Leonor was turning 12 and her mom wanted to celebrate in a way she and her friends would never forget.
This party served as a birthday party and a farewell as Leonor and her family were returning to Portugal two days after her party. So an emoji party was fitting for this occasion.
Birthday girl’s favourite colours were used, along with her favourite emoji, and snack treats. These kids were not into too much sugar, so we swapped those out for “don’t be a sausage” sausage rolls and “happy face” chicken sliders for everyone! Another favourite snack any time any day of the week is popcorn!
We had a treat for the birthday girl and her friends. They did not know they would have a private dance lesson by a professional dancer. She kept the kids entertained for hours! They went home pooped but happy and will not soon forget Leonor and how much fun they had.
Details that I cannot get enough of and won’t soon forget:
- Dipped emoji face oreos;
- “Don’t be a sausage” rolls;
- “Happy face” sliders;
- Mini marquee lights with a personalised #;
- Emoji face iced biscuits;
- Welcome signage;
- Tongue jelly sweets.
Vendors and credits:
Planning/Design/Rentals/Set up: Far FaraWay Events
Sliders, sausage rolls, dipped Oreos: Love Cakes by Ilhaam
Cake: Client supplied her own
Iced biscuits: Angel Kisses
Please like and share our vendor pages and also leave comments below on what you thought of this party.
Parties with glitter makes my heart sing and my car bling!
When our client, Dee-Ann, made contact and sent me a link to a Pinterest board birthday girl, Emma, had created I knew I had my work cut out as this girl OBVIOUSLY knew what she wanted and I had to deliver. Her vision was clear: glitter and shimmer.
Our client gave us free reign allowing us to explore a different set up style but keeping in line with our design aesthetic of making it beautiful. Even though there was no specific theme, simply a colour palette, it was a beautifully magical one at that. We carried the bling element throughout most of the decor and food elements. Emma wanted glitter dipped bags, glitter doughnuts and glitter cake pops. Oh, let’s not forget the balloon arch!
Instead of our signature candy buffet table we showcased the birthday cake on a high cocktail table and added some sweet decor elements surrounded by an opulent balloon arch. We also did a beautifully decorated table that had soft pink tablecloths with sequin runners surrounded by wooden benches for the guests to sit on. The table contained all the yummy treats for the kids to have within easy arms length once it was time to devour them!
Details that I cannot get enough of and won’t soon forget:
- Glitter dipped party bags;
- pink, purple, gold and clear balloon arch;
- glitter dipped doughnuts;
- glitter dipped cake pops;
- Welcome signage;
- Flower arrangements with personalised glitter cutouts;
- iced biscuit with “E” monogram;
- glitter candles.
Vendors and credits:
Planning/Design/Rentals/Set up: Far FaraWay Events
Doughnuts and Cake Pops: Love Cakes by Ilhaam
Cake: Connie’s Cakery
Iced biscuits: Angel Kisses
Balloon arch: Emerald Events
If you like what you see head on over to our vendor pages and like and share! Leave your comments below for us and we will happily engage.
Fara
xoxo
]]>
In April I turned the big 40 and wanted to continue the tradition I had started when I found Far FaraWay Events by hosting a giveaway as a way of celebrating my birthday with loyal clients, followers and supporters. However, I wanted to do something BIG, and the idea of a full set up with all the delicious eats that you can expect at a party of this magnitude was born!
I knew though that I could not do this on my own and would need to approach vendors in the industry who would be interested in this collaboration. I have to say ‘WOW’ as within 15 minutes of making contact with these specific vendors they agreed to collab without hesitation. With them so generously on board, we could offer a full set up with eats for 10 guests. These vendors I have worked with previously, on many of my events, and will continue to do so. They are of the most professional and their items are of the top quality.
The prize we offered was MASSIVE! (links below of all the vendors in the credits):
- — Full party set up and break down (Far FaraWay Events);
- — custom made party decor (Far FaraWay Events);
- — canapes (CloudNine Catering);
- — drip or biscuit cake (Love Cakes by Ilhaam);
- — custom balloon arch (Emerald Events CT); and
- — photo shoot of set up (Nikki Oliver Photopraphy).
The giveaway ran across FB and Insta for the month of April and a lucky winner was chosen mid-May.
