I knew I didn't want to have it at our house again. We live in a fairly spacious townhouse but I've learned very quickly that it becomes the Incredible Shrinking House when we entertain. Here's a scene from last year's celebration.
Pure chaos. The twins and I are in there somewhere:
I finally figured out the perfect venue. There is a county park around the corner from our house and we love to go there. It has 5 age appropriate playsets and the kids love it. My nieces range in age from 3 to 10 so I needed something that would entertain everyone. There is a picnic pavilion nearby so I planned to keep it simple with pizza and cupcakes.
Aside from the convenience, I needed to keep it budget friendly. With the kids' in daycare full-time, we've really had to budget our money and make wise choices. The pavilion rental was only $79 for 6 hours and the playground is free. And, I'm keeping it to family only.
Perfect.
I printed off the rental agreement for the pavilion back in June. I figured I had plenty of time because it was well, June.
And besides. We go to that park at least twice per month and the pavilion is ALWAYS empty.
Yeah. You know where this is going, don't you?
At the same time, I started researching birthday invitations. The kids absolutely love Sesame Street so I knew the theme. I found a really cute template on Etsy and almost purchased it for $20.
Then my frugal side kicked in and I thought I could make it myself. So I did.
I finally called to reserve the pavilion this week and damn if it isn't booked. Not only for the day that I wanted but for the following Saturday as well.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
I was at work when I called and of course, I immediately went into panic mode. Now what?!
The thoughts that went through my head were pretty comical..... and unrealistic.
In the end, I compromised and I really hope it works out. I'm going to have everyone meet us at the playground from 10:30-11:30 and then we'll come back to our house for pizza and cupcakes.
I'm not happy about having 21 adults/kids in my house because it's what I wanted to avoid but at least I'm minimizing the length of time that we're bumping into each other.
And, thank God I didn't pay for the invitation because now I can change the wording to read the new plan.
Here's my custom, self-made invitation (with personal information hidden):
6 comments:
very cute!
I love the invite - very professional looking. Were did you find the graphic?
I love it! I have a few more months to go - so I haven't even begun to plan. But I do believe we will be going the Sesame route too, so I can't wait to see (ie copy) your ideas!! =)
Have you seen these?
http://www.bakerella.com/street-party/
I love the invitations you made - where did you find the SS graphic? Happy Birthday to the twins!
@ Courtney - I just did a Google image search and it came up. I designed the invitation using Microsoft Publisher.
@ Kendra - I've been busy making some other decorations that I'm copying from something I saw on Etsy. I'll post pictures when they are done. The cake pops are super cute! A friend from high school owns a cupcake business so I'm having her make custom cupcakes for me. I can't wait to see them!
love the invites! they're super cute. we just had our #2 sesame street birthday yesterday! my sister made some cupcakes and we got the cutest cake, too. we had only a small number of people over this year, though, b/c ours was like yours last year: pure chaos!!
i can't believe that the pavillion was booked!! i think your compromise works well though. can't wait to see the pictures :)
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