Karen "Willy" Okonkwo's 25th Birthday Party

 As you all saw last year with my Kare Bear's 24th Birthday Slumber Party, I am obsessed with celebrating my birthday. This year was no different so I decided to go with a fun Willy Wonka theme for my 25th birthday celebration. It is so important to map out your birthday, making sure to ignite all five senses during your party so it is the best experience for your guests. Instead of calling it a Willy Wonka party, I did a spin off of the name and called my 25th Birthday 'Karen "Willy" Okonkwo's 25th Birthday Party'. Much like in the movie, all invitees had to "find" a golden ticket to be officially invited to my birthday. I used a popular Australian graphic designer called Crackers Art to create chocolate candy bar invitations that I turned into candy bar wrappers and golden tickets. They turned out amazing! To make the RSVP process more interactive, I asked each guest on the golden ticket to RSVP by uploading a picture of their golden ticket to whatever social media outlet they use and to tag me in it with the caption " I found the golden ticket!" This made the invitations that much more exclusive!

I decided to host my party in beautiful Miami! To make sure I captured every moment of it, I left a welcome letter for all of my guests when they checked into the hotel we were staying at that asked them to hash-tag any photos taken during the trip with #karens25thbday. I highly recommend making a hash-tag for any event that you are hosting because it is so much fun to look back at all the pictures that all of your guests snapped!

First up on the itinerary was the most fitting event of all: visiting the Chocolate Factory! No Chocolate Factory Tour can be complete without Willy Wonka gear so before the trip I ordered a Willy Wonka costume. On top of the costume, I just had to order candy and have a mini candy buffet so I ordered candy from my favorite candy store: Oh! Nuts. To make the entire experience complete, I had a custom cake made by Divine Delicacies Custom Cakes in Miami. This company can make ANY cake possible and they have catered to every celebrity you can think of from Drake to Pitbull to the Miami Heat stars. I gave them the graphic design of the "Okonkwo Bars" I sent out to my guests and they replicated that image into a delicious vanilla rum cake topped with butter cream frosting and fondant {yum}! Schakolad Chocolate Factory in Miami Beach, FL hosted my Chocolate Factory Tour and it was a blast! All of us received a tour of the Chocolate Factory learning the ins and outs of chocolate. Best of all, we got to make 3 different types of chocolate treats and take it home!

All in all, my 25th Willy Wonka themed birthday party in Miami, FL was so much fun and I can't wait to show you all what I come up with for next year's birthday theme. If you have any questions on how I created any part of this party, please feel free to contact me at partywithak@gmail.com!

One for You, One for You, and ONE FOR YOU!

As we continue our lesson on activating touch (feelings) we have learned that the weather/temperature in which you host a party can impact your guests' experience. Now, let's focus on how activating touch (feelings) specifically impacts little kids.

Remember looking forward to getting a pencil pass from your teacher?! Getting that pencil pass in your hand made you feel liberated; you were special enough to receive a pencil pass to pick a pencil in the Principal's Office-such an honor! Well, kids yearn for that same type of gratification at parties, so the best way to activate touch (feelings) is through games accompanied with prizes!

A pinata is one of the greatest games to be played at a child's party. As soon as they feel that bat in hand it is game time! Talk about instant gratification too for all guests at the party the second the pinata explodes-everyone feels like a winner.

Click here for a list of other games you can play at a child's party!!

I hope you now have a better understanding on how to activate touch (feelings). Stay tuned for our final part in Lesson 1; activating hearing!

Activating Touch (Feelings): What's the Temperature?

Would you have a picnic in the rain? If you did, how would that make your guests' feel? Think of some of the thoughts that come to mind when you think of rain....are those the same thoughts you would want to equate to a picnic? Probably not, one of the ways in which you can successfully activate touch (feelings) is the temperature/weather in which you hold certain events. When I have the sun touching my face on a warm summer day and the grass in between my toes, it ignites positive memories, positive memories that would make a picnic on a warm summer day that much more meaningful.

Below is a picnic party in which they successfully activate touch (feelings). Check out the picture below courtesy of The Party Dress!