The lucky winner, Aneeqa James, so generously gifted the prize to her friend, Nisreen. The theme Aneeqa chose was ‘Fun and Flirty’ which immediately made me think pink, flowers and bright! We decided to go for big and bold floral colours and loved the idea of using a watercolour floral print to pull this look together. And hey, why not add some gold into the mix while we were at it! To see more of our work: Far FaraWay Events
Once we had chosen a colour scheme, we discussed the food with all the food vendors. With the right mix of sweet (cake, doughnuts and pudding) and salty (pitas, meatballs, pop up tarts, spring rolls, sweet potato bites) we were well on our way to a party! Next came the colour choice for the organic balloon arch and then for Nikki to show up to take amazeball photographs!
Details that I cannot get enough of and won’t soon forget:
- Sweet potato bites topped with guacamole and sprinkled with macon;
- THAT pink and gold drip cake;
- gold sequin tablecloth;
- gorgeous floral royal icing biscuits;
- helluva extra balloon arch;
- beautiful watercolour floral backdrop.
Vendors and credits:
Planning/Design/Rentals/Set Up – Far FaraWay Events – @far_faraway_events_za
Photography – Nikki Oliver Photography – @nikkioliverphotography
Cake and puddings: Love Cakes by Ilhaam – @love_cakes_by_ilhaam_
Canapes: Cloud Nine Catering – @cloudninecatering_official
Iced Biscuits: Angel Kisses Biscuits – @angelsbiscuit
Venue – Client’s Own
Enjoy the pics and let us know what you think in the comments.
This party was near and dear to my heart as it was for my eldest daughter, Ra’naa who turned 10! A milestone birthday as we entered into double–digit territory. Her favourite colours are blue and purple and I thought let’s make that the focus of this party instead of the usual pamper inspired décor. I decided to incorporate her initial ‘R‘ throughout the décor to personalise it, combined with stripes, polka dots and chevron print. The brief from the birthday girl was everything must be purple and blue and ‘oh an ice cream cake mom’.
I turned to my guru baker and mom herself to two gorgeous boys, Ilhaam from Love Cakes to whip up the ice cream topped drip cake, cake pops and iced biscuits. My ‘client’ did not want too much candy as she and her friends like to eat healthy. I am all for that, but hey, its a party! So we compromised on two types of candy. I made pancake stacks with Nutella and strawberries sandwiched between each layer. Ra’naa and I made unicorn-inspired chocolate bark AND ice cream in her favourite colours. We finished off the treats table with some popcorn cause what tweenie doesn’t love popcorn! For a backdrop to the treats table, I decided to decorated the white wall with pinwheel fans, oversized latex balloons which we jazzed up with tassels and also placed tassels on the front of the table to give some extra sparkle.
The area where the girls were seated we decided to keep it relaxed and removed the legs on a table and instead placed pillows on the floor (all in theme colours of course) for all to enjoy one another’s company and eats while waiting for their pamper treatments and activities. We decorated the seating area with plain and polka in theme colours along with glass milk bottles with plastic striped straws so everyone could help themselves to the juice bar we had set up.
We had an amazing group of ladies from GlamourWorx who come into any space and transform it into a beauty party. Not only do they do pamper treatments such as facials, manis and pedis, they also kept the girls busy by letting them make bath bombs and lipbalm to take home! For me the best was the personalised goodies bag each girl got to take home which contained quite a few items some of which were also personalised. I would definitely recommend them to family and friends. Now feast your eyes on some of the photos taken:
The party ideas and elements that makes this party stand out from the rest:
- The beautiful color palette of turquoise and purple in different shades, as well as the use of polka dots, chevron and stripe to make it playful.
- The spa gowns and matching theme headbands each guest got to take home.
- A goodie bag filled with wonderful spa items to continue the pampering at home.
- Iced cookie with the birthday girl‘s initial, ‘R’.
- Nutella pancake stacks with slices of strawberries in between.
- All the animals strolling through the treats on the main table and kiddies table.
Enjoy as I know the girls did!
I
What a beautiful party this turned out to be.
Black and white with a touch of playfulness makes for a stunningly elegant theme for a kids party.
I absolutely love this mom and her sense of style. We have assisted her with her son, Hudson’s birthday two years in a row. She has an amazing eye for detail and knows exactly what she wants to do way ahead of time. So when @styled_by_mama sent me a message: ‘Hi, it’s time’, I knew she was ready to rock and roll. The theme was monochrome black and white and the brief was simple: Monochrome. Everything to be black and white.
The party ideas and elements that kept this look simple and elegant yet playful and childlike:
- White wooden furniture which is softened by the playful polka dot party boxes, stripe plates and the cute name flags for each guest.
