.

Fast forward to present, and we’re now celebrating a second miracle, one that goes by the name of Lily:

Raul, Laurice, Laz, and Lily. Happiness begins in the family!

Photos courtesy of Life by Peach Frost

Much has been said by me about the importance of theme in any birthday party, but while I thoroughly enjoy creating parties with unique themes, I find that I’m absolutely thrilled when I get to work with both great themes and great people.

An unexpected stage format: a circular layout with no background walling.

A welcome entrance of flowers and pink fur carpeting greets guests as they enter.

An unexpected but welcome by-product of my profession as an event stylist is that I get to meet people of all flavors. But what struck me when I met Laurice and Raul was their unabashed devotion to their children. I guess as with anything in life, you appreciate something more when you had to work hard to get it in the first place.

I love how the black and white treatment accentuates the emotion of this scene. Great job, Life by Peach Frost!

Lily’s stage was a refreshing change. Instead of the usual rectangular, 8 feet x 20 feet backdrop, we opted for no backdrop at all. Just a circular platform that supports an elegant, white gazebo, framed by circus animals, of course!

[Read more…]