My Sweet Tot Turns Two

When my little boy turned 1, I didn't really had the chance to plan a nice party for him. The good thing was the pictures were beautifully taken and they captured the moments shared by family members and closest friends. 

So, to make up for the small party last year I made sure to plan his 2nd birthday celebration at the same time, his Christening. I wanted this event to be extra special so I tried to make everything personalized and handmade but most of all, within the budget. 

It was a quite a challenge to plan for two different occasions in one celebration but I thought it would more financially wise that way. My budget was only 30 thousand pesos and I started saving up for it since November 2011. How did I do it? My husband and I opened an ATM account that can be zeroed out without penalties and without any maintaining balance. Every time we receive a bonus and of course every pay day, we would deposit money to the account. It's even better if these deposits are tracked so that there is consistent visibility on how much money are already in there and how far are the savings from the target  budget. This works all the time, and there's a feel of fulfillment in being able to save up within a time frame. 

Now, for the theme, I thought of having a simple one for the Christening as I want it to still become solemn and serene since the event is on the same day as his birthday celebration, and the movie Cars for the birthday party as Davin loves Lightning Mcqueen and other toy cars. For the colors, I worked with baby blue and red from the candle make overs all the way to the table cloths. I would like to thank Manila Mommy for sharing in her blog how she planned for her son's Christening and how she made everything personalized for the event. I got the candle makeover idea from her (smiley, smiley, smiley). She said that designing a simple white candle is not expensive at all and she was right! I spent Php38.00 for a bag of white medium sized candles (4 candles in each bag), Php40.00 for a pack of scrap booking materials I found also in National Bookstore (each pack has 6 different designs), and Php7.00-Php10.00 for the satin ribbons also in National Bookstore.

His invitation was also personalized and made with love by his Tita Min. She took this nice photo of him in the reception venue, did some magic with Adobe Photoshop and played with one of Cars' posters with Lightning McQueen's face on it. We had the invites digitally printed out which only costs Php8.00 a piece (2 sets of invites in one photo paper). We only gave the  Ninongs. Ninangs and to the special guests the invitations while the rest were invited through Facebook and SMS. 

Annie's Catering buffet table centerpiece

A party will not be a party without  food and it is really nice to be in a town where local businesses are comparable with those in Manila. I found this nice catering service in Dasmarinas Cavite --  Annie's Catering Service and Party needs and my, they are good in what they do, the food is great and the price is just fabulous. 

For 5 main courses, with dessert and drinks, tables and chairs for 100 guests, 5 waiters plus a choice of balloons or a banner, I spent 22K but Tita Annie was kind enough to give me the package for only 20K. Super fabulous deal.

Two- Layer Lightning McQueen 
Cake by 
Conching's

Davin happily cutting through Lightning!

Special Cupcakes by Ninang Nanay & Tatay Hesed

What I liked about Annie's Catering Service and Party Needs is that it's a one-stop-shop! They have connections with bakers, photographers, balloon art makers, so on and so forth. Hence, for Davin's cake I didn't have to go far and I am able to support the local businesses in Cavite. Tita Annie endorsed me to Conching's Davin's personalized cake. I was looking for a 2-layer all edible cake,Lightning McQueen of course and  I found the perfect one for only Php2,000. Not only does Conching's offer a wide variety of cakes and party favors, the flavor of their cakes can be personalized too!  I had them make the cake in 4 flavors --  Chocolate, Vanilla, Mocha and Marble. Halves of the first layer were made of Vanilla and Mocha, and the second layer was Chocolate and Marble. They also used boiled icing so it wasn't too sweet for the kids and the young at hearts plus it doesn't have to be in the fridge because boiled icing is not moist and will not melt in warm temperature. There was just one problem with the cake when it was delivered, there was a crack on the cake so they had to go back and fix it. Overall, it was still a cute looking cake, the flavors were blended very well and most of all, Davin loved it! 

For the Christening and party favor, I ordered little trinkets from Blue Magic which cost Php54.00 each, these I gave to the Ninongs and Ninangs, Lolo's and Lola's and to special guests. Tita Min also set up her photo booth for the rest of the party souvenirs. Photo booths usually would cost Php6k for 3 hours but I got mine for less. I only had to pay for the tarpaulin printing which was only Php1,500. 

Photo booth souvenirs

Tito Charles and Tita Min
(Our Photographers)

Augustine Grove Clubhouse

The reception venue was not that expensive too.I rented the clubhouse of Augustine Grove for only Php5,500 including a refundable contract bond. The swimming pool was opened for those who wanted to take a dive although the charge is on top of the venue fee, it was still way more affordable than the other venues.For the pool charges, it was only Php50.00 for the kids and Php75.00 for the adults. 

I wanted to maximize the use of the venue and I didn't want my guests to travel from one place to another so I had Annie's set up an area where our Pastor can perform the Christening ceremony.

Christening Ceremony

Our Family

Davin and his guests partying in the pool

                                                                                    The total expenses for this event were a little less than 30K but the memories and the happiness of my little tot on this day is priceless. I could never forget how happy he was cutting his cake right in middle which kinda ruined the shape of Lightning McQueen but he had so much fun doing that. Most of all, the picture perfect moment captured in the picture below. Just look at how happy and excited he was in the partying in the pool with his cousins and friends! Seeing this beautiful smile, makes all the preparations worth the while. Overall, the event was successful and the guests left the venue with a lot of wonderful memories to keep.