Birthday Blast 2013 - An unbirthday mad party: Alice in Wonderland

The good thing about Dumpling is that she is decisive. The bad thing about her is that she is too decisive. LOL. Every year, she has very fixed ideas on the birthday themes she'd like and she'll start as early as Feb / March. Last year she was all over Harry Potter while this year, she opted for something a bit more whimsical - Alice in Wonderland.

Perhaps it was because she did a tweaked version of Alice in a Chinese Speech and Drama session then but she decided that she liked the characters (especially after watching the movie where Hatter was played by Johnny Depp) and thereafter, the theme was set in stone!

I will be splitting up the birthday sharing into 2 posts and for this post, I will be sharing more on the pre-prep for the event day.

Alice in Wonderland is a fabulous theme as it is fun and whimsical. We toyed with many ideas for the activities on the party day (sharing in the next post) as well as what do to for the favors + decor. After showing her printouts of the various illustration types (do we use the "cartoon" figures or do we use the original illustrations or even the movie images?) we finally decided on sticking to the original classic illustrations.

This is what went out for the final invitation card, we used a bit of a 'bad English', the 'hatter' way... (Note: we decided to be literal and use the term 'plant' the town red because that's exactly what the kids did on the actual day).

This was then followed by the reminder that went out 3 days before where the party agenda was included so the guests can plan their time better.

Favours wise was a hard thing for us. Primarily because I am not really a candy / chocolate person but after stumbling on some customised favours from Divinefavorz, I went ahead with having a candy snack bag. I have to say that being Type A, it was not easy for me to let go of the entire design process to someone else so lol, I actually put together the design concept and the text I wanted and emailed them in a powerpoint to the vendor :p

This particular vendor has back-to-back orders so if you are anal like me where you need to go through a few versions of design checks, etc., please let her know early. The almost final versions were shown to us about 1+ to 2 weeks prior. You can then PM / email her your comments on any changes.

Here's a look at our customised drawstring loot bag (below pic, background). We also basically customised everything for the "top wraps" - from Kit Kat (check out the "Ingredients" and "Nutrition Facts"!)

To mini Mentos...

And a packet of mini marshmallows! 

It was also around this time that Dumpling and I, while surfing the net, chanced upon some hair clips and I decided to have some made for the girls at the party! Incidentally, at a flea market earlier this year, I met a bow maker and decided to reach out to her to order these bows. Here's what LittleCuty Hairbows made for me - Alice bottle cap bows for the girls at the party!  

Notice how the invitation ecard mentioned a dress code? Well, in true "Mad Hatter" lovers style, we requested for our guests to turn up in unbirthday maddest hats! 

If you have seen my post on my wedding dress, you would have known that I love feathers and tulle. So, I decided to commission LittleCuty Hairbows on making a matching mummy-daughter hair piece with feathers, ribbons and best of all, tulle covering half of our forehead in a "veil-like" manner. I emailed her some links of how I like them and she got them right! 

Do you like it as much as we do? :)

(Photo Credit: DinoMama)

As always, on a yearly basis, books were part of the loot and because we had varied age groups, I hunted for various suitable editions. (I must have gone through at least 30 different versions of this storybook!) With a buddy's help, I had these "read me" tags made to tie back to the theme. :) Thanks Lennie! 

And tada, the prep work for the favours was all done! 

Now, what's the glass jar for and why are there plants in the photo? Stay tuned for the next post! :)

Note: None of these items were sponsored in any way; I am sharing the contacts on my own accord so that it gives you mums an additional avenue to hunt for more party contacts! 

This is a continuation of the Birthday Blast! series which I hosted last year! Next up on the Birthday Blast series is where I will be sharing on Dumpling's party day so stay tuned!

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