My son John turned eight this past April 15th and off course I had the most pleasure of planning his little birthday party. Well, it wasn’t planned to be a “little” birthday party but that’s what it turned out to be. I’m sharing this because at times no matter how much we plan things, it will turn the way it’s suppose too!
If you know me on a personal level or a sociall media level, you know my son as my Mr. Man. He earned that name because he really thinks that one day he and I will get married and I hang the stars and the moon by hands with my eyes closed! You can understand why it was so important for this birthday party to turn out perfect.
For months I planned this party, I covered all my basics and made sure no details were left behind especially when my daugther Nastajea’s birthday party was publised in a magazine. The pressure was on! Mr. Man’s favorite board game is Candy Land and going to the carnival is something he always looks forward to and that’s how we came up with his theme. My house was the venue of choice with lots of yard space for the rides. I rented all the games/rides one can have at a carnival. I had the welcome carnival tent, the carnival signs, photo booth boards, dot boards and all I can think of including an order of 100 red, blue orange and yellow balloons.
The one thing I didn’t plan on was Mother Nature! All night long, it rained, rained and rained some more. The morning of the party, it was a mere 50 degrees (in mid April) with 20-30 miles an hour wind! None of the signage we designed would stay hung. Carnival tent, photo booth boards, ticket booth, the wind would not hear of it. All the games that would have taken place on the lawn and yard were canceled. What was left on the nicely decorated “food court” was the kids size tables and chairs with perhaps 20 of the 100 assorted balloons. But you know what? We improvised and went with the flow.
The funny thing was, I noticed all the details that were missing but Mr. Man and all his twenty friends didn’t notice anything! They all kept telling me what a great time they were having and at the end of the party, Mr. Man said “Mom, this was the best party I ever had! You just make me so happy.”
Below are some of the pictures captured by Hilary of My Fotographa
Bizous, (kisses)
Violaine
Lisa from Papered Wonders was so patient in the designing of the invitation.
Mr. Man had a specific shade of blue he wanted, the ballons had to be a certain color and she delivered!
At the door, each child received money to buy tickets for the rides/games, a custom made T-Shirt and a bag to collect all their prizes.
This pony race was a huge hit!
Sack race anyone?
This egg toss was not part of the original plan but when half your games are out, a girl must move quickly.
Pluse those kids went crazy over this one!
When the kids saw his cake, they could not believe it was real! Apple Butter Bakery did such an amazing job on the three tier cake.
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When I came across this absolutely stunning buffer from non other the Ritz Carlton, I had smiled at delightful the buffer is. I mean, what else can one expect from the Ritz Carlton?
Cheers to Robin Nathan Photography for capturing such delicious pictures.
Warm wishes,
Violaine
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| Leave a Comment The year 2010 was an amazing year for me all round and when I planned my daughter’s twelve birthday party, I saw how much fun those little girls had, I decided to treat myself and my husband to a nice dinner party to celebrate our birthdays which is only a few days apart.
I like to tell my clients when in design to make sure their style and personality reflects in the décor of their celebration. I’m happy to report, I took my own advice. I’m a shoe, (a slightly obsessive collector) purse, champagne and jewelry kind of girl. If you through in a massive chandelier, I just might die and go to heaven which is why the St. Regis Atlanta was the perfect venue me.
To start, I consulted Christine (one my personal favorites) of Perfect Petals to provide the amazing décor for the evening. I loved the idea of Hydrangeas, Orchids and Roses coming of my shoes. I started gardening a few years ago and when Christine suggested using Wheat Grass verses linens, I loved the delicious picture I was imagining. The custom burned orange invitations from Praez Occasions with the Saxophonist made of Swarovski Crystal is just was I wanted to set the tone for my guests. Now, I must confess to you… the décor of this birthday party really had nothing to do with my husband as I completely took over.
St. Regis had the nicest private dining room for what I had in mind. The outdoor patio was perfect for cocktail hour. Robin of Artvelasus provided amazing custom made wax candles which was perfect on the patio. I wanted a little action for my guests and what better action then a champagne saber? Yes! A real sabrage
I love the minor details in an event. Since we had a formal seated dinner, I wanted to do something a little different for my seating cards. I choose to have individual miniature cakes (from Sugar Plums Visions) engraved with each guests’ names. This was so fun to do and my guests would be able to take the mini cakes home as party favors.
Our fourteen guests were treated to a five course meal with wine pairing. Both my husband and I love Crème Brûlée which served as our dessert.
Question for you is when was the last time your planned something that truly reflected your style? How did you incorporate YOU in the design?
Happy Monday,
Violaine Diogene
All the stunning pictures were captured by the very talented Hilarye of My Fotographa
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| 4 Comments A few months ago I had the sheer joy and pleasure of planning one amazing slumber party for a very deserving twelve year old. Since I’ve received a lot of requests to blog about some of my events, I figured this slumber party would be a great place to start. I know it’s not a wedding but planning this slumber party felt as though I was planning one. You see, the twelve year old is my twelve year old daughter, Nastajea which put the pressure on me to deliver.
This party was the celebration of many different things. One was turning twelve, a year spent on the honor roll in an honors program and her very first slumber party just to name a few.
To start, Nastajea invited eight of her closest girlfriends from school. After a few site tours, Nastajea choose the stunning Mansion Hotel on Peachtree because she always wanted to have a pool party and with a February birthday, such party was never possible. The Mansion Hotel on Peachtree featured an amazing indoor pool as well her favorite restaurant NEO which is where the girls would have dinner for the evening and breakfast the next day.
Nastajea was really involved in every aspect of planning the party from choosing from her vendors from my list of preferred vendors to the décor. She really wanted her guests to go home feeling like her slumber party was like none other. She begins the design process by choosing her theme base on her love for retro polka dots and bright colors such as fuchsia and lime green. Below are the elements of her slumber party.
Loved planning this slumber party,
Violaine Diogene
The beautiful Mansion on Peachtree
Praez Occasions did an amazing job with the invitations. The designer came up with these fun hand drawn retro polka dots in Nastajea’s colors. Each invitation was customized with the invites names with a sneak peek to the slumber party
Each invitation were delivered in this lime green box with a hand tie fuchsia ribbon. Each invitation also included a sleeping mask.
The girls arrived promptly for the party and enjoyed the ride in the limo to the hotel.
Originally we booked a junior suite for the party but decided to surprise Nastajea with the Presidential Suite.
The girls were surprised with their own personalized swag bags which were displayed on the dining room table. Each swag bag included a silk polka dot pajama short with either a pink or lime green tank top. The bags also included fuchsia or lime green nail polish, earrings and flip flops.
The girls had Hilarye working every minute she was there. I wanted to capture the day so that Nastajea can always have the memories and pictures to reflect on the day she turned twelve. Hilarye from http://www.myfotographa.com/ captured all the photos of the day.
This is what it was all about to Nastajea; being able to go swimming in February with her friends! I love that Hilarye was able to get this shot of them jumping in the pool.
Perfect Petals designed these centerpieces with Nastajea’s favorite flowers; calla lilies with polka dots ribbons around the rim of the vase.
NEO was closed that early evening just before the Valentine dinner rush and the girls had the restaurant all to their selves. They each ordered from the menu.
Sugarplum Visions is Nastajea’s favorite bakery and her cake had to come from their shop. Jamie was so accommodating to this twelve year old. She even had her own tasting!
The girls along with Nastajea were shocked to see that they each received their very own mini cakes to take home.
The birthday girl at the end of the evening….
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