Surprise 50th Birthday Party - 10/17/09

Hi Everyone!

Last Saturday's Surprise 50th Birthday Party was a success! The event was held at a Knights of Columbus Hall in Brooklyn and we were definitely able to bring the overall look of the place up a notch. We started setting up at 11:00am and finished the bulk of it at 1:00pm. We then went back at about 6:00pm to finish the centerpieces and set the food on the warmers. Surprisingly everything fell into place and for the most part I was able to stick to my timeline (the guests as well as the Guest of Honor arrived later than expected, but I adjusted my timeline accordingly). We were done preparing on time and the party exactly when it was supposed to. That's how I like to see things done!

As for the actual event - the birthday girl was SHOCKED! The tears that flowed almost made me cry and I had to look away for a bit. The food was delicious, the multiple toasts that were made all had meaning, and the photo slide show of her life that her sons made was touching. She is truly a loved and lucky woman.

So what was my critique of the event? I think that everyone that showed up had a good time. Note that I said "everyone that showed up". One thing that annoyed me and that I felt was extremely rude were the number of people who RSVP'd, yet did not show up. The hall was paid for 85 adults and only about 60 were there. I don't understand why someone would take the time out of their day to confirm that they were coming and then just not come? In any case, the fact that some people didn't helped solve the "I hope we have enough food" dilemma. Due to the budget we were only able to order but so much so that was a concern, but we were able to leave with left overs which was great. The birthday girl may not have to cook for a few days!

One other thing that I was concerned about was the color scheme (black, white, and silver) as it doesn't really scream "50th birthday party". Originally I wanted to go with an ivory and gold theme, but due to the budget and the red chairs that would need to get covered, we couldn't do it. We decided that the red chairs would look fine with black, and added the white and silver as accents. With the dim lighting and votive candles, no one even noticed that it wasn't a "traditional color scheme". It looked a bit more modern/ chic if anything.

I definitely put a lot into this event since I knew that the budget was tight and so many things were DIY, such as the chocolate chip cookie favors that my friend Sara and I were baking until 2:00am the night before. It was tiring (baking, waiting to cool, and bagging to look like candy wrappers for 3 hours), but it was worth it in the end when all 100 favors were done. In addition to that, her sons made a dedication CD (which I unfortunately do not have a picture of.)

As usual DJ Fame (who is one of her sons!) did his thing and had people on the dance floor.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to all my friends that helped bring this entire event together: Sara, Terry Ann, Calena, and my cousin Sancia. Thank you so much ladies! I really could not have done it without you!

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