Party, Party

Sorry, I have been stuck in party world for too long while. There has been a lot to organise. Firstly we had our 90th Birthday. Matt is 50 and I am 40 this year so we had to celebrate, and we have not had a party for a while. My mind had been really made up when I decided on a theme, a vintage (1940s/1950s) Garden Party. It was Pimms, marquees and a new frock for me (glam or what?).

I love a good project and trying to organise a stylish party for 100 on a very tight budget was a challenge. It was complicated as I decided it would start at 2.30 (after lunch) and would go on as long as anyone was standing. I saw happy tides of people drifting in and out through out the day. I found really cheap florists ribbons and almost got RSI making endless bunting and cross costed and budgeted feverishly.

Printed invitations were out but if we were going to email /facebook it had to be done with style. With a free copy of GIMP (the open source photoshop type software) I played around to get the picture you can see.

It is amazing what you can find online - without the online resources I would have had no idea of quantities for catering etc. there was even a great site that collated all the supermarket wine review - essential if you want to serve rose for under £4 and for it not to taste like a student party. As you can tell, I love organising parties and I could go on too long.

Just about everybody we wanted to come could, with loads of long lost friends making star appearances. Yes, it was a party not This is Your Life but there was parallels (minus the saccharine).

As soon as that was over and it was onto the Pickle's 4th Birthday party. We booked loads of toys from the toy library and our usual format. Play, pass the parcel, tea, a treasure trail then parcel them off home. Everything had to be Peppa pig - but then when you can get personalised icing toppers for cakes from ebay it was achieved with minimal effort. It all passed off without a glitch, 12 toddlers, perfect manners and loads of giggles.

The thing I loved most was that the Pickle loved her party, but owned up to having even more fun the day before on her real birthday. The two of us had a quite 'Mummy Day' playing together and going to her fave restaurant for lunch (a toastie at the local coffee shop). If only life was always so simple!