My Daughter’s Rio Party!

Well, this party was the party that changed dates and times a total of 3 times due to Mother Nature! Here in my neck of the woods…central California…one thing we can count on is WIND..but not RAIN! But not this time…I stalked the Weather Channel app on my iPad daily checking and checking to see make sure the day of my daughter Riley’s party would be nice weather! The entire event plan depended on it in fact. ALL activities were outside and I had lavish, plans under a tent that included bubbles, birds, feathers…oh my!

So, I kept changing the date and location due to the daily changing of the impending rain! I had to get real with myself…have a moment of silence for all the outdoor plans that would never be and book an indoor venue for her party! UHHHH…(that is me dying slowly inside!) Time for Plan B!

FINALLY…the morning of her party, I went to pickup her cake and on the way back, the sun was just shining and beautiful! So, I immediately speed-dialed the entire guest list, changed the location back to my house, unloaded the entire SUV full of party stuff destined for the indoor venue and got to work setting up the party! THEN….OH NO!!!! It begins to get dark (at noon), the clouds roll in and I frantically move all of the party stuff inside… God was having a ball with me today, I must say!

So, the guests arrive just as I put the last plate on the table. Feeling defeated as I didn’t have time to setup all the fabulousness I had in mind, I turned around just in time to see my little Riley…who was turning 4…glowing and twirling in her Jewel bird outfit and OBLIVIOUS to the shenanigans and missing decor elements! She gave me a hug and said it was just BEAUTIFUL! Tears in my eyes, I realized THIS IS WHAT EVENT PLANNING IS ALL ABOUT! The look of wonder and amazement from a 4 year old who now thinks her MOM ROCKS! So, I smiled, hugged her back and began the task of party hostess!

Okay, okay….want to see what I actually WAS able to accomplish after all? Here we go….

First of all…the theme! Well, it was pretty easy to figure out what theme my daughter would want this year as she is over the moon about the movie Rio! In fact, my daughter, thinks she IS Jewel (the girl blue bird from the movie).  I just designed a “Party in Rio” printable collection including the invitation that is now available in my shop here.  (Jewel is NOT included on the  printables in my shop due to copyright/trademark issues).

She even wanted to dress up like her at the party! I suggested that all her guests wear blue flower headbands, blue tutus and blue flower leis in honor of the blue birds and she agreed BUT insisted she be the ONLY one who would wear wings and a pink flower headband as Jewel has a pink flower! Too funny! Each guest was given a blue tutu & headband to change into for the party when they arrived and they were also gifts for each guest to take home with them.

Second must-have item…The Sweets Bar! I ALWAYS have a sweets bar! I don’t care how overdone they are and how trendy they may be…they are an undeniable WOW-FACTOR and guests (adults & kids) LOVE THEM! So, I focused my attention there. The very first call I made was to Nancy of A to Zebra Celebrations to custom make a ribbon garland for the table in my color palette. I have never used these before and was sooo EXCITED to include it…how FABULOUS does it look? Adds such great texture to the table! She does these as table backdrops too! I chose to roll with a feather boa backdrop that I do all the time as I just LOVE the texture they give and HELLO…they are feathers…birds…feathers…You get it! Cleanup…let’s not even go there! Let’s just say..feathers were everywhere and a broom wasn’t doing it!

My second call was to my girl, Lynlee from Lynlee’s Petite Cakes whose daughter is also a Rio fan! She custom-created the most FABULOUS fondant toppers that looked exactly like Blue and Jewel characters from the movie! Just gorgeous! I also called on my friend Sylvie from KupcakeSpot to create the super-cute #4 cupcake toppers to coordinate with the design…PERFECT! They looked so amazing that the kids kept asking if I was sure they could eat them!

I have been admiring the new trend of cake topper bunting and knew that I must have one for Riley’s personal birthday cake…I saw that the “glitter whisperer” herself, Kristy from The Purple Pug was hand-making them now and ordered one right away! For those who know me…you know I’m all about a little sparkle! Kristy was even so gracious as to find the perfect pink flowers to coordinate with the bunting! Now that, ladies and gentlemen is what custom and hand-made is all about! Gotta love the details! Check out how FABULOUS her bunting looks when paired with Lynlee and Sylivie’s toppers? LOVE IT! And…yes…that IS a store-bought cake…don’t judge!

My sweet friend Maria from The Gourmet Pop whipped me up some yummy cake pops that matched our colors and were such a hit with the kids!

THANKS so much to all my party peeps who helped make my daughter’s birthday super special!

The centerpiece of the kids dining table was actually an inside family joke! Riley has been asking to go to Rio for our family’s summer vacation! In fact, she just thought we could just go “next weekend” until I had to explain that Rio de Janeiro is far away and we must pack our bags, get plane tickets and plan and save to go! So, the paper luggage was just perfect paired with toys of all of the characters from the movie which doubled as birthday present for her! They didn’t last long sitting here…in fact, they lasted just about as long as it took to snap this photo!

Well, the weather held out just long enough for the girls to run around outside for just about 20 minutes and then in they all came when it began to POUR! Time for pizza and cake…the movie RIO was playing while they ate…they were GLUED to it! Thank goodness!!!! That was THE ONLY activity that was salvaged as all the outside plans were SOAKED! They were none the wiser and had a great time!

TIP: ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a rain plan! and if you are ever caught without one like I was, have a DVD on hand of a movie that goes with your theme..pop some microwave popcorn and “pretend” a movie night was always part of the plan! It saved me!

Leave a comment below telling me one of your event bloopers!