LESSON #1- PART 4: Activating TOUCH (Feelings)

Utilizing the five senses at your party takes some work to implement and depending on the type of party, you may not be able to incorporate all of the senses into the experience. My goal is to have you uncover senses you can incorporate at your next party/event that you haven’t even thought about-one of which is activating touch (feelings). Activating the fives senses at a party/event you're hosting can trigger powerful thoughts and memories and this can be a great way to create positive, memorable experiences for your guests.

This week we will discuss Activating TOUCH (feelings). How does your party feel to your guests when they step inside? There are four kinds of touch sensations that can be identified: cold, heat, contact, and pain. The ways in which these can be activated at a party are endless so I will provide you with tips and party examples in which touch (feelings) was successfully activated!

WEDDING WEEK: Planning an Engagement Party

An engagement party is the time for couples to revel in excitement with their potential wedding guests in honor of the next chapter they are taking in their lives. Though the word "party" is attached to the event, the host should really set a mild yet celebratory tone for the party. If there is one key word I would accompany with an engagement party to make it successful is PERSONALIZATION. I say this for many reasons, one, depending on the size of the wedding you anticipate having, your engagement party may be the BIG celebration with all friends and family. You might plan on having your actual wedding be small and intimate; not including everyone that was invited to your engagement party. Therefore, you really want to make each guest feel special. To do this, we must use all Five Senses, especially the activation of sight.

Activate Sight

INVITATIONS

Sending out personalized invitations to guests that uniquely showcase the engagement party theme is one of the ways you can activate sight. I like the idea of creating your own handmade ones and at Michaels craft store they have several cutouts that with some fabulous stationery from Fine Stationery would make it so pretty & perfect. Be sure to make a couple things clear on the invite: 1) The mood of the party..fun & flirty, semi-formal, or formal 2) If this is the main event (ie: your wedding will include a small party of close family & friends 3) Whether or not you are accepting gifts. Usually at an engagement party gifts do not need to be brought, but lately this is becoming the norm.

PLACE CARDS

It is very gratifying to see your name written out. It makes you feel relevant and important and this is the exact feeling a host wants the future bride and grooms' guests to feel. Two places that have ready made place cards is The Wedding Outlet and Paper Style. Another great option is shopping at Etsy, an online crafter's boutique store. It has great place cards that you can purchase or find ideas to make your own creations.

SPACE

Renting out a hall at a venue can be pretty pricey because usually you are not just renting the space, often times they require you to have a food & beverage minimum and as the host you do not want to be burning a hole in your wallet, after all this is just the first step in the wedding process, there is still a bridal shower and bachelorette/bachelor party to plan!

Thus, the most affordable yet still intimate outlet is to have the engagement party at a restaurant. Preferably a restaurant that has a separate area that can be enclosed. That way people are free to roam & mingle apart from the main dinner table/s. Not to mention, a restaurant usually has a bar, and for those who would like to drink or even drink more than your budget can accommodate, they can serve their needs at the restaurant bar.

DRESS UP TABLES

Just because you're at a restaurant you can still dress up their tables. Unless the restaurant already has nice, clean table cloth, purchase table cloth that matches the theme & colors you are going for.

*Picture from: The Party Dress

Bride and Groom Table

It makes sense to have a table that showcases the couple, after all, this party IS about them. Ask the bride and groom to give you various engagement photos that you can include in beautiful frames to be placed on a dedicated table for them (you can even use the photos as decorative paraphernalia such as table centerpieces or streamers). Also, place a sign in book on the table for people to give their congrats! Gifts can also be placed on this table.

Food & Beverage Table

If you are having a small, intimate engagement party, being served food at a restaurant from a menu is an appropriate option to take. But, if you're having a large party, cut out the headache of individual orders and set up a buffet with food that caters to all dietary needs. Below is a beautiful example of a Food & Beverage Table at an Engagement Party courtesy of Cake Ink.

With this example I love how they expedited sending out Thank You cards by placing "Thank You" grab bags on the table for their guests.

