THE MOST DARING BIRTHDAY PARTY I’VE STYLED
Children’s parties are typically “boxed” into certain conventions, or what I call the three L’s: it should be lively, loud, and lurid. At least, this held true until event styling came along broke all conventions.
Today, I’m going to show you a party that took things even a step further.
Welcome to Hailey’s All-White Party.
A special thank-you to Little Heartbeat for these amazing pictures!
A dreamy cascade of lace umbrellas, silver and white lanterns, all-white drapes, and clear balloons with silver pompoms
Hailey’s stage is like no other’s: an all white floral wall framed by two majestic white stallions
I mean, looking at these photos and how things turned out in the party, you would probably say, why didn’t I think of this for my own party? In reality though, this is easier said than done.
I would even argue that it took a special kind of person to make this kind of party happen and to “dare to be different”.
That person is none other than my client, Cara Kho-Martinez:
Wedding gown couturier Cara Kho with her angel, Hailey
The whole concept didn’t come out as, hey wait a sec, wouldn’t it be nice to do an all-white party? This is because Cara more or less knew what she wanted from day 1.
Romantic, dreamy, clean, all-white.
As with any of Party Magic‘s other parties, I believe it’s a mixture of the “big” as well as the “little” things that make a great party. In other words, small details are just as important as the large props. One example are these detailed “fortune-cookie” shapes that the Party Magic team and I assembled into string cascades:
So why do I say that it took a special person like Cara to pull this off? To explain, after Cara studied in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, she came back to Manila to start up her own custom bridal wear shop, the eponymous label Cara Kho Atelier. As a bridal wear designer, Cara loves all things elegant, clean, and ethereal.
Which brings me to my main point:
I believe parties turn magical when they become the physical expressions of a client’s inner aesthetic or artistry.
This can be evident even from the very beginning of the event, while guests enter the scene:
Once guests pass through the gate, I decided it would be great if we could place rows upon rows of white and silver balloons:
This turned out to be a great move, as it was THE PERFECT photo opportunity for Cara, Hailey, and Harold (Cara’s husband)!
Once again, Little Heartbeat deserves a second round of applause here for these WINNING shots. I absolutely love how this hallway scene turned out. The waterfall of ribbons offered the perfect scene to cast that dreamy look.
Another (unusually) nice scene to take photos in was the dessert table. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a more modern, organic approach to the classic balloon arch, so here’s what we came up with:
The desserts looked as if they came out of an English tea party. Kudos to Christine Nepomuceno for baking these wonderful treats!
The clean all-white look, the faerie lights, the organic balloon arch, the daylight coming from the left side of the backdrop, PLUS the amazing photography skills of Little Heartbeat all combined to create these wonderful pictures. When I saw these photos, I almost didn’t recognize them. They look like a party from Australia, or the U.S.!
When I said that the dessert made for a great photo opportunity, I meant this:
That’s Cara showing off the exquisite detail of her top (which she obviously made herself!).
I love how the organic arch framed the happy family here, perfectly.
Speaking of desserts, the birthday cake was a pure joy to look at. Look at the detailing!
This work of art was done by Sweet Chemistry by Chrichelle Ng. Message me if you’d like her contact details, I can pass it on!
THE DRAMA OF LIGHT AND DARK
What I also love about this theme is its flexibility no matter the position of the sun. Because Hailey’s party was celebrated in the afternoon, Little Heartbeat had the opportunity to take shots in full daylight, sunset, and evening!
In the day, it was all-white, romantic, dreamy:
At sunset, it was shadows and drama:
And at night, everything shone in an otherworldy hue:
A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER
The sweetest of birthdays to our dear little angel, Hailey!
Love,
Michelle
