Living Life Like It's Golden

Back in May of 2016, I coordinated and decorated my aunt's 57th birthday dinner. The theme was "Living Life Like It's Golden" which was inspired by Jill Scott's song entitled "Golden."

This was another first for me as an event planner and I only had about 3 months to plan and execute this event. The dinner was held at The Pine Bar and Grill in the Bronx, New York. Since it was held in a restaurant, accommodations were made per person as opposed to paying for the venue and catering separately. We estimated about 30 guests, and we had a turn out of about 23 attendees.

Venue: As previously stated, we held the dinner in a restaurant in the Bronx. This particular restaurant had a private room for parties and events but I believe the minimum amount of guest had to be 40 and had to put a down payment about a month in advance.
Since we weren't able to book the private room, we were able to reserve a few tables arranged specifically for us on the main floor of the restaurant. (The only downside was that we were dining with regular patrons and some were not too happy with us getting our boogie on).

Favors: Obviously, one of the main colors was gold, but I wanted to throw in an accent color, so I was able to convince my aunt to use red to symbolize strength, power and life! I purchased Gold Lantern Favor Boxes, which was sold in a set of 50. We filled them with a tea light candle, some Vanilla Epsom salt in a red organza bag, some gold wrapped butter mints, a label with "Yvonne's Living Life Like It's Golden" printed on the front and a handwritten biblical scripture on the back, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" - Matthew 5:16 NKJV and I placed my business card (since this was my first officially paid event)! I topped it off with a small golden clip and tag with the event name written on it.

We were expecting a few men (and we went through about 2 theme changes) so I purchased a set of four black slate coasters and wrote "Yvonne's Living Life Like It's Golden" on them with a golden metallic paint marker.

Decor: Being that we didn't have our own room, decorating wasn't a real necessity. I was able to put some LED candles on the table along with some gold and white confetti (since 57 isn't a "milestone" age, I improvised with a confetti kit that was intended to be used to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary). I had some red balloon weights that I decorated with red and yellow Nylon flowers and butterflies that I found at Dollar Tree. I also purchased a few small golden leaf frames and "Go Gold" tattoos from Party City. I placed some of the tattoos in the frames and the remainders I distributed to the guests. I placed the favor boxes in front of each table setting. 

Cake: My aunt purchased her cake from a Bronx bakery. They were able to put golden butterflies on top of the cream colored frosting. The cake was adorned with jewels around the base and the restaurant placed sparklers for candles when we sang Happy Birthday. 

Miscellaneous: Instead of a Guest Book, I had guest self address an envelop for their Thank You card. I also had a few wooden pieces such as a cross, a couple of butterflies and flowers for them to sign that I placed in a shadow box as a gift to my aunt. I also gave her a wooden Y that I outlined with the gold paint marker. 

Click the highlighted text for Photos !! 

"Clash of the Characters" Birthday Party 2015

Last August, I helped coordinate and decorate a party for three siblings. I called it the "Clash of the Characters"

The oldest was turning 13; he wanted an Avengers theme. The middle child was turning 8; he wanted a SpongeBob SquarePants theme. Then the youngest was turning 3; she adores Minnie Mouse.

The party was held in Soundview Park, in the Bronx.

Cake: The client wanted a photo cake. So we had the children wear the shirt of their theme and we took pictures and had Stew Leonard's  make the cake. (They only need 24 hours notice prior to making a photo cake). It was a vanilla sheet cake.

Cupcakes: We also had character themed cupcakes from Stew Leonard's. They airbrushed the cupcakes and put character rings on top for additional decorations. They didn't have SpongeBob and we improvised by using Angry Birds. They also didn't have the Avengers, so I bought some finger puppets from Party City and placed them on top of the blue airbrushed cupcakes. (These are not pre-ordered which is why we had to improvise & the only ones that matched the theme were Minnie Mouse.)

Decorations: Since it was an outdoor party, I used citronella spirals and lanterns from Bed Bath and Beyond to help keep the mosquitoes away. We also had citronella tiki lanterns to help fight the flying pests and give off a little light when the sun came down. I also had battery operated string lights over the food table.
I created a balloon arch that converted into a balloon banner that hung from tree to tree over the cake table.

Invitations: I used evite and Facebook to reach the family and friends of the client. Evite wasn't really the best form of communication for this event because you have to use email (although I do like all of the RSVP options). Most people I know ask me to notify them when I plan on sending them an email. A Facebook event worked out better because almost everyone has Facebook and you'll get reminders prior to the actual event.

Food: Although I would have liked to go all out with the theme and incorporate the food into the decór, it was decided to have half catered and half cooked on the grill. I used an inflatable table cooler (from Party City) for the salad and fruit that needed to be chilled.  The other food remained heated by chafing dishes.

Goodie Bags: Each character goodie bag had age appropriate items from wrist bands and whoopie cushions to bubbles amd coloring pages. The cleint really didn't want to give the children or the guests candy so we had books and school supplies instead. 

Overall, being that this was my first event as a certified Event Planner, there were ups and downs; plenty of improvisation and quick thinking but the guests of honor enjoyed themselves and I was able to take away a lot of valuable information from this experience. 

How to Contact Me

Interested in my Event Planning services? 

Well here's how to contact me:

Email: UniquelyCRE23@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CREsEvents

Instagram: Uniquelycre23

Or on here @ cresevents.blogspot.com

Also, my business card is located below & to the right of the screen! = >

I look forward to hearing from you soon. :)

New to the Biz

Hey all! So, I am officially a certified Event Manager as of April 27, 2015. It's been a interest of mine for a while; I love decorating and planning events. So I decided to give it a try. I received my certification from EventTrix online school. My friend actually recommended the course to me through Groupon.

As  newbie to the Event Planning industry, I am looking for cliental. I just recently created a business email, UniquelyCre23@gmail.com and launched my Facebook page, Facebook.com/CREsEvents. I ordered my business cards and received them on Saturday. Uber excited!

I am a young, creative individual who loves saving money and I hope to do so for my future clients. I can't wait to start planning my first event. I will keep you posted throughout my journey!