- The combination of white, silver and black star and orb shaped balloons, with a friendly zebra in the mix.
- A cone shaped party hat and a ‘party animal’ back pack.
- Iced cookie in the birthday boy‘s initial, ‘H’ to be washed down with some chocolate milk. Yum!
- Cake pops adorned with black and white feathers and marshmallows dipped in “black” chocolate.
- All the animals strolling through the treats on the main table and kiddies table.
This mom styled this party all by herself, we simply provided some of the key elements: white wooden furniture, black and white stripe linens, feather topped cake pops, iced “H” cookie and cactus shaped (not shown) iced cookie, dipped marshmallows, candy jars, juice dispensers, ice cream machine (with flavour of your choice) and black cake stands.
Vendors:
Decor and Rentals: Far FaraWay Events
]]>When I think of ‘me time’ I am fondly reminded of my grandmother and her nightly beauty ritual while growing up. This was her time. She brushed her pitch black, waist–length hair until it gleamed, she applied all these lotions and potions to her skin which to this day, at 84 years, is still smooth. Her skin is that of a 60 year old rather than 84. She would soak her feet, then scrub them with a pumice stone and apply cream. Her last task before she went to bed was to drink a cup of Rooibos tea (hold the milk and sugar!). My grandmother had 12 children, 8 of whom survived childbirth. So if could she find some time for herself who are we not to!
With her in mind these are the things I like to do when I have a bit of ‘me time’. I do not have a nightly ritual, but these activities I consider important, almost vital, to keep my sanity in check.
Many of you will probably scoff at my list and think ‘what silliness’, but only a mom will understand that your time is precious and the little time you do have to yourself you do not want to squander it by doing extravagant or outrageous activities. You want to keep it simple and save the grand gesture items for a special occasion.(See Part 2 of this Post for more.)
So here is my list:
Finding time for yourself is hard. You become so engrossed in your role as a mom and wife that you forget yourself and that you also have needs. Making time for yourself makes you a better mom, wife and person all round. Trust me. So when the opportunity presents itself to have some alone time: do something for yourself. Do not fold up the laundry! Do not tidy up the house! Do not do ironing!
Even if it just means taking a long hot bath, reading a magazine, paying bills, blogging, decide what you like and do it.
Binge watching
I am embarrassed at this one but it is what it is! I am obsessed with series and can never watch it in real time. Thank goodness for PVR! At the moment I am binge-watching Masterchef Australia 2016! As soon as the smallies (aka my kids) go to bed I get ready for bed and watch a few episodes. Everyone is asleep, so it’s just me and the remote. Yay! I know some people would prefer sleep, I’d much rather have alone time than sleep. There is something about watching other people cook under pressure that just gives me a thrill. That is usually me and with no end or grand prize in sight! A ‘thank you mommy’ is good enough for me.
I am embarrassed at this one but it is what it is! I am obsessed with series and can never watch it in real time. Thank goodness for PVR! At the moment I am binge-watching Masterchef Australia 2016! As soon as the smallies (aka my kids) go to bed I get ready for bed and watch a few episodes. Everyone is asleep, so it’s just me and the remote. Yay! I know some people would prefer sleep, I’d much rather have alone time than sleep. There is something about watching other people cook under pressure that just gives me a thrill. That is usually me and with no end or grand prize in sight! A ‘thank you mommy’ is good enough for me.
Reading
I love reading, from fiction, magazines, romance, DIY books and even recipe books. Man, I read anything I can get my hands on. My love of books started at an early age and has not waned. I just do not have as much time to read as I would like. In my PK (pre-kids) days I could happily browse in a bookshop for hours.
Thanks to the wonderful invention of the Kindle and other e-readers out there books are just a click away. My wonderful hubby bought me a Kindle many moons ago for my birthday after he saw me struggling to breastfeed my newborn and turn the page of the book I was trying to read! I have not looked back. I still love to purchase the odd hard copy book and I am a complete sucker for magazines! I will do a post on all my favourite magazines in the near future.
This is a me-time activity you can do in the bath, bed or if you lucky like me, I have a special reading corner in my bedroom. My dad had made me a beautiful chair and foot stool when I was pregnant with my daughter to use for breastfeeding and it has now become my reading spot. It’s so decadent sitting with my feet up, by book on my lap, and a warm cuppa on the side table.
