Trend Alert: The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ Birthday Party

Hey party peeps! Today’s post is going to be an overload of pink & girly! All about the ultimate pink and girlie girl we all know…Barbie! Little girls across America have been wanting Barbie birthday parties for years and years, however, today’s little girl’s are now able to have the ULTIMATE Barbie Dreamhouse Party in a life-size replica of Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse! What???!!! Yes! New to the Mall of America here in Minnesota,  The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ offers Barbie fans a chance to walk through and interact with Barbie’s actual dreamhouse!  CLICK HERE to take a tour of the Barbie Dreamhouse.

The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ Birthday Party!

The best part is they offer birthday party packages to make your little girl’s special day a memorable and unique experience for her and her guests. I was overjoyed when I was booked to style and shoot the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ Birthday Party Room for the Mall of America — one of America’s top tourist destinations. The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ will be at the Mall of America for the next 2 years so if you are planning a vacation and have a daughter who LOVES Barbie…this is a must see attraction! Join me as I share with you this amazing new trend in ultimate birthday parties AND be sure to scroll down to the end of this post for a fabulous GIVEAWAY!

First of all, walking up to the Barbie Dreamhouse is breathtaking! I mean, really! Look at the huge iconic Barbie high heel in the front yard…the photo ops here alone for your daughter and her guests are priceless! I don’t know about you, but when my daughter Riley wanted to celebrate her birthday party here, I wasn’t crushed like I normally am when my child wants to go to a commercial party space. As an event planner, I love to create unique and entertaining parties for my kids and dread when they ask for their party at a commercialized space because the ability to have a personalized and unique party is normally less likely. You guys know what I’m talking about! There is normally little to no setup time to bring in your own decor AND your child barely spends time with her actual friends when there are hundreds of other kids in the place and multiple birthday parties all going on at the same time!

Well, here at The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ they know that every little girl’s special day should be special. They have one private party room fully dedicated to your child’s Barbie Dreamhouse Party and only one party is going on at one time. Gotta love that! The party room has a fabulous entrance! Riley and her guests definitely felt like they were entering a special place. The room is completely lit in pink lights. The room has 3 white tables and 20 white chairs ready for you.  The room also has a bar area that you can use.

The Diamond Birthday Party Package has a minimum of 10 guests plus one chaperone and includes Skip The Line Admission to the Barbie Dreamhouse for your guests. It comes with one hour of private use of the birthday party room. In that hour, you have the room to yourselves and you can do whatever you want during that time like a craft, game, activity, open presents, sing Happy Birthday and eat cupcakes. Here the girls had fun with The Barbie Dreamhouse Activity Book which is a great activity to do while all your guests are arriving.

The package also comes with Barbie-themed paper plates, cups and napkins, pink cutlery, party balloons, a cupcake for each guest with an iconic pink high heel fondant topper, lemonade, a goody bag for each guest, a tiara for the birthday girl, and a personal Barbie “friend” (host) to assist with your party. You also receive a coupon for  $5 off the Special Edition Barbie™ The Dreamhouse Experience™ Doll which is only available at The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™!   The perfect birthday gift for your daughter on her special day!

Girlfriend Tip:
No food is allowed. The Dreamhouse takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours to fully go through plus the 1 hour in the party room, so guests will only have cupcakes to eat in a 3 hour timeframe, so I suggest planning your party time in between lunch and dinner time so your guests can eat before they come to the party and aren’t hungry for lunch or dinner. I also suggest letting your guests know on the invite that no lunch or dinner will be provided.

Once you’re done in the party room, it’s time for even more fun with a tour of the Barbie Dreamhouse! Each guest is given an interactive bracelet to use while inside the Dreamhouse which allows you to do the interactive activities inside. Your tour is hosted by a Barbie “friend” that stays with your birthday party group through the entire Dreamhouse…sharing Barbie’s secrets and showing the kids what fabulous interactive displays and activities there are to discover in the Dreamhouse. This service was invaluable to me as a mom who hadn’t been there before and frankly didn’t know how it all worked. I actually was able to enjoy the experience and have fun watching Riley have the time of her life!

This is ALL fabulous BUT…..

HOW DO I CREATE A PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE FOR MY CHILD HERE?

Well, I put myself to the challenge. With only 20 minutes of setup time, how could I decorate the room in a way that would be unique and personalized to my child to make her feel like the star of the day? It IS A CHALLENGE…but one that is very doable. 20 minutes???!!!! I know, I know…but it can be done using these 4 tips!

How Did She Do That?

I strongly recommend having at least one other person with you to help setup. I was able to get everything for the party into one shopping bag and one large rolling suitcase which was a lifesaver when you have to transport quickly your decor items from your car to the party space in one trip. I was able to roll through the mall and up several escalators with no problems. I also recommend having your daughter and guests wait outside the room until the party begins and the room is fully set up. My hubby stayed with our daughter outside while I set up so I could FOCUS! 20 minutes goes by REALLY FAST.

Personalize the Party Room with Personalized Printable Decor!

This is my #1 tip! The easiest way to add a personalized touch to any party space is to decorate it with paper printables personalized with the birthday girl’s name. When your daughter walks in she will see that this party is definitely all about her…and shouldn’t she feel like the star on her special day? The best thing about this tip is that all of the prep work can be done at home days before the party, so all you have to do when you arrive to the party space is simply place the items where they go.

Here I used my “Pink Sparkle” printable collection to decorate the party room:
Lolli-tag Bling Sticks
Place these in skinny vases and place around the party space.

