Party Idea: Under The Sea Theme Plus Party Planning Tips

 I know most moms have trouble planning birthday parties mainly because of one reason: budget. Aminin, if you’re a homemaker or a domestic diva (as what Tin of Manila Fashion Observer likes to call it) everything would really depend on the budget. What to do, where to eat, what to buy all would depend on your monthly household budget. So imagine the pressure (to the husbands who are reading this blog, yes there’s pressure) we moms have to endure every time we plan our vacations, our kids’ birthdays and everything else in between that involves budgeting.

Going back to the topic of this post, I’m sharing with you all some tips on how to plan a birthday party. Particularly, lil’ Ms. GJG’s first birthday. I have to tell you, planning a party with a specific budget and a 100 guests is quite a challenge. If only I could throw a backyard or garden party at home where only the closest friends and family come celebrate, I would. But  because I don’t have a backyard not even a big living/dinning room to entertain our extended family, I’m stuck with restaurants or events place. Also, living in Manila it kinda feels like it’s mandatory to invite the whole baranggay or else one might feel unimportant or forgotten. Yes, we Pinoys are onion-skinned that way.

How To Plan A Party

Step 1: Set a specific budget.

It is important to start with a budget before getting all excited with the theme, food, decors and the like. Set a target or a range of how much you are willing to shell out for a party. Remember don’t insists on a theme, venue, design or giveaway if these aren’t within your budget. You don’t want to regret later on that you overspent.

Basically, your budget will determine where you can host your party, who you can invite and what’s the overall look or theme you’re going for.

Here’s a breakdown of where your budget should go.

60%- Food (cake, food booths)

20 %- Entertainment (host, your preferred entertainment, activity booths)

10%- Decor (stage, balloons, sound system)

10% – Giveaway and prizes

Step 2: Choose a theme.

It’s not mandatory to have a theme but at least have something you can work around in making your party cohesive. Perhaps work on a specific color, festivity, season or something inspired from a book, a movie, a character or a design. That way, your party will look very much put-together with little elements that brings charm to the event. For lil’ Ms. GJG’s 1st birthday party we choose an under the sea theme.

Step 3: Look for a venue.

I find this one of the hardest thing to do when planning for lil’ Ms. GJG’s first birthday. We wanted a big venue good enough for 100 people but we really didn’t want to spend 10,000 pesos just to rent a clubhouse. So if you’re not willing to shell out money to rent a venue, you can opt to have your party at home (if you can manage) or a restaurant (with a minimum per chase of food). In our case, we found a venue that didn’t require paying for the place as long as you meet the minimum food purchase.

Step 4: Plan the menu.

Our venue required in-house food purchase since we didn’t pay a dime for the use of the venue. We picked the menu based on our budget and of course based on the taste. The food was okay, but we decided to have additional food by putting a taho & ice cream cart (both we got in-house) for the kids and the kids at heart to enjoy .

Step 5: Plan the activities, giveaways, prizes and decors.

To be honest, we really didn’t know that stage backdrops and balloons are expensive (because we’re frugal that we think so). So we scouted for a supplier that can give us the best deal for our decors since we really didn’t want anything extravagant but we didn’t also want naman the place to be bare and boring looking. Good thing we were able to find a good supplier that gave us reasonable price with freebies to boot.

Mr. GJG & I believe that having a good host and entertainment is crucial in any event. The food is just one aspect of the party and most guests really look forward to the entertainment (especially the kids). And we thing the entertainment can really make or break your event after all, it’s a celebration right? It’s suppose to be fun.

We really didn’t mind spending on a good entertainment. Luckily, we were able to get a good host and magician/puppeteer for the party. We didn’t add any activity booths because we feel like the guest won’t be able to focus on the program but we did get a photo booth which doubled as a souvenir.

Step 6: Enjoy and have fun!

Once you have the right suppliers execute your vision and have delegated some task that you find tedious to do, it’s time to enjoy the party you’ve prepared and planned for. I know it’s not easy to do because we moms tend to be meticulous but as what I’ve learned, we deserve to have fun especially if we pulled off a successful party right? It doesn’t matter if on the day of the event, there’s setbacks because one way or another there would be (a supplier will be late, or those who didn’t RSVP went) and you know you can’t do anything about it. So instead of worrying just enjoy and pat yourself at the back for a job well done.

Here’s a quick look at how I pulled off Gabbie’s Under The Sea party.

DIY name tags.

Under the sea!

Finding Nemo.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles everywhere.

Beach inspired giveaway.

DIY giveaway tags.

Octopus & jelly ace candies. Although meron nasingit na french fries heehee.

Fish snacks on a dolphin printed cup.

My little mermaid.

For those of you who want to know, here’s the list of suppliers we had during Gabbie’s 1st birthday.

Venue: Quezon City Sports Club

Decor & Balloon Set-Up: Balloons Around Us

Cake: Sister Art

Photobooth: Litrato

Host & Magician: Ruther Urquia

Gabbie’s mermaid outfit: Robinson’s Department Store

Prizes and giveaways: All were bought in 168 mall

My baby girl just turned three! Happy birthday Gabbie Wabbie, you’re growing up too fast mommy can’t catch up!