Writing
It seems only natural that if one likes to read you would also like to write. Right? I’ve always been one to write down my thoughts, doodle, short little poems. I feel that when I write something it becomes real for me. Oh and my lists. All those near and dear to me know I have lists for everything. My lists have lists!!!! When I am planning a party oh my, I have lists in my notebooks, on my iphone, my ipad, pieces of paper!!!! But I think that is more due to my overactive brain constantly thinking of something to do for a party and I need to write it down before I forget.
Which brings me to my obsession with beautiful notebooks. I love collecting notebooks. I am one of those rare breeds of people who still enjoys writing things down. So I am always on the hunt for pretty notebooks. And as my luck would have it I found Fateemah from Crystal Bowtique Modesty Wear, on instagram, who does beautiful Islamic inspired notebooks. Needless to say I purchased a few. My favourite one is “Just a girl boss building her empire Insha Allah”. She is on instagram and has a website so check her out if you interested: http://www.crystalbowtique.co.za/ She couriers as well.
Meditation
So by now you have probably realise my idea of me time is doing quiet activities. After the craziness of a day surrounded by four screaming children (whom I love in spite of, lol), all I want is some peace and quiet. Meditation for me means sitting down and trying to let go of all the craziness of the day and to take stock. I am yet to achieve that elusive state of true meditation where the mind is silent and calm yet alert. It does not mean I will stop trying!!!
Meditation
So by now you have probably realise my idea of me time is doing quiet activities. After the craziness of a day surrounded by four screaming children (whom I love in spite of, lol), all I want is some peace and quiet. Meditation for me means sitting down and trying to let go of all the craziness of the day and to take stock. I am yet to achieve that elusive state of true meditation where the mind is silent and calm yet alert. It does not mean I will stop trying!!!
Sooooo………………me time is important for everyone to take, not just us overwhelmed moms, but I know finding the time is hard. Schedule it in like any other appointment, even if its only half an hour. It will make all the difference. Let me know what you do in your me-time.
Fara
xx
Shortly after 5pm on 25 January 2007, after 24 hours in labour or ‘non-labour’ as some would say (that is a blog for another day), I started my parenting journey. Hearing my daughter’s first cry made my heart stop and is a sound that I will forever hear in my mind. I never wanted kids. Then I had my son and two more daughters. Four kids in a span of 6 years!
There are days where I feel like I am drowning and clinging to my sanity, however I feel honoured to have been given the task of raising my children to be humble and respectful human beings. Each of them have their own unique personality quirks which make them absolutely lovable and at the same time drives me to the brink! Despite this they bring me unbridled joy.
This year has come with many challenges: losing our long time sleep-in nanny and reverting to a char, start of my own business, more responsibilities at work and it seemed like my kids needed me more this year than ever. But I think that has to do with the change in our home set up. Things have settled down a bit now that the year draws to a close but it will be a push until schools go on holiday. Summer holidays are exciting times in our household as we either spend as much time as we can on the beach or around the pool at home or we go away to one of the many seaside villages we are blessed with in the Western Cape.
Enjoy summer as the weather starts heating up, as I know we will be enjoying ours.
Fara
xx
]]>
What a magic carpet ride I went on with this party!
We created a whole new world in Princess Sarah’s backyard for her 8th birthday. The brief was simple: Princess Jasmine, teal, purple, shimmer and shine. Oh and belly dancing! We did lots of sparkling glitz and gold throughout this party.
The party ideas and elements that just might make your wishes and dreams come true from this fabulous occasion include:
- A teal and purple rose swirl cake, with a crown and Princess Jasmine topper.
- Ornate gold cake and dessert stands, trays, princess favors, and accents.
- A stunning buffet table draped in beautiful gold sequin linens with a billowy ribbon backdrop in gold, teal and purple.
- Goblets adorned in jewels by the guests upon arrival.
- Jasmine inspired cookies, cupcakes and cake pops.
- And many other stunning and intricate details that you have to see to believe!
To keep the guests entertained we started off with each one having to embellish their own plastic goblet with an array of jewels provided. The girls really went all out with this activity. Photo props were also available and the girls had fun with being the different characters in the movie. After they had something to nibble on, the belly dancers arrived to much mayhem from the guests! Each girl was provided with a coin belt and the next hour was spent being taught belly dancing techniques and a mini show at the end with the girls putting together what they had learnt.
After all the fun, each guest took home a treat filled party box along with their personalised goblets as well as a beautiful organza bag filled with a princess bracelet and shea butter lip balm.
