happy 1st birthday robin!!
as i've mentioned earlier, robin's gotta have a birthday bash since her ate raya had a party also when she turned one. it's not that we don't want to, of course we love parties, but some things need to be changed. it can't be as extravagant since we are on a very tight budget. aside from bills to pay, tuition is high and hubby just had a very pricey ACL reconstruction operation.
anyway, i was up to the challenge! :) i used my learnings from attending parties and from raya's party as well. besides, i am a practical mom ;) and so, God has granted us a few funds to come up with a birthday party for robin and i must say that it was a hit. we chose our favorite pizza place as the venue known for its mojos and thin crust pizza. for decorations, hubby used his talent to create a wonderful backdrop and we ordered a few balloon decors. i got the 2 tier colorful cake from a bakeshop. i made the cupcakes as giveaways for the adults! and we gave pen holders (filled with goodies) to kids. prizes for the games are fun and useful.
for the venue, we chose a restaurant so that we don't have to pay for the place and for the food servers. i realized that if we chose a club house or a penthouse of a condominium, aside from paying the rental of the venue which ranges from Php8,000 to Php18,000, there's an additional fee for the use of aircon, sound system, and for some, rental of chairs and tables. then we'd have to get lots of balloon decors, which costs a lot, and spend on other paraphernalia to decorate the place. then we'd have to get a caterer. average price per head is at least P300/head with food that is so simple. i realized that it's a bit costly because the caterer had to pay the food servers and that chafing dishes are expensive :) and this is for small time caterers. if we get those with names already, prices per head is around Php450 and then there's a sign ++ at the end. which will amount to Php550. hehe.
for the cake, it is really nice to order from those bakers that are home based. these days, cupcakes are a hit. and that costs about Php45 per piece! back to the cake, the nice thing about it is that you can have it customized according to your prefence. its personalized. its not commercial. and the taste is better. but the price is the same (for some its higher) to the ones in the bakeshop. so i really took upon myself to check every design of cakes from two bakeshops according to my budget. good thing is that i really don't have a theme. just a mix of the colors purple, pink, yellow, blue and mint green. thank God and i found a cake that suits robin's party's theme. and its cheaper. yahoo!! and mind you, its nice. cake is a bit sweet for me though. oh well, cake is for display purposes only. ;)
for the prizes and loot bag, what i've learned is to buy something that the kids will like, or better, enjoy, and will be able to use. it can be cheap. but not like those crayons that doesn't really work. or the toys that can easily be swallowed or easily broken. i've learned my lesson. none of that. pencils, pens, towelettes, pencil sets, sure they are cheap and useful but it's the same thing that a kid receives every Christmas and birthday parties. and cheap finds can also be in department stores or book stores. because the first thing that comes into mind when getting cheap finds is divisoria. my loot bag, or pen holders, were bought in divisoria. though i know it could be bought in tiangge also. it just so happens that my mom happen to pass by there and so she bought it. thank God for grammy's!! she shouldered all the loot bag and prizes. anyway, we just bought chocolates, marshmallows, cookies, jelly and lollies in the grocery to put in the "loot bag". then they could use the cute pen holders. who doesn't love sweets, right? prizes include foldable bags (our own way of helping others use bags instead of plastics), coin bank, usable colors/paint set, bubbles, balls, etc.
as for the entertainment, that we have to shell out a bit of cash, we got a balloon twister and a bubble show.we wanted the kids to enjoy and bring home the ballons. the venue was decorated with just a few balloon decors on the ceiling to have an atmosphere of a kiddie party. as for the bubble show, its unique and fun. we didn't get the normal clowns and magicians anymore.
to complete off the party, we invited family, relatives, godparents and close friends. and we are so happy they went and celebrated this wonderful occassion with us.
