I have already blogged about my eldest son’s Star Wars birthday celebration which happened last Saturday, October 15. But I have yet to blog about the party details of his first piano concert which took place during his 7th birthday celebration as well. I wrote about the planning and preparations partly in this post. However, it is only now that I am able to make time to really discuss the details of that memorable occasion.
My first challenge for this birthday party was who to ask to make his birthday cake. My eldest son has already decided on the details that he wants to be included in his cake. He has a design in his head of how it should look like. I just need to find someone who would be up for the challenge. We used to have a trusted cake-maker for our birthday celebrations. But she already went abroad. I asked one of my son’s godparents who is also in a similar business. I shared with her the specifications that Yanthy gave for his cake and cupcakes. To my relief, she accepted the challenge and she said that she’ll be happy to make Yanthy’s cake for his 7th birthday party. One challenge down.
My next big challenge was to find a caterer. I posted this in one of the Facebook groups that I am a part of. There were several caterers who responded to my inquiry. I screened those who responded based on my budget and their location. I didn’t want to get a caterer who would need to travel far to get to the party venue. With the terrible traffic situation in our country, I didn’t want this to be an additional source of stress for me on the day of the party. That helped me trim my list of potential caterers. Next is to look at their packages. Among those with affordable packages, there is one that was referred to me by a party stylist who also gave a quotation for my son’s party. We scheduled a meeting and taste test. My husband and I (and our kids) like the food. I was also pleased that the owner was easy to talk to and she accommodated my requests right away. We didn’t dilly dally anymore. We made a reservation right away and booked them for our party. SinceĀ a number of my requests for the party details and set-up were accommodated by the caterer, I thought that I didn’t need a party stylist anymore. Anyway, I knew very well how I want it styled. I just need people who will help me execute my ideas. Most of the quotations I got from party stylists were pricey. I thought that if only I could find a balloon decorator who can help me with the other details, we could pull this off. Thankfully, I found one.
It was a simple set up. Black and white motif all throughout. Black accents on chairs and table tops. I borrowed the white picture frames that the caterer usually uses for the table number. I used it to put names and photos of great pianists. I also borrowed their white candle holders. Instead of balloon centerpieces, I requested white floral arrangement in transparent vases. Simple but elegant!
These were the names I gave to the food and drinks. Simply put, these are spaghetti, Coke and Sprite soda, beef strips in white sauce, chicken fillet strips, fruit salad, white rice and pork roast. I designed all the food and drink labels to make them uniform.
Instead of the usual balloons that they put on the food table, I requested for twigs and I asked joy to make additional cutouts of notes. We then asked the waiters to hang these notes on the twigs. The table cloth in the food table is also black top and white pleated table cover then silver chafing dishes.
The priest celebrant (Fr. Anthony) was also the one who blessed the food before we ate.
The caterer set up the stage area also based on my instructions. My son wanted it to look like a stage in theaters. I looked for pegs and sent the photo to the caterer. I was amazed at the nice work they have done. The balloon towers I asked Joy to make enhanced the look. The silver letters of Yanthy’s name made by Joy made the stage area elegant.
I found another party supplier who has affordable balloon packages. I shared my idea with her. She said that her team can do it. So, I hired her to do the job. I was delighted with the work that her team did. They were also early at the venue. I really like my event suppliers/partners to be early because it lessens the stress when we have ample lead time. And because I loved Joy’s work, I hired her again for my youngest son’s One Year Old in a Flash birthday party a month after this party. Check out the photos of that partyĀ here.
I love that Joy of Dyoy’s Party Needs was able to follow my instructions on how to arrange the stage area including the loose balloons near the piano. Click their name to go to their Facebook Page. Got this photo from my son’s godmother.
Got this photo from Ruby.
One of our blessings last year in planning for this birthday party was that someone volunteered to sponsor my son’s dessert buffet table. She emailed me and said that this is something that she does as a hobby and would like to do this for my son as her way of building her portfolio. I asked her to show me some photos of the previous events where she set up a dessert table. I like her photos so I sealed the deal with her. I was also glad that she accommodated my ideas (like what treats I want to be included and what to name them) and the details that I wanted to be part of the dessert table. I was ecstaticĀ with the result of our collaboration! It was a hit at the party! All our guests were raving at how nice it was done.
Our dessert buffet table which I called Sweet Rhapsody in G Major 7! š G for Gian and 7 because he’s 7 years old.
I loved that Ruby found these cups for the popcorn! I requested these from her.
Ruby took our orchestra set up seriously. I just asked her to make the cupcake toppers musical notes. But she went the extra mile and used the notes that were part of Fur Elise, which was one of Yanthy’s favorite pieces at that time.
I asked Ruby to make a chalkboard design for these words that I want to be included in the dessert table that I called Sweet Rhapsody.
Black and white and music-themed dessert buffet table by Ruby. Click here to go to her Facebook Page Parties by Ruby.
I DIYed many of the other details starting from the invitation, the tarpaulin design, the guest book, the name tags, the table centerpieces, the loot bags and giveaways, the decor at the entrance, etc. I planned the program and the games. I was also the emcee!
The printout of the invitation.
Made these also for the photographer and videographer just like in other concerts.
Designed, printed, cut and ribboned by yours truly!
Designed, printed, folded and packed these loot bags myself. Wrapped the prices also.
It was one tiring event but it was all worth the effort! My son loved his party! He was very happy with how things turned out. He enjoyed it immensely! Our guests enjoyed the party and raved about it. They loved the details!
There was only one thing that disappointed me much and it breaks my heart every time I remember it. The videographer we hired to document the event was an epic failure. He failed to document some parts of the birthday Mass which happened before the piano concert/party. It was the first time that my son served as pianist in the Mass from the entrance song to the recessional. He failed to record some parts. I also gave detailed instructions on how to take the videos and what are the most important parts. But he was not able to follow my instructions. He was focusing the camera more on the priest instead of on the pianist who happens to be the birthday celebrant also. My point is, it’s not the priest’s first time to celebrate Mass. He wasn’t hired by the priest. he was hired by the parents of the pianist because we wanted to document this once in a lifetime event. I also told him that he should take the videos in such a way that my son’s half body is always seen so that people will see that it was really him playing the piano all throughout. Thus, I was terribly disappointed when I saw the videos and saw that he would zoom in on the hands often and he did not do it seamlessly. I could have taken a better video. But, I did not because I chose to enjoy the event. I chose to simply watch my son and listen to him play the songs for the Mass on the piano. I didn’t even take pictures during the Mass since I already hired professionals to do it. That’s why I was heartbroken when I discovered that there were parts of the Mass that the videographer failed to cover. There were also parts of the program that he failed to document like my special message to my son during the program and the special number of my son and his godfather who is a professional singer. It was a good thing that my son’s godmother took some videos and shared them on Facebook. They should have refunded me at least in part for these big mistakes.
All in all, the concert cum party was a success! I think it was one of the biggest events I have conceptualized, planned, organized and implemented. Imagine, a Mass and a piano concert for a little boy who is a music prodigy! If I will go back in time and would be asked by my son again if I would be willing to do this for him, I would gladly say yes without hesitation. I would just do some things differently like getting a different photographer and videographer for it.
What a milestone for our eldest son! A dream come true to have his solo piano concert at 7 years old. I am one proud mama!
The next 7th birthday party that I will plan and organize would be 2 years from now. I wonder what my second son would want to have by then. In the meantime, I will plan for his 5th birthday celebration first, which will happen a month from today.
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