Vendors:
Decor, Styling and Set up: Far FaraWay Events
Cake, Cupcakes, Cookies and Pops: Angel Cakes
Party Favours: MelonMia
Eats: Cloudnine Catering
All babies are heaven sent so when the friend’s of this mom-to-be approached me to assist with a surprise baby shower, I was only too happy to oblige and suggested this theme. It was also perfect as the happy couple was expecting their first bouncing baby boy.
I decided to make clouds to use against the “sky” backdrop and thanks to a few links on my fave party ideas one-stop shop, Pinterest I headed off to the store to buy supplies: cotton wool, card stock and craft glue. The “sky” backdrop was a plastic table cloth available at most party shops, in various colours and at a reasonable cost.
The treats were all inspired by this theme: vanilla cupcakes with a light and fluffy cream topping, resembling clouds, cake pops to swoon over and last but not least the rose swirl ombre cake with the sleeping baby nestled in between the rose swirls. All bakes were made by Jihan of Cloud Nine Catering, who also specializes in savories and cooks delicious meals for special occasions.
We kept the treats buffet simple and elegant and dressed the table with a blue tutu tablecloth combined with mini pom poms in teal, navy blue and white.We also added a dash of silver here and there and had a cutesy baby blue “BABY” sign on the table as we did not know the baby’s name! For those of you who wonders why not, it is part of Islamic custom to not name the baby before it’s born.
Prior to the mom’s arrival the guests were asked to sign a onesie with words of wisdom, love or what guest thought fitting, which would be framed as a keepsake. Similarly the guests were asked to place their thumbprints on a thumb tree (see pic) which would also be framed. The table was set up with different colour stamp pads and the guests could choose which they wanted to use to place their prints.
The hostesses provided a wide array of snacks and drinks which we styled to suit the set up. Games were enjoyed by one and all starting with “Guess the baby food”, “Who knows mom best?”, “Singing nursery rhymes in different music genres”, which was my personal favourite!
Guests all had a wonderful time and was treated to a small handbag sized hand cream as a favor, which was beautifully packaged in a glass jar with ribbon and thank you label.
We wish this mom-to-be all the best with her bundle of joy and hopes he brings her, hubby and big sister loads of happiness, love and laughter.
If you have any questions or queries please feel free to comment.
]]>
This has by far been one of my favorite themes to do. Every girl wants to be a princess, so when this client called me and said to me that her daughter wanted a Disney Princesses party my heart skipped a beat. There are so many Disney Princesses so how do I ensure they all get equal treatment? Then the answer came to me: Ask the birthday girl as she surely has a favourite! After that everything else fell into place.
 |
| Rapunzel’s dress |
 |
| Cinderalla’s slippers |
Based on the birthday girl’s choices the colour palette was light pink, lilac with gold accents. I chose not to have too much decor with the Disney Princesses images but rather to retell their stories in the different treats we chose to showcase, for example: Jasmines Jewels, Snow White’s Not-so Poison Apples, Aurora’s Fruits of the Forest, Cinderella’s Slippers filled with candy, Sofia’s Cake Pops and iced biscuits in the shape of some of the Princess Dresses.
The birthday princess’s chair we dressed up with a tutu skirt at the head of the royal banquet table. Each princess received an organza bag filled with a bracelet with a crown emblem and lip balm with shea butter made by Melanie from MelonMia Girls.
 |
|
| Aurora inspired tutu dress |
And what is a princess without a beautiful dress! So we called upon our fairy tutu godmother, Shelley Swart from Ezy Pzy Kidz Stuff and asked her to whip up a dress fit for Aurora and she delivered! The birthday princess loved her dress and could not stop swirling for all and sundry. As I am sure you all figured it out by now, Aurora is her favourite princess.
And how can we not mention this absolutely decadent two-tier, red velvet drip cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with lilac drip chocolate, flowers and butterflies as well the mini photos of Disney princesses in gold gilded frames which was entirely edible! What a showstopper of a cake and enjoyed by all. The yummy iced biscuits, dipped marshmallows and cake pops were made by Ilhaam from Love Cakes. Other decor and food elements all spoke to this royal theme fit for a princess. Every princess was treated to a bag of royal treats after the party.
The entertainment arranged was from one of our local companies, Enchanted Parties, who specialises in having either the owners or their assistants dressing up as per your theme and doing fun activities with the guests. The girls were treated to a magic show, facepainting, a treasure hunt and small keepsake items.
A huge thank you to all our suppliers who assisted in making this party memorable!!!!
]]>