Birthday Party Planning
Be it your 18th, 21st, or whatever party these are some of the things you have to decide and do before your party!1) Budget
Your budget will basically decides what kind of party you want, where you want it to be held, how many guest you can invite, and the food/cake you order! So roughly set a budget!
I roughly set a budget of $1k.
2) Create a list of the guests that you want to invite
This is the most important, as this will determine almost anything you should plan for the party. As a start, at least know roughly who you will be inviting in order to get the numbers. Nearing to the party, please have the list of guests before you invite them to the party. This is to save you from some paisehness should you forget to invite someone you should invite. I mean, actually you wont forget to invite those you should invite. But who knows?I invited about 50+ guests.
3) Decide the location of your birthday party AND Book it!
As mentioned in the previous post: Location!
This
is the most important aspect as you have to book the
hotel/chalet/restaurants and everything before. Advice is to check it 6
months before your intended birthday date and see if you are eligible to
book now (and even earlier if your birthday happens to fall on the peak
period).
Chalet booked: Chevrons(http://www.chevrons.org.sg/moby/cms/banner/chalets/)
Chevrons is open to public for booking 3 months before the date. I booked it about 1 month before. Within 3 days of booking, you have to go down to chevrons to make the full payment (cash/nets). You have to pay a refundable deposit of $50 on the actual day. The staff will briefly brief (haha) you about the check in and admin stuff.
Chevrons is open to public for booking 3 months before the date. I booked it about 1 month before. Within 3 days of booking, you have to go down to chevrons to make the full payment (cash/nets). You have to pay a refundable deposit of $50 on the actual day. The staff will briefly brief (haha) you about the check in and admin stuff.
They only allow catering from a few appointed caterers.
At the back of Chevrons Chalet is this BBQ Area, also the place where you set up the buffet. (Blue buffet table set up by caterer)
At the back of Chevrons Chalet is this BBQ Area, also the place where you set up the buffet. (Blue buffet table set up by caterer)
It is a rather cosy chalet. About 5 people can sleep in (1 double bed + 2* single mattress + 1 sofa) here at night and more if you don't mind the squeeze.
If it doesnt rain, it can fit to about 50 people because the BBQ area is quite large. However, if it rains, the chalet can probably fit only about maximum 30 people (really a rough estimate)?
4) Food!
What's a party without food? Nom nom nom nom...
If there aren't any restrictions for the caterers then you can have a lot of caterers to choose from, check out Foodline (http://www.foodline.sg/caterers/#). They basically have reviews for almost all the caterers found in Singapore and you can view the price too. A great website for you to find your caterer.
The caterer I chose:
The Caterers: http://www.thecaterers.com.sg/
Since chevrons only allow a few caterers. And since I have halal friends and I prefer western/chinese food more to the rest, I narrowed my choice to "Mum's catering" and "The caterers". So I went googling about reviews on foodline, mum's catering has got good reviews! However, you cannot choose your own dishes you want, they have different packages and the dishes are fixed, which I don't really like. So I went to search for "the caterers", blame it on the name or what, it's really hard to find a review on the caterer: the caterers. Haha but in the end I found it in a forum, the review was not bad and they recommended the curry chicken.
For me, I would say the food was not bad and many of my friends found it nice. However, they were 1 hour earlier (but it's better than late), they did not light up the buffet fire and left after receiving the money. We had to borrow the lighter from neighbouring chalet's caterer. ><
5) Cake
The highlight of a birthday party would be birthday cake! Order in advance if you want customised cake! IF you dont have much preference for the cake, do at least try to order 1 week earlier! They will at least need 4 days to process your order and make the cake!
I ordered a key (cream) cake because my mum said key cake is like a must for 21st so I ordered that. I gave fondant cake a miss because I don't really like fondant because they taste like sweet rubber? However, for aesthetically pleasant wise, fondant cake is really nice! Anyway, I ordered my cake at a neighborhood bakery. Not really very very pretty but I guess taste wise it was not bad except for the a little thick cream.
With a theme, you will need to decorate your place with the theme. Of course, without a theme, you can still decorate, with more freedom.
Possible themes:
1. No theme
2. Colours (A single colour, combinations of colours)
3. Retro/throwback
4. Cartoon (Hello Kitty etc.)
5. Animals
6. Flora
And of course, you need to get ready your Outfit Of The Day! Get a pretty dress or a costume to fit to your theme yeah! For girls, you may want to get your manicure/ pedicure done!
