Let's Celebrate!

Back in high school I worked at an arcade and sporting complex which featured go-karts and mini-golf. I was one of the lead team members for sales and setting up birthday parties. If a parent called in to book a party, the phone call was usually directed to me. Planning for these was pretty easy since there was a step by step system my workplace followed. All I had to do was fill in the blanks with names, dates, and details. I filed the paperwork and kept track of payments. On the day of these parties, I would set up the party area and, most often that not, my bosses would put me in charge of running the parties and overlooking them to make sure everything ran smoothly.

While my years at my first place of work didn't allow me to use my own creative touches for planning, I did learn how to run events as well as cater to people's personal requests for their parties. It was my first step into Public Relations and Event Planning.

But besides my work experience, I recently helped my sister plan for her twins' first birthday party. Grayson and Aston turned one this September and they had a monster themed party! (: We cut out and put together what felt like a hundred paper monsters mailed out invites, ordered way too many balloons, and found individual monster cakes for the boys. I went to my sister's the day before the party to help her set up and decorate (as well as entertain the boys while my sister cooked and cleaned the house).

Birthday parties are fun but take plenty of planning and behind the scenes work. Even during the event you hope to keep everyone entertained and happy. Also, eating, playing games, and watching the babies eat their first icing covered birthday cakes all before their nap time can be pretty stressful. But seeing big smiles and icing smeared all over their faces while they giggled made it all worth it!