~Centerpieces should be included on all the tables used at the engagement party. Click here where I will showcase some DIY centerpieces that are quick, easy to make, and affordable.

Easy enough right?

Tickle Me ELMO Birthday Party

My next all time favorite birthday party is an Elmo Birthday Party all the way down in Brazil! Mog & Mug posted this lovely party she threw for her son, and though it was written in Spanish, it was not hard to tell how much thought was put into this amazing party. She stuck to a theme with the colors of red and all things Elmo being employed throughout the decorations from the food to her high and low focal points

She activated many of the senses I continue to talk about. Check it out!

The dessert table had beautiful tablecloth patterns. Just because her main theme color was red, she manipulated it with polka dots, a damask cloth, and the white and yellow color to contrast it. I love it!

Focusing on the desserts, she dressed them up perfectly! One of my favorite places to shop when looking for things to dress up my food is ETSY.

Remember in one of my Cake of the Day entries I discussed fondant icing? It really can make your desserts stand out. Below, Mog & Mug baked what looked like scrumptious Elmo cupcakes and cookie "lollipops". To find out how to make fondant for your next treat click here!

Now that I am a little nostalgic on my Sesame Street days I am going to grab a bowl of cereal and sit in front of the TV in my PJs like the old days! I hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing birthday party and come back to view the rest of my favorite birthday parties in preparation for my big birthday bash at the end of the week!

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Food Scent

The most obvious way to activate scent at a party is by food. BUT, not just any food! It should be food that permeates through the air and entices your guests to want to eat. Below are a list of foods I would recommend making right before your guests arrive:

-Cookies (snicker doodle, chocolate chip, sugar to name a few)
-Cake/pie
-Popcorn
-Curry chicken
-Blueberry muffins/pancakes
-Bacon & eggs

When you make these types of foods for parties guess what you are also doing besides activating scent? You are also activating TASTE! See how the five senses work together?!

I hope now you have a better understanding of all the ways in which you can activate scent. Stay tuned on how to activate the other senses; feeling and hearing!

LESSON #1- PART 2: Activating SIGHT

The sense of sight is considered one of the most complex of the five senses. If sight is one of the most complex and important senses, why not make your parties worth seeing?

Sight is the physical sense by which light stimuli received by the eye are interpreted by the brain and constructed into a representation of the position, shape, brightness, and usually color of objects in space according to Webster's dictionary.

With this definition in mind, think about how you can play with it to stimulate your guests' sense of sight at your events. What colors, patterns, or light fixtures can you have at your party to activate sense of sight?

This week we will take a thorough look into how you can activate sight. I will feature parties that do an excellent job at it to give you some ideas on how to make your party better than the next.

I hope you can't wait to see! ;-)

Karen's Basic Fundamentals of Planning a Party

You have seen a glimpse of some of the events I have hosted, but I think it’s time you know my Basic Fundamentals of Planning a Party. Every week I will feature a basic fundamental and team it up with some of my favorite parties I have personally done or witnessed. Before you know it, you will be ‘The Life of the Party’.

LESSON #1: Activating All Five Senses

Let’s play a game right now. Close your eyes, but before you do, think of a time when you really enjoyed yourself. Can you remember what it looked like? How about how it smelled? Do you remember the sounds you heard or the tastes you indulged in? What did you touch/feel? What feelings came over you?

Open your eyes.

If you can remember every instance in your most enjoyable moments we call that AN EXPERIENCE. Of course, not all experiences are enjoyable, but the point is that you use FIVE SENSES when going through an experience.

They are: SEEING, SMELLING, HEARING, TASTING, AND FEELING (TOUCH).

In order to have a successful experience, you must activate ALL five senses; IT'S THAT SIMPLE…so, in order to have a successful event, you must…? ACTIVATE ALL FIVE SENSES. Activating all five senses at an event is one of My (Karen's) Basic Fundamentals of Planning a Party.

Each week I will feature an event that successfully employed the 5 senses, focusing on one sense per week to give you an idea of how you can copy the same tools.

Your task: Go to a party or an event and pay attention to how they employ (or do not employ) the activation of all 5 senses.

Take notes :-)