Eli had a theme for his first birthday so it was only fair we did the same for Kai's. We joked about doing another Superhero's theme so we could reuse the costumes we had purchased but again that wouldn't be fair.
For Kai's we decided on a Bowtie theme where guests were encouraged to wear a bow tie either in their hair or around their neck. From there the ideas for decorations and food were pretty endless and I actually struggled to pin point one idea and stick to it. If you really want to see where my head space was during the planning process have a look at my pinterest board to see the various things I had pinned.
I found an invite on pinterest and we pretty much copied the design word for word. That is why we didn't pick up the spelling error on our invites for the word neighbourhood which was spelt the American way - Neighborhood. We printed these off and I made some bowties which I stuck onto the invites.
I found an invite on pinterest and we pretty much copied the design word for word. That is why we didn't pick up the spelling error on our invites for the word neighbourhood which was spelt the American way - Neighborhood. We printed these off and I made some bowties which I stuck onto the invites.
Originally I wanted to cook as much of the food as possible .. cause I'm over confident like that, but I soon realised it wasn't going to happen especially with two small children to watch over. Plus I didn't know what kind of food I wanted to serve the adults whether I wanted traditional Filipino food or something more western or a combination of both. Kids food I knew I had to cover separately as this was something I learnt hosting Eli's first birthday party. I had a few older kids at his and a few moms asked me if there were any kids food ... of course you need kids food for kids parties!?!
I was driving around one day and was waiting at an intersection when this food truck did this massive 360 spin around a round about that caught my attention. Then it hit me .. "Why don't we have a food truck at Kai's party?" Genus!! No one's done it before and it'll be fun. So I started contacting the various food truck vendors in Sydney to inquire about hiring them for a private function. I think I contacted about five, got responses from three, narrowed down my decision to two and decided on the one based on value and ease of communication.
We ended up going with Street Sliders. You can go to their page for more information on their menu and catering packages. Pat from Street Sliders was so easy to deal with and worked with us to ensure we were happy and that they met all our catering needs.
I knew I didn't want to do a candy dessert table anymore but of course wanted to serve desserts. I remember I ordered from a vendor called Looma's a few years back and recall seeing they do mini cakes and pastries so decided to order through them again. What was perfect about their service is they deliver food directly to you, food is always fresh and can take orders 24 hours prior to the day they're required.
I was stuck on a cake idea for Kai's for ages. As I mentioned I knew ideas for the party were pretty limitless but I knew I didn't want a massive bowtie cake cause to me that would seem a little tacky. I wanted something again, that hasn't been done before, and then I stumbled across an image on Pinterest of this long rainbow cake, and I knew that was what I wanted. Even though it was really plain I liked the concept and it was long so I could spell Kai's full name on top of it. I had all intentions of making it myself, I even made an attempt at baking a small rainbow cake but again realised I wouldn't be able to do it all. So I asked a family friend who bakes if she could make the cake for me, she agreed.
For weeks I was researching online where I could find alphabet candles and surprisingly not many Aussie vendors sell them. I found a few but they were not the style I was after, and I found styles I did like but from overseas suppliers who, if they did ship to Australia was charging ridiculous prices. I thought about making my own candles using crayons and even practiced a few times at home but they didn't look as pretty as I'd hope they would turn out. I had to come up with another option.
I then found another image and a tutorial on how to create a honeycomb pom pom bunting. I remember seeing these kind of pom poms from party shops and they weren't too expensive so I decided to try and replicate this look. I purchased 40 $1 honeycomb pom pom's from Kmart to create my bunting.
About a year ago I attended a 1st birthday party and the host had set up a kids table for all the kids to sit at. It was really cute cause they had their own little space to sit and enjoy their food on. I remember thinking it was a great idea so I asked my friend for the vendor's details so I could do the same. Not only did I hire kids tables and chairs from Tiny Tots but also some play equipment for the kids on the day. There was a playground next door to the hall but was suited for older children and many of the kids invited to Kai's party were younger than two.
In my next post I'll share photos from Kai's actual party and how I executed my ideas.
In my next post I'll share photos from Kai's actual party and how I executed my ideas.
