my (un)tamed world

Everything went well (for now). Everybody enjoyed the party though medyo late na nag start since na late din ang ibang guests. What I learned from this experience is: mas mahirap mag host ng birthday party kesa wedding!. =)

Venue:
First Choice: Pixie Forest, Festival Mall, Filinvest Alabang
Final Venue: Hard Rock Cafe Makati

I was having a hard time deciding on what to use as a theme for Vera’s birthday. When she was still a baby, I chose Sleeping Beauty since among the Princesses, she’s the one wearing pink gown. When she was about 7 months old, napalitan to Cinderella since she lost a shoe, twice (wala ng kapares ang mga shoes). Pagdating namin dito sa Pinas, nagka problem naman ako with the loots specifically for boys. Parang walang kapartner ang Princesses so I was looking for other options again. Because of this, we decided to have the party at Pixie Forest, wala na kong problem since everything is almost prepared for by Pixie Forest.

Why changed the venue? My relatives are mostly from here (Las Pinas/South) and 75% siguro of the guests are my relatives. 15% are hubby’s relatives which are from the North (QC). Since unpredictable ang traffice sa SLEX and at the same time ginagawa na ulit ang skyway, baka wala ng makarating on time from hubby’s side of the family. 11am pa naman ang party and 2 hours lang reserved ang place, so medyo worried ako.

After 2 weeks, we changed our venue. We tried looking at MOA pero wala. Dati pa sina suggest ni hubby ang hard rock (since nagustuhan ata nya yung place nung nag attend kami ng party ni Nino) but since hindi nya alam ang total number ng guests, sabi ko, we have too many guests for the place. ang gusto kasi nya 80 lang (kasama na ang kids!) e a week before the party umabot sa 180 (wala pang yaya) ang guest list!!! But since gusto nya nga don, so go na kami. We refunded our DP from Pixie (which is hindi pa namin nakukuha) and made a DP at Hard Rock. After texting our guests if they’re coming or not, almost 110 lang din ang nag confirm.

Though Ms. Eunice was absent, she answered all my queries promptly thru text. Walang aberya at all.

Host/Magician: Wanlu

Very big thanks to Monet (Nino’s mom) here. She was the one talking/texting Wanlu for me since wala nga kami dito sa Pinas that time. I booked him early Feb pa lang kasi sabi nya magre-retire na daw sya. Ewan ko lang kung matutuloy. I almost had a problem kasi my reservation was for a 4pm party. Gusto ko sana hapon buti na lang he’s still available in the morning and medyo parang nagulat lang sya with the change of plans kasi madami na daw syang tinurn down na inquiries. Guilty! Buti na lang he was able to look for another client on my previous time slot, I was willing to help him about this naman.

Anyway, everybody had a good time during the party. May additional pang puppet show si Wanlu, very sulit! A friend said Wanlu’s very good and hubby’s cousin asked us for his number, hopefully hindi pa nga magre-retire si Wanlu.

Balloon Decos: Kiddie-Party.com

They were also my supplier during Vera’s Christening and they have a shop here in ATC kaya accessible. No problems here naman, na late lang si Ms. Peachy nung magbabayad na ko ng balance.

Guestbook Printing/Binding: Picturebooks

I did my own layout and had it printed and binded thru them. I remembered asking someone from another yahoogroup about their services. Unfortunately, she never text back. Yung sa Picturebooks kasi sabi nung agent, hindi daw lalabas na continues yung layout ko pag na bind na kaya I scouted pa but since hindi na nga ako sinagot, sa kanila pa din ako bumagsak. Hindi naman naputol ang layout ko. Though mali yung pagkaka print sa harap ung cover, wala na kong magagawa, adun na yun e… partly my fault. Yung sales agent late din dumating nung kukunin ko na sa mall.

Photographer: Chei and Bong (i think they’re n@wies, sure ako naging w@wies sila :D)

Ging was my photographer during Vera’s Christening. I like her services. Sabi ko na dapat nung nasa states pa kami nag email na ko sa kanya. Ayan, when I asked her, hindi na sya available. So ang next ko was John Aguas but had a problem since ang confirm ko nga sa kanya is for a 4pm party. When we paid our DP with Pixie Forest, I texted him agad (kasi kinutuban ako na hindi na sya available since he texted me 2 nights before to confirm my reservation). Ayun, he’s not available na nga. He gave some recommendations pero I ended up asking a fellow n@wie for suggestions. She suggested Chei nga. She was their photographer and they were satisfied with their work. We just availed her services since sabi ni hubby, ako na lang daw mag lay-out ng album ni Vera and have it printed na lang ulit sa Picturebooks.

I haven’t seen the pix yet pero naiwan na ni Chei yung CD last week pa sa receptionist ng office ni hubby. Just waiting for it.

Invites/Thank you Card/ Tarp/Guestbook/name tag Lay-out: me!

Ay naku! Since I was having a hard time deciding which theme to use, ang dami kong nagawang lay-out for the invitations. While deciding, I just started doing the guestbook layout para one problem solved na.

Thanks to Pixie Forest, nagka idea ako na pixie princess na lang ang theme ko. When I tried to google it, halos ang mga butterflies, flowers ang nakikita ko. I ended up having a sort of flower and butterfly theme.

In the end, a fellow n@wie friend asked me sa party pagdating: ano, final na ba talaga ang theme mo? HAHAHA!!!

Loot bag and items: Market-Market and Makati Super Market =D

Sobrang gahol na ko sa oras kaya hindi ito “themed.” Dinaan na lang namin sa laman. Lahat na lang makita ng mom ko gustong bilhin.

Cake: Ana Baluyut

I just saw her work from the internet. Ok naman syang kausap, both thru email and text. I wasn’t able to taste her cake and cupcakes since may allergy si Vera sa egg. Pero design wise, ok naman, nasunod ang theme ko. =)

What else? Hindi ko alam kung may nakalimutan pa ko. =D I’ll post the pix (from Chei) once I have the CD. Yung ibang pic na kuha ko (sobrang konti lang, cake and not a good shot of the tarp) can be found in Vera’s blog.