En's Birthday Party : Jul-16

Time really flies and En turned 9 this year. Juz like her older sisters when they turned 9, her pa asked her if she would like to have her very own birthday party this year. To our surprise, she said yes. The first people on her invitation list were all of us in her family, and her Ah Yee Mama's family and Megan!! 

I remembered Qi's and Xuan's birthday parties to be cozy and fun affairs with their close friends at our place.. We had food, we had fun, we prepared games and gifts for our guests too.  But those were humble affairs and way before we experienced Dor's fanciful and indulgent birthday parties for Ally.. When En's Qmama heard that En's throwing her own birthday party, she really made En think hard - what is the theme of your party, who do you want to invite, what games do u want to play with your guests, etc..

Upon her Qmama's drilling, En began to explore.. Eventually she settled on the Candy theme. Like Xuan, En has always enjoy and love candies but she is also very conscious of my disdain for candies and knows exactly the bads of candies. Hence, she must have thought this as the perfect opportunity for me to say yes to all her candy requests - in the name of the birthday party... Arggh!!

For her candy themed party, En had me constantly on the Internet rummaging for do-able and affordable ideas for her party. Of course I will never be able to match her Qmama's standard, but I really really want to give En a memorable first birthday party.

After my WDFD on the last Sunday of June, my anxiety and stress immediately turned to En's party. Date, venue, deco, guests, food, games.. every item on the list was a challenge!!

Venue was the biggest challenge. Of course the most convenient place would be at home. But the cons of holding En's party at home are plentiful; non-spacious and non-aircon top the list. This was one occasion I wish we were staying in a condominium with a fully air conditioned function room.. Luckily I was able to get their Aunty Florence's help to book her condo function room. It's perfect -- nearby enough and just the right size with sufficient tables & chairs!!

After I eventually accepted En's guest list, my worry turned to deco, food and candy. Mulling in front of the laptop for a couple of days and nights, i finally found and ordered some party room deco hoping to make En's party Instagram-worthy; I worried slightly too if they would arrive in time.

Food - just cater or buy since it's really just close friends and family.

Candy - where to buy and how much to buy such that wastage is kept to a minimal and plentiful enough to upkeep a candy-themed party..

E'nuff said! After all the planning and preparations are said and done, the massive prep on the actual day itself was still the nightmare..

En'en and her presents

Looking back, it was pretty fun and satisfying. Happiest was that En had a happy and memorable 9th birthday party. I probably wouldn't do it a second time tho..