DIY Party…
It’s way past my bedtime and here I am so consumed with a lot of things running in my mind. So instead of thinking, tossing and turning I’d rather make good use of my time and start blogging about #PaulParcs pool party bash. This is long overdue!
Planning #PaulParcs party was really fun for me and Rocky but sometimes we can’t help but get emotional at how fast he is growing up. The journey is worth repeating and we’re willing to go over it again if given the chance to.
I just want to share the most memorable moment in our life as a family, our 2nd big event with #PaulParcs (first one was his dedication) and now his 1st birthday celebration. I hope these practical tips will also help you when planning out for a big party.
1. THEME
At first, we can’t really decide on the theme for his party because we wanted it to come from Paul. We would like the theme to be Paul’s choice but he was really just a baby back then who was only fascinated with sounds and colors and it doesn’t make sense having him surrounded with characters he is not truly interested in. Disney Tsum Tsum, Cars and Hi5 appealed to him but we’re not sure it was what he really wanted at this point?
As June 21st got nearer, Rocky and I decided on a pool party so that all the invited kids will have fun splashing in the pool! Good thing we did that because not only did the kids enjoyed, surprisingly the adults too! We’re so happy with the outcome!
2. VENUE
Next on the list was to look for a venue, it was Rocky’s officemate who recommended The Henry Hotel and right after we visited the place, we were entirely sold out to the idea of having Paul’s party in that place. We envisioned everything like it was already his birthday.
I also want to share with you our supernatural experience of God’s miracle on the day of Paul’s birthday celebration. June is a rainy month and we’ve been checking the weather forecast every single day to check if it’ll rain on the 21st. Mind you, I do love the rain! But to rain on my son’s party doesn’t quite fit in to our idea of an outdoor celebration. Yes, we prayed and prayed for a month that it won’t rain and the next thing that happened will blow your mind away.
Let me go over this with you on a blow by blow account. Sunday came it was June 21st, the sun shone its brightest and made us feel its heat. We were rejoicing and getting so excited to party until… afternoon came and the rain started pouring down. My heart broke but Rocky and I were positive and declared that the rain would stop and the skies will clear out!
We arrived at the venue at 2 pm to set up but the poolside area was deserted and the staff told us that they’ve already set up at the 2nd floor (indoor) area because the rain didn’t stopped. We never had second thoughts and still asked them to do the set up at the poolside area because the rain will stop. You should’ve seen the look on their faces, filled with doubts and almost laughing due to our craziness. We believed that our God is great and while the rain poured down, we were just doing our thing setting up everything while interceding loudly to the point that the staff wondered what we were doing.
We didn’t mind them at all, I even told them to help us pray. Few minutes later, the dark skies began to clear and the rain stopped. Woah! What an amazing God we have! It only took an unwavering faith to stop the unpredictable rain and right after that I can’t stop gushing at how perfect that day God made for us to celebrate Paul’s birthday. He is soooo good! The best part is, three days after Paul’s birthday, it still didn’t rained. The Lord stretched our faith and it was one experience of his supernatural power that we will never, ever forget.
3. GUEST LIST
We’ve selected few close friends from church, my officemates before, Rocky’s officemates and of course our family. The total number of guests were 50 persons plus 17 kids. The number of people invited may be small but it looked like they already filled the entire pool area of the venue because it was really just a small place and it ‘unexpectedly’ became an exclusive party for us. The best thing about the party is having only people who were closest to us, there never was a dull and awkward moment because almost eveyone knew each other.
4. ACTIVITIES, GAMES, GIVE AWAYS
I love this part! It was like unleashing the creativity of the people we asked to make the DIY stuff for Paul’s party. Having a DIY party wasn’t part of the plan but along the way, we realized that making the decors and props ourselves is way better than having someone else do it and then just pay. The labor of love of these people made Paul’s party extraordinarily special. We can really feel and see the love they have for Paul through their work and we are truly grateful for having friends and family like them.
SHOUTOUT to these awesome people:
A. Circles backdrop and Hot air balloon centerpiece: Kaka
B. Luggage Give Aways and Invitations: Nary
C. PaulParcs Standee: Ian
To everyone who helped set up the place, a BIG THANK YOU!
To add some twist to the pool party, we’ve invited a group of people who will perform the bubble show. It amazed everyone and we all felt like kids again! It was really a good time for all of us.
The games were pretty simple, it was for the adults only and we asked them to do an origami like contest (paper T-shirt and 3D stars). The first one to finish, wins.
5. FOOD
And the most important part of the party… EATING TIME! One must not miss out on food or else everything else will be deemed useless. Aside from the talks and laughs, let’s admit that what makes a party even more fun is the FOOD! I have to say, their food is really good and our guests were satisfied. The dessert table was filled with goodies and sweets to die for, I can’t thank my mom, mom in law and sister enough for making our dream dessert table possible. Look at that, it is worth bragging for don’t you think?
6. PHOTOGRAPHS
No event is ever complete without a camera to shoot pictures on it. Good thing a good friend of ours from Rocky’s office had the entire party documented through the lens. Roche was able to capture this once in a lifetime event in Paul’s life and we are so grateful to him for doing a great job! The rest of the guests also had their smartphones and cameras to capture the event and flooded our social media by sharing, tagging and posting, thanks to all of them too for making the effort of shooting photos.
And so it has ended, I hate to close this chapter of our lives but our first year of having Paul was life changing and a remarkable one. I will definitely hold on to the wonderful memories we’ve created as a family while Paul is still young. We’re on to the next level, the second year of his life and counting. I wonder what his next birthday party will be. Might as well start planning now. Haha!
This boy changed our world forever that we can now never imagine what it feels like not having him around.
He has become the life and soul of everything that we do and for that we thank the Lord for the life of Paul! So blessed.😊
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