It’s birthday time for your child, no matter what age, you want it to be unique and thoughtful! Especially when it’s a BIG birthday. Even as an event planner, sometimes it’s difficult to get the creative juices flowing. Then I discovered this idea that was incredibly easy, focused the party, and could be customized for any of our readers looking for a birthday party theme.
Where to begin, with 3P Event Basics:
1. Determine theme – “A Few of My Favorite Things”:
– List birthday girl or boy’s favorites. In our Jessi’s case, she loves: Mediterranean food, Sunflowers, Outdoor Activities such as hiking, Goldfish crackers, Red Vine licorice, Lemonade, Football and Hockey, etc. After looking at the lists, I thought, “Okay, most of these things are doable” – and by choosing “A Few of My Favorite Things” as our party theme, the hard part was completed. Now discovering the easiest way to implement these into the birthday bash was the next step.
2. Visualize the Idea: We budgeted for one or 2 professional posters. I love being able to access and work with graphic artists through our go-to sign company. Our professionals of choice are “Fast Signs, check them out HERE! This element always gives the event a professional presence at minimal pricing. Well worth it! I simply gave them the birthday girl’s preferred list, ordered two 22×28 posters, and let them create! After a bit of tweaking, their design reflected this perfect picnic with my girl’s favorites playing star roles.
3. Budget: always a key determining factor as you pick party elements! So, as you design, also define the numbers. If a professional poster isn’t in the works, get the family involved and create your own poster board keepsakes.
4. This List of Favorites Literally came alive: Mediterranean cuisine was our menu of choice, so we ordered “Terrific Takeout” from Paymon’s Mediterranean Cafe. Had a few of our family pick it up on their way over. 3P Tip: work with restaurant to determine the best foods to travel. While we snacked on pita and a selection of hummus dips, greek olives, and stuffed grape leaves…all of our seasoned rice, and a variety of kabobs were finishing off in the oven.
These delicious additions later hit the table as our second course with a great greek salad. Our Practically Perfect Planner motto: Keep it simple so you can enjoy too! Usually, we always cook our child’s fave for their birthday, so when we were comparing buying all the food + preparing it for 15 guests…ordering out was the more cost effective choice! Who would have thought?
Lemonade Time: Our terrific birthday gal adores lemonade – and our indoor picnic would not have been complete without a Lemonade Nook featuring an array of Trader Joe’s favorites…and WOW…the selection available was incredible, making our thirst quencher corner quite a delight! Having Green Tea Lemonades, Carbonated Lemonades, and Limeades to chose from: invitees helped themselves…even mixing many options.
No Bake Cake:
LOL, no-bake for US that is…we ordered carrot cake from our local Albertson’s! Complete with the adornment of the beautiful face of our birthday girl. It was the big craze with all of the cousins.
Favors: How Easy Was This? Cello-bagged Goldfish crackers all tied with a red licorice bow was the Practically Perfect Take Home Gift. A 3P repurposing trick: we used our Goldfish cartons to host sunflower bouquets that we created ourselves to further carry out our theme and keep cost down.
5. Party – Pulling it together tips:
– A table-scape to wow our Jessi and guests upon arrival. A country wicker picnic basket prettied up disposables. Our party poster welcomed guests enticing them to immediately embrace the theme. A few red gingham table cloths from the linen closet, a couple of balloons, featured pics of our girl, festive easy themed centerpieces, Jessi-friendly music playing in the background. And there you have it: a Practically Perfect birthday party that could be customized for any of your upcoming birthdays.
6. It’s a Wrap:
The most memorable and important element is choosing a date that loved ones can attend and participate in. All that were available from our family pitched in, and others across the miles were missed. (Thanks gang, this truly was a family effort!) And a few of MY favorite things were enjoying my daughter’s birthday with her, without the stress of an elaborate, expensive, or labor intensive event.
