the party...

after months of planning and a saturday evening set up in the rain, sunday saw the community summer party executed in the glorious yorkshire sunshine.

after the last minute emails were exchanged earlier last week i was actually getting quite exciting about the weekend. but nervous. so nervous because actually was putting the new street- food court in a separate are of the park really good idea? will party goers find it? do people really just want burger and chips? but it gets to a certain point and you cant change your decisions you just have to run with them and hope for the best...

so first decision of sunday was what does one wear underneath a high- vis vest for a day? i opted for practical double denim with a splash of colour.

first job of the day. coffee. our local park has the cutest little cafe with a library  and serves the most delicious coffee and breakfast products. so after coffee i made my first realisation of the day. decorations.

i live for decorating stuff. i thrive on decorating projects of the home or any form of event. and id forgotten to make any decorations for my food area. the so- named food court was behind a hedge, away from the lake and the hustle and bustle of the main party area. so making it ideal for families to sit and relax but not so noticeable behind the flipping high hedge. so first note made for next year; make some form of pretty bunting/ banner for the high hedge...

i threw up the little bunting we had left round a tree and continued set up...

the party started at 1 but the crowds were building far sooner than that. the main area was buzzing with community stalls, charity stalls and all sorts of weird and wonderful activities to try. there was a climbing wall and blow up rugby game and the usual bouncy castle and spinning tea cups to keep the children entertained. a particular favourite of Seb's was the miniture railway.

i held off going back into the food area for a little while, nervous that it would be quiet as there were so many people everywhere else. but when i walked in it was fantastic. there were people milling around and queuing to try out the culinary delights. families has set up camp in the gardens on picnic rugs and were happily sampling what was on offer. 

the whole afternoon flew by in a whirl of talking and directing and eating. feedback on the day was majority positive for the party overall and i was delighted that from my street- food traders it was purely positive. we left buzzing about ideas for next year. for a first insight into event management it was great. i was fortunate to be able to concentrate on one area of the party so as not to get overwhelmed with admin and headaches. last week i was umming and ahring as to whether i wanted to commit to another 6 months of planning next year but i think these things are kind of addictive. if it goes well then you want to build on that success no matter what kind of work is involved.

projects...

so post holiday, which was eventful but great thank you. and by eventful i mean late night ambulance calls, bed ridden mother- to- be, us taking a local pub by storm on more than one occasion, another ambulance and finally a door- bell ringing, late night mystery visitor (thankfully we had already left by the time the creepy could- be serial killer turned up.)

so post holiday, and post easter weekend, i've been mental busy with a couple of work non- work projects. so much so that i've had no time to myself or to this blog, which is frustrating when i've only just kicked it off again. but now the initial work for these two exciting projects is done i'm hoping things are calming down and its back to business. 

firstly, back at the start of the year, i decided that i wanted to get more involved in the local community. we moved here last may and, although we knew York as a city centre pretty well, we're really new to this area and it really is like a village within the city. so i enrolled Seb into a baby and toddler music group, Songbox, which is fantastic and a great way to meet other local mums. i also volunteered to be part of the team organising this year's summer party in our local park. Rowntree Park is situated close to the Ouse, just a short walk from the city centre. It was gifted to the residents of York in 1921 by Messrs Rowntree & Co (as in the Fruit Pastels) and continues to be a family favourite. The annual birthday party is held in the summer and i thought it would be a great local event to get involved with a) because its close by and i like the park and ill meet new people, locally. and b) anyone who knows me knows how much i love an event, in particular decorating or hosting, but i've never been a part of anything huge. so i am officially the food coordinator. here goes.

secondly, as well of wanting to get all grown- up, community focused and wanting to widen my event organisation portfolio, i also wanted to write more (hence blog) and broaden my pr skills, so i volunteered to do pr and social media for Did's Triathlon club. the Yorkshire Vikings started in 2014 and is rapidly growing. but the busy ladies that run the club cant do everything, so i've jumped on board to help.

so right now im fingers deep in emails back and forth with food traders and last week i posted my first write up for the YVTT. and im really enjoying it. a teacher at my old secondary school used to have a saying, and cheesy as it is, and as much as my younger self would hate me for using it, its true. you get back what you put in.

ive wanted to do more with my work life for a long time, but timing and situation has never been just right. but rather than sitting back and waiting for the right time to start a full time career again, and hoping that the skills ive built up will suffice, ive gone out and found some opportunities to better my cv, and myself...


p.s. there wasn't time to post about easter but it was brilliant. a lot of family, food and wine. this year Seb was able to get involved with a hunt in my parent's garden which was so cute.    

                                                                                                          

 

when you wish upon a star...

so the 30th birthday bash was a resounding success and the disney theme went down a treat. the simple, classic Mickey decor worked for an adults birthday, as I had hoped. the only disney princesses to be found were on some of the cupcakes. not that there is anything wrong with a Disney princess but it isn't always befitting a 30 year old girl about town/ yummy mummy.

the briefing was low cost, stylish, disney decor to work in a rural village hall. two weeks to plan and make (by two weeks I mean a handful of evenings and one full day) and those to be made had to be with limited resources due to time and cost.

the results...

the centre pieces for the tables. these were my favourite bit and I wanted them to be simple but effective. and the main focal point. cleverly and lovingly constructed by my mum.

for the entrance hall I wanted a focal point for the reception desk to draw attention away for the local notices and village hall bits and bobs. we created a small twig tree (compliments the whole rural setting) with white twigs and little red bow ties and black mickey silhouettes hanging from it with ribbons. I also created a sign using mickey inspired font I found on my font bible dafont. this was to direct guests to leave cards and presents. always helpful.

also in the entrance hall were handmade Alice in wonderland style signs. a little bit roughly handmade but I was really pleased with the Alice style font. due to timing I stuck to just four signs: 'bar', 'party' and the classic Alice 'this way' and 'that way'. with more time there are more options and could be displayed on a false tree for example.

in addition to these main features there were shop bought Minnie Mouse polka dot table cloths, good old balloons in complimentary red, black and white and a big Micky cut out for the dj stage. on top of that we made red pom poms and strung them in lines across the ceiling. a simple but effective way to jazz up an otherwise basic room and give it a playful edge.

the end result wasn't a mega bucks, professional room but i hope and think it did the job. and maybe had the wow factor for the guests, many of them local people who used the hall weekly and maybe hasn't seen it done up that way before.

add 60+ people, many of them adults and many of them over 40, dressed up like a whose who of disney and you got a pretty magical night....