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| my husband with our baby Chingching.. |
They say, the first birthday is always the most anticipated of all... I definitely agree...
After my baby's christening (a month after giving birth), I started planning her first birthday..It may seem a little early but I wanted every detail to be perfect.
Being an events coordinator myself, I know how stressful parties like these could get, most especially if you don't alot enough time to conceptualize all the details you wish...
Thankfully enough, I found my theme for Ching's party after seeing the Disney movie "Tangled."
I instantly fell in love with Rapunzel especially the scene where they started sending sky lanterns into the air. The soundtrack by Mandy Moore also helped big time. I got a copy of the movie and checked all the details that I could use to design my Tangled-inspired party...
Just looking back at how the party went, I could say it was a success... Leih and I both feel satisfied with how everything turned out. My husband even says it pays well to have a planner for a wife. Obviously, since the start, he admitted not having any idea on how to plan a birthday party, rather, he just let me decide on everything and worked the budget from there.
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| the party before it started |
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| everything had to be lavender... |
As early as July, I was busy shopping online (at Disney Store), looking for all things Tangled... I got Ching her costume, plates, cups, pascal blowers, napkins, and even balloons, all shipped from the US. thru my good friend Suyen... I've also started braiding some DMC threads which I put on the invites. Of course, I had so many ideas on how I wanted the invites to look (but that's another story)...
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| the cake arch (gift by Bernadette)... |
I was very particular with how the candy buffet spread looked like, thanks to Richie, he pulled it off quite beautifully... The candies were a hit, and so were our pastillas & pastillas lollipops.. My grandmother brought special pastillas from San Miguel, Bulacan (the original pastillas), and even made personalized wrappers with Ching's name on it while I ordered the pastillas lollipops from a trusted online seller..
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| the candy buffet with the Tangled cups, plates & candy bags.. |
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| our lavender & pink cupcakes |
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 As soon as Ching fell asleep that very morning, Leih and I dropped by Antel Grand to bring
the cupcakes, cuplets, tower giveaways, pastillas lollipops &
kiddie giveaways. My partner & good friend Aann who was coordinating
the party arrived an hour earlier to supervise the set up. I
personally took the task of arranging our give-aways... Bags of Tangled
Tower with candies & feathery bags filled the table.. The prizes
however were kept under the table... |
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| the tower giveaways & bags for the little girls... |
We also helped arrange some of the things at the candy buffet. I felt happy seeing the lollipop box I made filled with yummy pastillas lollipops I ordered from my N@W sister Rhea Diputado..
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| our pastillas candies... |
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| the cuplets... |
My good friend, balloon designer Bernadette Arbolante, was already with her staff and were almost finished setting up the balloon arches & pillars by the time we arrived ... I was amazed when I saw the balloons. It was definitely detailed, specifically as I told her .She also gave Ching a beautiful cake arch as a gift aside from the big discount I got from her.. The venue looked fantastic.. The term magical won't be enough to describe it.
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| the Tangled set up.. |
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| I just love the details on these arches.. |
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| the main entrance... |
Richie Co and his team took care of the backdrop......I fell in love with the end result of the venue set-up. My dream team successfully did it!
F
our months before our big day, I had several meet-ups with my caterer, discussing the menu & overall design... Since Tangled had more lavender color in it, it suited my taste very well as I was inlove with lavender myself... Richie used only lavender color at the party ~~~ lavender skirt for the buffet, lavender vases, lavender kiddie balloons... I first thought of getting balloon centerpieces from Bernadette, but since we were under budget, I thought of another set up that would look just as beautiful... hence the result....
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| the VIP table.. |
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| the guest's table |
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| the buffet area... |
The food was great. We had Spicy Seafood Galore, Roast Beef, Cordon Bleu with Mango, Pork Rolled in Sweet Pineapple Sauce, & Carbonara to name a few. We had nachos for our appetizer and for dessert, delicious buko pandan was served.
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| the buffet area... |
We scheduled the party two days after Ching's real birthday, specifically on a Saturday so friends and family could all come. We had guests from Bulacan & Manila. I constantly asked our invited guests to confirm their attendances a few days before the date and so far, 95% of our guests came.... I patiently did the seating arrangement & had it alphabetized to make it more organized. (just as we always do)...
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| the guest list.. |
My partner who happens to be Ching's godmother, Aann Dela Cruz, manned the reception table and welcomed the guests...
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| the reception table with the Ching's "fairy godmother" Aann... |
The candy buffet looked so pretty, it was a hit.. The kids loved it, just as much as the adult guests did... They also loved the cupcakes & cuplets from Frostings... I was smitten when I first had a glimpse of what the cupcakes loo
ked like when we picked it up... It had this wonderful purple & hot pink color, it suited our motif very well... The cupcakes were just heaven on your palate... just thinking about it makes my mouth water...
The Tangled Cake was so beautiful, just as I expected... It was very detailed, very colorful yet very dainty... It was also very delicious and moist on the inside... Super thanks to Ms. Aila Yonzon of th
e Bunny Baker...
Chayno, who was our host/magician for the event, was also very good... He brought life to the party, entertained our guests especially the kids and when it was time for the mag
ic show, everybody was in full attention...
Chayno had been such a wonderful host, never was there a dull moment with him... His service was worth every cent, definitely!!!!
When it was time to blow the candle, Leih and I got surrounded by the kids and they all sang Happy Birthday to Ching.... I couldn't describe the feeling of happiness I felt inside, as if I were the one celebrating... It was truly one of the most unforgettable moments in my baby's party... Something that we will always remember...
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| it's time to blow the cake... |
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| A quick family picture after the candle-blowing... |
The feeling was indescribable upon seeing all those smiles on the kids' faces at the party. All our friends had a good time as well. I knew then that I did something right... All my planning finally paid off... A sense of fulfillment washed over me... My efforts were worth it...
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| family & friends having a good time.. |
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| Ninang Jates & Chingching.. |
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| lighting up the sky lantern... |
Before the guests left, we all went outside to light the sky fire-lanterns I prepared... In the movie, Rapunzel's parents always sent firelanterns into the sky on her birthday to signify the special occasion of their lost princess... It was one of my favorites in the movie, and so, I sought out a sky fire-lantern supplier online and got myself several pieces. Too bad it was so windy that night but we still managed to send 2 lanterns into the air after our previous 4 attempts... It looked magnificent, by the way... =)
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| successfully, we made one fly... |
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| yay!! another successful one!! |
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In the next years to come, when Ching is old enough to understand, she would see how much loved she is by her family, and how we strived hard to give her a beautiful celebration in honor of her birthday... I'm looking forward to this day...
The pictures we posted are just some of the beautiful shots of Roy Salud.. Roy has been Ching's photographer ever since.. The video however is from Paulo Tenorio which will be uploaded probably in the next two weeks... another thing to be excited about...
Thankfully enough, I found my theme for Ching's party after seeing the Disney movie "Tangled."
As soon as Ching fell asleep that very morning, Leih and I dropped by Antel Grand to bring
the cupcakes, cuplets, tower giveaways, pastillas lollipops &
kiddie giveaways. My partner & good friend Aann who was coordinating
the party arrived an hour earlier to supervise the set up. I
personally took the task of arranging our give-aways... Bags of Tangled
Tower with candies & feathery bags filled the table.. The prizes
however were kept under the table...
ked like when we picked it up... It had this wonderful purple & hot pink color, it suited our motif very well... The cupcakes were just heaven on your palate... just thinking about it makes my mouth water...
e Bunny Baker...
ic show, everybody was in full attention...
