The party... the process...

As all mummies would love to do... (not sure about daddies :p)... we would like to give the "bestest" birthday party for our little one, especially so when they are our first child celebrating their very first birthday of their very own life!

Hmmm..... yeah, I fell into that category of mummies! :p

I wanted my little girl to experience the very best birthday party with everyone who loves her, not just her mummy & daddy, but together with all her grandpa, grandmas, grand-uncles, grand-aunties, uncles & aunties, cheh-chehs & kor-kors, & mei-meis & di-dis.... to some extend I wish I could invite the whole world to celebrate with us this special day...

OK...OK... back to reality ya?! No, we couldnt invite the whole world... No, we couldnt even invite all our relatives, and not to mention friends. I automatically became the organisor, because it was my idea... :p Earlier on about 3 months ago when I had that idea, I was pretty excited, and being the first party I ever organise in my home, I couldnt even sleep (thank God it was only for a night! *phew*) I was imagining how the decos would be like, how the cake would look like, the guest list, the menu of the day, the invitation card, the thank you card, the door gifts, the slide show, the party hats, etc etc... Boy, was I really really excited for the day to come.

Err... in reality? We had some simple decos - balloons & wordings, simple menu for the night (but in the end, ended up with lots of food leftover!), e-invitation card and a video clip showing some pictures taken in her 1 year of life with some video clips of her milestones... (err... my conscience is clear. FYI, i didnt do it during my work. They were all done on one of the nights before the party and during the weekend. hehehe... :p)... OK... So, there were no party hats, no great decos, no thank u cards, no door gifts (except some food that was nicely packed to be taken home. hehehe...)

During the whole process of planning, I learn many things. I learn that 2 heads are better than 1, for sure. Many times I thought of things beyond reality (which is great, but sometimes, some things just have to forgo for now... maybe it can be done later in the future, with better planning, better observation, better experience!). Hubby kept knocking my head, telling me to get back into reality, discussing with me of different options to make things easier and fun for everyone. And yes, we need to do it within our budget as well. I kept being reminded that the party is not to cater for everyone's needs but for Sarah - it's her birthday... make it a wonderful experience for her... most importantly - spend quality time with her! Ah yes... that surely made me think twice about a lot of things. Like the story of Martha & Mary-Magdalene in the Bible, at one time, I felt I became a Martha in this whole party planning process. I was anxious... very anxious indeed.

I learn that to have a good balance of both quality in serving our guests & time in spending with our little one, a good planning is important... that includes time, finance, finding of resources - helpers, food, etc... So, people... if you're intending to throw a party, these are some take-aways:

1. Get the calendar out and start planning the dates/time and work out a checklist. There are many party planning guides out there in the www. Here are some examples: example1 & example2.
2. Have your plans written down - don't let it linger in your head! (You might forget some things along the way & especially on that day)
3. Ask friends & family for help and delegate the tasks out. They'll be more than happy to be part of this. It is needed even though you might think that you & your spouse can handle those tasks. In reality, you would prefer to be freed to be good hosts to all your guests & parents to your child.
4. Tell yourself, "Don't worry... everything will be fine."

5. ENJOY the day!

Oh yes, very important thing... delegate photo-taking to someone. Dont forget to take family photos on that special day. Thank God we have bloggers in our midst. It is very natural of them to take photos here & there on that day :) Hubby was supposed to be the photographer but he was busy with other things. Thank God for back-up plans... hehe... As we didnt manage to take much, back-up photographers are important! We even forgot to take family & friends photos after the cake cutting. That was a regret. *sigh*

All in all, I think the party was a success, except that there were some unforeseen circumstances that affected the "plan" along the way.

Just a short sharing about that...

Firstly, on that day, hubby had to rush out to get our water-filter fixed & called the locksmith to fix our main door lock which suddenly gave way on that day. That kind of taken much of the time needed to get the party preparation done up. Thank God for mummy, ah ees & cousin who helped me with the food preparation & taking care of Sarah while I was busy. Thank God my sis was there to help me with the balloons & hubby quickly spare a short time to put up the wordings. Thank God for my in-laws for helping out with the last-minute SOSes.

Secondly, as i shared earlier, poor Sarah had to go through diarrhea that day and I had to take care of her well-being more than other days. Because this was unforeseen, a good delegation would definitely ease me up.

Thirdly, it was raining the whole night, thus the plan of having some chairs placed at the balcony was disturbed. OK, we really didnt expect that, thus the crowded place in our little hall... :p

Well... thank God it was over (haha!). Thank God tht we have family, relatives & friends who are great people and who are willing to compromise with our short-comings. It was a great party & I was glad to be able to learn many things and experience party-planning. So, more to come? Time will tell... hehehe...