Happy Friday y’all! I hope you have had a wonderful week full of sunshine and warmer temps after the polar vortex. I had a fantastic week; nothing spectacular or exciting happened, it just seemed like everything worked itself out and I have been in a great mood. I definitely believe that getting outside every day that I’m not working at the hospital and exercising consistently has helped me avoid the post-holiday blues this year. I really want to know how everyone else is feeling in the new year – drop a comment with how your January is going, how your New Year’s Resolutions are going, or just how you’re feeling. I would love to encourage you!
A few weeks ago, my dad turned 70. After his birthday last year, my brother and I discussed throwing him a big surprise party for this year’s milestone birthday. And we pulled it off! Not without a lot of stress, not without a few mistakes made, but we did it. And today I am going to share my perspective on planning a large event as sustainably as possible and what I would do differently if I was able. I find it so helpful when I get to see the thought process behind different decisions in these kinds of situations, and I hope this blog post is helpful to you too as you plan your own event!
*The photos in this blog post are of and dedicated to the seven decades my dad has been alive!
Planning the Party
This was the biggest event I have ever planned. For reference, there were about 50 guests at my wedding five years ago, and at this party there were about 100 guests. Plus, both my brother and I live in different states from each other and from where the party would be taking place, so we had to coordinate everything remotely. I knew we would have to stay very organized and that I would be the one doing the small, tedious tasks (sending invitations, collecting RSVP’s, making phone calls, etc.) since I work part time (as a nurse) and my brother works full time.
Luckily, I also work in the wedding industry, so I fell back on the resources I provide to my clients when they are planning their own weddings. I used the same process that I outlined in my blog post titled “How to Choose Elopement Vendors” to plan this party, and it was so helpful!
Venue
The first thing I knew we needed to do was secure a venue. Luckily, we were able to rent an event space from the church my parents attend. It has a full kitchen, a stage, tables and chairs, a sound system and enough room for about 200 people. They also provide A/V staff for a small fee. It was perfect for what we needed, and I feel so lucky that we were able to rent it.
Invitations
Once the venue was secured for our desired date, we started sending out invitations. Since this was for a birthday party, we had no hesitations about sending invitations via text message vs. sending physical invitations. I used my favorite website Canva to design a really nice invitation to go along with a text message with details about the party – there is a paid version and a free version, and honestly the free version is so good! The hardest part about this step was collecting everyone’s phone numbers.
Caterer
One good thing about growing up in a small college town where everyone knows everyone is that it is easy to get good recommendations on vendors like caterers. And one of the best things about planning a party in Texas is that there’s a good chance your caterer will provide amazing Mexican food (or Tex-Mex!). The caterer we hired was recommended to us by a friend, and she made delicious enchiladas, rice and beans, chips and guacamole, and flavored waters. I’m still thinking about that guacamole, honestly.
Entertainment
We knew that having great entertainment would set this party apart from other parties. And anyone who knows my dad knows that he loves listening to comedians. Sometimes, in typical dad fashion, he even fancies himself a comedian. So we decided to search for a comedian who could perform a short set during the party. Our backup plan to that idea was to hire a musical group to play oldies music that my dad grew up listening to.
Since the party would take place on church property, and since my parents are quite conservative anyways, we knew we needed to find someone that would be appropriate. And my brother ended up finding a comedian who is also a pastor (different denomination, but still!). It really worked out perfectly, and he was a big hit at the party.
Dessert
My dad’s favorite kind of cake is German chocolate. We wanted this party to be the ultimate representation of him and everything he loves, so we knew we had to have German chocolate cake for dessert. For that size of a group, we decided to go with cupcakes, and we hired my cousin who owns a cupcake and cookie business to bake them for us. German chocolate cake and cupcakes are tricky though. Not everyone likes coconut flakes (hi, hello, it’s me. I don’t like them.), and some people are allergic to pecans. So we had her make some with caramel buttercream frosting instead of the traditional coconut frosting. And they all turned out so good!
Decor
We decided to use minimal decor since we were already going all out in a couple of the other areas, but we still wanted to make the tables look nice. Instead of buying single use plastic tablecloths, we purchased cloth ones that my brother and his wife will be able to reuse for parties in the future. And then we bought some flameless candles that will also be able to be reused (also, they were the exact same price as buying real candles, and I am not really a fan of real candles anyways because of people’s sensitivities to scents, paraffin wax, etc. Also, kind of a safety hazard). We also bought some faux greenery and wire photo holders for the tables, which I believe were donated to the church for use in future events.
What I Would Do Differently
We used plastic dishes and silverware, and I really would have liked to use real ones. If we had had more time, a bigger budget, or if I lived in town I would have either rented or thrifted tableware. As it was I wouldn’t have wanted to leave that many dirty dishes for my parents to wash in their own dishwasher.
Photo Booth
We couldn’t have an event like this without a photo booth! I brought down my backdrop stand that I originally purchased for my own wedding, and then have continued to use for my photography business. We hung a piece of black velvet fabric from the stand that I will keep and reuse, and then had my polaroid camera available for photos. We instructed everyone to take two photos – one to keep (if they wanted to) and one for us to keep. I put together a photo album from the party and gave it to my dad to help him always remember this birthday.
Special Details
A few extra special details we included at the party were printing out photos from throughout my dad’s whole life and placing them on the tables. Each table was themed a different decade or period of his life, and the photos matched up with that so guests could see him a little differently than they were maybe used to. We also compiled trivia from each time period and had that on each table.
We of course had ended up gathering way more photos than we could print out, so we put together a slideshow that ran throughout the party. And then at the end of the party we played a video that a few of my dad’s out of town friends had sent in clips for telling funny memories with him.
And then we asked each person there to write a little note that we would include by their Polaroid photo in the memory book.
The Day of the Party
One of the hardest things about the party was keeping it a secret from my dad. He prides himself on figuring things out before he’s supposed to know about them, but we were successful in keeping the secret up until the day of the party.
After eating lunch together as a family, we each gave a slightly different excuse for leaving the house. One by one we left until he was the only one at home. Meanwhile, all the rest of us met up at the venue to start decorating and arranging the tables and chairs.
When it was time, my mom and her sister went home to bring my dad to the party. They blindfolded him and drove around in circles on back roads before bringing him to the party. While I think the events of the afternoon were a pretty big tip off, he was genuinely surprised at the size of the party and by all the special things we had planned during the party.
After the Party
Probably my favorite part of the whole weekend was getting to reveal all the secrets we had been keeping for so long! Like the fact that I had arrived in town on Wednesday to get some last minute tasks done (my dad thought I had arrived Friday evening), or the fact that we had been secretly in contact with his out of town friends to record videos, or the fact that my mom had secretly gotten phone numbers from his cell phone to send invitations out to his friends.
Final Thoughts …
Ultimately, my brother and I wanted to create a really special memory for our dad, and I think we succeeded in that. All the stress and the cost and the last minute details we had to take care of were worth it. At the end of the day my dad was in a room surrounded by people who love him and were there to support him, and that’s all that really mattered.
*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. This blog post contains images that I took myself for personal use and enjoyment and are not intended to be used for marketing purposes. Most of them were taken on a cell phone, and all of them are unedited. If you are interested in viewing some galleries of my couples, intimate wedding, and elopement photography, click here. If you’re interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!
I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!
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