Last weekend was quiet (as compared to the madness of the previous weeks). I spent most of the weekend on the phone planning Piglet’s birthday party for next weekend – finalizing the cake, the food, the decorations, the invites, and the attendees.
I tend to work best on the fly, but even I am a little worried about coming Sunday, considering how unprepared I am. Nothing is finalized except for the bouncy castle, decorations, and return gifts. Frankly, I have no idea how everything is going to turn out. K has been super-busy and has basically disconnected from everything home, so I have had no one to run things by, and in spite of all the manic list-making, I am sure I have forgotten something major. Like music for instance, while typing out this blog, I just realized I have put no thought into the music. One more item to add to my to-do list!
The major part – the food is also a huge question mark. I was really hoping to book a party hall between 3 and 5 in the evening, so that I could stick to snacks and finger foods, but Piglet’s birthday falls in peak season time, and it was impossible to get something close by and at a decent price, and so I ended up booking a hall for the morning hours, which means I need to figure out lunch.
Gah! There is no way I can manage so much food by myself, so enter the so-called professionals. I started googling on Sunday, and have come up with two-three options, but getting a menu and getting a quote seems like a huge ask. Everyone so far has politely taken down my email and phone number but nary a response. I am getting quite nervous and jumpy over the event frankly.
For the invites, I went completely online using the free option for Smilebox, which works quite nicely and which I recommend highly. For a fee, you can get premium invites, and a printable. The free option also offers an RSVP page (albeit with ads), which has been a boon in getting things done. It’s also super-easy to use.
For the cake, and the decor, I’ve done some major googling and created a couple of Pinterest boards for inspiration ideas (here and here). I initially started off with a Panda theme because Piglet is in love with pandas, but then realized the black and white color scheme might become a bit too boring, so decided to expand the focus a bit to animals in general.
I showed this cake design that I found off the internet to Piglet and he seemed quite into it. Now to find a baker able and willing to do it! The cake is going to be chocolate – Piglet’s favorite flavor.
Another thing ticked off the list is Piglet’s birthday dress. I wanted something a little formal, and hence a formal button down with a waistcoat.
It looks a little plain-jane I know, and the pants aren’t formal enough for the shirt (sizing issues meant I was forced to mix and match) but also the thing is, I haven’t the faintest idea of how to dress up a boy.
But Piglet adored his dress, jumping up and down in excitement, preening in front of the mirror, and showing himself off to all the saleswomen in the shop, enjoying all the compliments and fawning all over him. So, since Piglet was satisfied, we were okay with it too.
But dress, cake, and return gifts do not a party make. So, off I go back to my party planning list, ticking items one by one.
So now you know why my weekend was quiet 😉
