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!
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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.
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