I absolutely adore planning parties and big events. I always say if I could go back in time I would look into a career in events/parties. My problem usually lies within a birthday bash outside of my budget.
My daughter’s birthday falls mid-March, and therefore the last couple years she didn’t get to have birthday parties. This year, I went BIG (I mean, I had a three party budget, right?).
It was so much fun, but I was surprised at what a great deal it truly was. The budget with local vendors was actually very reasonable, and everyone had a great time!
Read below to see which vendors we went with, I would absolutely recommend all of them to every friend!
Xo,
Ashley
The Décor
My daughter wanted an Ariel themed “shellabration” so we went full-mermaid in Ariel colors (teal, purple, silvers/whites). I immediately knew I would be reaching out to Stephanie at Helium Dream AZ. I had actually won a giveaway with her last summer, and used my prize on a Halloween Party- so I knew she was talented and SO sweet.
Stephanie is a creative genius and even added jellyfish (which were the PERFECT addition) and adorable rope netting to give everything a true under the sea vibe.
We also had One Thru Z to bring a giant light up 5, to celebrate our sweet 5 year old girl. 5 feels like such a big age to me, I couldn’t wait to bring it to “light.”
Helium Dreams and One Thru Z worked together to make an AMAZING photo backdrop for our special guest, Ariel (keep reading to find out who we used!) and every kid who came got the cutest photo with our special guest in front of this adorable set up.
One Thru Z was SO great a communicating! Through e-mails, and texts, I felt like I knew exactly when they were coming and had no questions throughout the process.
We also had Chalkscript AZ make us her annual birthday board! We have used her every year for fun birthday boards, this year would be no different. She seriously does an amazing job at fitting every theme and making every board unique! 
The Entertainment
We, of course, used Inflate48 for a teal bounce house to complete our mermaid dreams and entertain the little ones. Inflate48 is the absolute best to work with their communication skills are unmatched and they are so attentive when they come set up and tear down. 
Their teal bounce house was the perfect fit for this party, with Helium Dreams Décor it was honestly so pretty, we were scared to jump on it at first! We got over that pretty quickly and all the kids had a blast jumping away!
Even I got on and jumped after the party was over. The kids made it look SO fun, I had to give it a try myself! 
We also had Ariel, from Fairytale Events come for an hour. I honestly could not say enough wonderful things about Fairytale Events if I tried. Their princesses and characters are absolutely amazing with EVERY kid.
We had one little girl who was nervous and scared. Ariel was so patient and sweet with her, by the end of the party they were practically best friends. 
Ariel painted their nails, read them a story, sang and danced, and even had cake with the birthday girl! It was so nice having her their entertaining the kids- it even gave the adults a second to chat with each other in peace! 
The Treats
When it comes to treats, the Lessard Family will tell you there can never be enough! So we had to have a cake AND cake pops for this fun birthday bash!
We grabbed a cake from my dear friend at Honeybee Cake Co, and like Fairytale Events, I couldn’t say enough nice things if I tried.
Not only do her cakes LOOK amazing, they also TASTE amazing, and this cake for my daughter’s birthday was no different! She took the theme and ran with it, and this cake turned out absolutely beautiful! 
We also had to have Floured bring their cake pops, because my kids are OBSESSED. They honestly ask for Floured cake pops at every holiday/occasion.
I knew there would be a handful of party people who didn’t want a slice of cake (who knows why!) but it was nice to be able to offer them something smaller in case they were just being polite. 
They also knocked it our of the park, with absolutely adorable mermaid tail cake pops! Every kid loved them and asked for seconds!
The Perfect Touch
Last, but definitely not least. I decided to do something a little different this year. I hired a photographer. Now most of you might think I’m crazy, but it was truly the cherry on top of a perfect party!
At my daughter’s first birthday bash, I realized (after it was over) I didn’t take a single picture. I was so busy hosting, entertaining, serving cupcakes, etc. That it flew from my mind. Luckily, a lot of family took a few photos so we had a couple for the baby book.
Since then, I have struggled to balance taking pictures with hosting and decided this year, I was taking pictures out of the equation, and it was heavenly.
It was so nice to chat with my guests, serve food/treats to kids and not worry about whether I would have a good photo of the birthday girl at the end. 
Glitter & Happiness IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. She is the sweetest human, SO good with little kids, patient, and an INCREDIBLE photographer. She sends a few “sneak peeks” the day of. Which is perfect for impatient people like me, she is so communicative. 
She got the most amazing pictures, as you can see in this post, and I can’t thank her enough for perfectly capturing my daughter’s 5th (and kind of 3rd and 4th too) birthday bash!