Theme:
Doraemon
Places I got my decos from:
1. Daiso
2. Popular
3. Stationery shops
4. Taobao
Place I got my helium balloons from:
Party Friend (http://mypartyfriend.com.sg/pages/services)
Place I searched for my dress:
qoo10
Manicure:
Little Pink Palace
1. Decorations (Hanging/ pasting), you should get ready your decos before the actual day
and Helium balloon on the actual day
2. Logistics (Chairs/ tables)
3a. Food (Snacks/drinks that you may want to buy)
3b. Catered Food (do remember to double confirm with the caterer on the day/ the day before- Play Safe and get ready the cash/cheque for the caterer to pay them!)
4. Photographer
5. Your OOTD and makeup (if necessary) done before your guest arrives!
If there aren't any restrictions for the caterers then you can have a lot of caterers to choose from, check out Foodline (http://www.foodline.sg/caterers/#). They basically have reviews for almost all the caterers found in Singapore and you can view the price too. A great website for you to find your caterer.
The caterer I chose:
The Caterers: http://www.thecaterers.com.sg/
Since chevrons only allow a few caterers. And since I have halal friends and I prefer western/chinese food more to the rest, I narrowed my choice to "Mum's catering" and "The caterers". So I went googling about reviews on foodline, mum's catering has got good reviews! However, you cannot choose your own dishes you want, they have different packages and the dishes are fixed, which I don't really like. So I went to search for "the caterers", blame it on the name or what, it's really hard to find a review on the caterer: the caterers. Haha but in the end I found it in a forum, the review was not bad and they recommended the curry chicken.
For me, I would say the food was not bad and many of my friends found it nice. However, they were 1 hour earlier (but it's better than late), they did not light up the buffet fire and left after receiving the money. We had to borrow the lighter from neighbouring chalet's caterer. ><
5) Cake
The highlight of a birthday party would be birthday cake! Order in advance if you want customised cake! IF you dont have much preference for the cake, do at least try to order 1 week earlier! They will at least need 4 days to process your order and make the cake!
I ordered a key (cream) cake because my mum said key cake is like a must for 21st so I ordered that. I gave fondant cake a miss because I don't really like fondant because they taste like sweet rubber? However, for aesthetically pleasant wise, fondant cake is really nice! Anyway, I ordered my cake at a neighborhood bakery. Not really very very pretty but I guess taste wise it was not bad except for the a little thick cream.
5) Theme/ Decorations/ Costumes
Not necessary to have a theme but will definitely be great to have a theme.With a theme, you will need to decorate your place with the theme. Of course, without a theme, you can still decorate, with more freedom.
Possible themes:
1. No theme
2. Colours (A single colour, combinations of colours)
3. Retro/throwback
4. Cartoon (Hello Kitty etc.)
5. Animals
6. Flora
And of course, you need to get ready your Outfit Of The Day! Get a pretty dress or a costume to fit to your theme yeah! For girls, you may want to get your manicure/ pedicure done!
Theme:
Doraemon
Places I got my decos from:
1. Daiso
2. Popular
3. Stationery shops
4. Taobao
Place I got my helium balloons from:
Party Friend (http://mypartyfriend.com.sg/pages/services)
Place I searched for my dress:
qoo10
Manicure:
Little Pink Palace
6) Invite
Create a facebook event page and invite your friends! You can also create a e-invitation card and send to people via whatsapp/line/wechat.Actual day preparation
You will need some friends/ family members to help with:1. Decorations (Hanging/ pasting), you should get ready your decos before the actual day
and Helium balloon on the actual day
2. Logistics (Chairs/ tables)
3a. Food (Snacks/drinks that you may want to buy)
3b. Catered Food (do remember to double confirm with the caterer on the day/ the day before- Play Safe and get ready the cash/cheque for the caterer to pay them!)
4. Photographer
5. Your OOTD and makeup (if necessary) done before your guest arrives!
Hi! Im planning for my 21st birthday at Chevrons as well and would like to ask if you have more pictures on the buffet to show ie. how were buffet was set up, was the benches at the bbq big enough for 8 dishes etc. Thanks so much for your help!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply. I will upload more pictures on the buffet soon. To my knowledge, it's big enough for 8 dishes! but the caterer for the buffet will set up tables to put the buffet dishes, so no worries!
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