Custom Plates
Personalize the dining tables with custom printable plate inlays for each of your guests. Here I personalized each plate with the guest’s first initial. These also serve as place cards so your guests know where to sit. Trust me, this saves ALOT of drama when a group of 10 girls have to figure out where they want to sit!

Girlfriend Tip: Use the Barbie plates that come with your package to serve the cupcakes on so you can keep the custom plates clean. I like to use the custom plates for decor and then let the guests take them home with them.

Table Signs
Use custom table signs to define areas of the party room such as the Favor Bar, Activity Stations, Candy Bar and of course custom Happy Birthday signs for the birthday girl!

Girlfriend Tip: Transport the table signs already in frames so all you have to do is sit them out when you get there.

Lolli-tag Cupcake Sticks
Personalize the cupcakes that come with your party package.

Girlfriend Tip: The cupcakes that come with your party package come in a standard bakery box. That just wasn’t going to do for me. I always dressup and display my cupcakes, so I brought with me the fabulous Pastry Pedestal Cupcake Stand that sets up in minutes, put each cupcake into a glittered cupcake wrapper and top with a pre-assembled personalized printable cupcake topper stick. Place the display on the empty bar area and you have added a unique and personalized cupcake display for your daughter that literally took 5 minutes to do. Have your helper do this while you are decorating the dining tables….divide & conquer!

Bring Personalized Favor Bags!

To make your favors personal to your party, I suggest you bring your own favor bag with a printable label with each guest’s name. Your party package already comes with a goody bag with lots of Barbie themed favors in it. All you have to do is drop that bag inside your personalized favor bag, place it on each guest’s chair and you’re done!

Girlfriend Tip: As a time and space saver, be sure to transport your favor bags flat and with the labels already on them.

Bring Personalized Favors!

For an extra special touch, bring a few personalized unique party favors. Since these favors look great displayed, don’t just put them in the favor bags. Instead, display them on the bar area to add some extra personal decor to the room. At the end of the party simply slip each favor into the personalized favor bags.

LolliPics Lollipops
The ultimate in personalized favors, these lollipops are imprinted with edible photos of the birthday girl! How fabulous are these? You can’t get more personalized than these!

Girlfriend Tip: I arranged the Lollipics lollipops at home in a lollipop stand and transported them just like this so all I had to do was sit it on the bar area. If you don’t have a lollipop stand you can also put one at each placesetting to add some extra decor to the dining tables.

Custom Labeled Cotton Candy
These come pre-packaged in bags with labels with the birthday girl’s name. These are always a HIT with adults and kids alike!

Girlfriend Tip: The party room comes with a few empty pink trays that you can use to display the cotton candy.

VIP Passes
These printable VIP passes are part of my “Pink Sparkle” collection. These are so fabulous….Each one is personalized with each girls’ names! They think they are total rock stars when you give them these! It is also a great way for all the girls to feel like VIPs when they travel through the Dreamhouse.

Bling Wands
These printable circle wands, part of my “Pink Sparkle” collection, is a great take-home party favor. Simply print them at home and hot glue them to the tops of these gorgeous Twirly Sparkle Sticks to create a personalized bling wand.

Girlfriend Tip: These are great to use as placecards on the dining table as well.

Decorate the Tables with Items That Travel Well and Set Up Fast!

Table linens and chargers are super easy to transport and these sequin linens, runners and charger plates were perfect to add a touch of sparkle and color to the tables. A wow-factor centerpiece is key! Here I used these two bling chandelier table lamps that took less than a minute to assemble (attach the top to the bottom and you’re done!). They also fit perfectly into a tall rolling suitcase with all the rest of the decor. I used these sequin and glitter letters to add sparkle and wow-factors to the other tables. Super easy, no setup–just sit them on the tables– they are very light and travel well.  Tutus are a great way to quickly add fun decor to chairs.  Slide them over the chairs and each girl can put one on when they arrive.

Girlfriend Tip: Laying down the table linen and chargers should be the very first thing you do when you arrive. Have one person concentrate on the bar area while you concentrate on setting up the dining tables. You can get twice as much done this way in 20 min!

Tour the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience!

Want to see inside the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience? CLICK HERE where I take you on a tour with LOTS of pictures. Don’t miss it!

Enter to Win The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ Party Pack!

Give your daughter the ultimate gift and enter to win this Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ Party Pack including 4 tickets to The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience™ attraction (a retail value of $96, tickets are good until Feb 2016), a Special Edition Barbie™ The Dreamhouse Experience™ Doll (only available at the MOA), 10 custom LolliPic lollipops with your daughter’s photo on them, 10 Twirly Sparkle Sticks, 10 Rhinestone Sparkle Sticks, 2 Bling 4×6 Frames (bling on both sides), 10 bags of custom labeled pink cotton candy and a full personalized “Pink Sparkle” printable collection. WOW! Enter below on the Rafflecopter entry form and GOOD LUCK! Winner will be announced here on the blog on June 20, 2014. THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post by Mall of America. All of the comments and opinions are my own.

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VENDOR CREDITS:

– Styling & photography: Soiree Event Design
– “Pink Sparkle” printables and cotton candy: Soiree Event Design Shop
– LolliPics custom lollipops: LolliPics
– Gold sequin GLAM letters: Hollywood Rose
– Bling table chandelier, sequin runners and gold sequin tablecloth: Koyal Wholesale
– Glitter cupcake wrappers: Dress My Cupcake
– Glitter SWEETS letters, Twirly and Rhinestone Sparkle Sticks: Made By A Princess
– Pink sequin tablecloth: Candy Crush Events
– Bling frames: Talia’s Creative Printing