there are so many factors that attribute to creating a great birthday bash. there's location, food & drinks, utensils, decors and planning the party's schedule to the nearest minute. and with a low budget of nearly $1000, makes its even more of a challenge to plan.
but that isnt a problem cause i love planning stuff.
and now you're in luck cause i'm about to divulge the...
AliJoe's Guide to Event Planning
first things first. BUDGET. total necessariness. whether you're a social suicide or a socialite, a budget will come in handy for making decisions. its like a target towards your objectives and when you hit it, the sense of accomplishment is overwhelming. of course the higher the budget the better. and if you can get sponsors, like mummy and daddy, fabulous.
then there's LOCATION, second most important factor. you want something that's convenient for the guest and also something that sits nicely in your budget. ceiling your location to 40% of your budget is the max. you do not want to result in having an event in a hotel ballroom only to serve guest chips and cordial due to lack of fund. note: reserving a table at Zouk is not considered location, thankyouverymuch.
next factor is THEME. i'm a strong beilever of themes, not necessarily those involving uniforms or a masquerade. themes create a flow in your party. themes show that you made and effort. what i mean by creating flow is that decor, food, drinks, games, utensils and locations do not become separate entities but instead is one. the simplest of all themes is color. lets say you choose purple. unless you're location is a big purple grape then instead, play it up with decor. get purple streamers, balloons. serve ribena for drinks. use purple utensils. call for a purple dress code. trick here is to not overdo it and also to find a theme that our guest would be comfortable in. note: dont think of over the top themes because singaporeans are such lazyass motherfuckers when it comes to dressing up.
FOOD. some might argue that this instead is the most important factor but i beg to differ. an event is about mingling and the company. people should be moving around having fun and not sitting down tucked into a plate of beehoon and chicken wings. however, you do not want your guest to starve as much as they already did to fit into that Gucci for your party. so a good suggestion would be finger food. nothing too heavy that would cause their Prada belt to beg for mercy. simple tuna sandwiches, pigs in a blankets and the likes.
regarding DRINKS, very easy. depends on the guest list. there's people who dont take gassy drinks, alcoholic drinks and there's some who start to nauseate at the whiff of jasmine green tea. and you do not want to come across as being too cheapo for serving rose syrup. you can choose to serve an array of can drinks or just do what i do. serve ribena. everyone loves ribena!
UTENSILS are those little details that you have to take note of. always buy more. we're living in an ungracious society where people think plastic utensils are biodegradable. so they use and throw and use another one and throw again. i dont recommend using paper plates as they're too flimsy to hold anything. also buy quality utensils as i really hate it when my fork breaks when i'm trying to eat my food. also dont forget to match it to your theme.
what makes or break the theme is DECOR. very important to set the mood for the event. you do not want to create an Oscar Award theme and have people drink out of paper cups and live in fear of setting their Chanel tweed on fire as they try to grab a greasy chicken wing from the bbq pit. DECOR is like that little something from Tiffany's to complete your entire outfit.
last but not least, always create a SCHEDULE. whats the use of planning decor and food if you dont plan minute to minute details of the event itself. always keep track of what time things should start or end. never keep guests waiting for the party to start just because everyone on your list isnt there yet. create a schedule and keep to it. that is if you're dead drunk yet.
whoah! i think i should write a detailed book on event planning. dont you think so?
anyways, i leave you today with pictures from my hoity toity 21st birthday celebration. it might not be the best birthday party but it's what i manage to put up at such short notice with an oh-so-meager budget. =)
Ali Joe's 21st Retro Groove at East Coat.
i had put no captions with all the fotos only because words cannot explain the wonderful time i had that night. thus, i shall just let the fotos do the 'talking'.
i would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who were there joining me in celebration of my 21st birthday. your presence and of course, presents made me a very happy ALI!!!
special props to everyone who made the effort to dress to the theme!
last but not least, this whole event would not have been as smashing as it was without this someone's help. from the start with all the planning till the day of execution. from the incessant calls everytime i changed my mind about decor and food selection. from going all around singapore to search that perfect color plastic spoons to match the plates and cups from ikea to giant to carrefour. while i kept complaining and whining on every single thing while sipping on my green tea frappuccino. well, i wont overdo the praise cause i know you secretly enjoyed the hectics of all the planning as well. hahaha!!! so to my friend since primary school and for being the best supporting event planner(cause i'm the lead event planner and you know it), Sharif. also known as Barney. LOL!!!!
ps: sorry if your foto's arent up. there still some BUGGERS OUT THERE who've yet to send me the pictures. =X
alright. thats it for this week's entry. y'all take care and i hope you have a great week ahead.
nothing to blog this week. apart from hanging out with sheryl, life has been ultra dull.
though i have rekindled my love affair with black again, especially now during my pudgy moments. i used to love wearing colours but nowadays, i rather put on something that attracts less attention.
also, i notice i'm beginning to love shopping alone. i know shopping alone sounds rather pathetic but i find it rather therapeutic.
i've been searching for a nice dress watch. something with leather straps and a huge square face. anyone got any nice ones to recommend?
gotta go back camp soon. i hate camp. its gonna be another 5 slow boring months filled with COS and guard duty.
the new fragrance from giorgio armani called Diamonds is really lovely. any women who smells like that will definitely take my breath away.
just a while ago, i was walking to econ minimart cause i had this really bad craving for ferrero rochers. along my way i noticed this really pretty girl cycling around the area. and then guess what? i noticed that she was looking at me.
i checked my shirt for gummy bear.
none. (thank god)
and when i look back up, i noticed she skidded on the post-rain wet road and fell down.
!!!
i quickly helped her up and brought her bicycle to the side. she had a little cut on her knee and luckily for her i had some plasters to spare in my wallet.
after making sure she was alright. she thanked me and somehow i ended up with her name and phone number as well.
uh oh. what am i suppose to do with the phone number? ask her whether she has a hot brother?
after all these entries about my friend's birthday parties, finally its my turn to blog about mine. and no i'm not gonna be blogging about my hoity toityretro discosoireejust yet. this entry is gonna be about a more intimate celebration.
to me it has always been more important to celebrate my birthdays with smaller groups of friends. it creates a sense of intimacy and its more personal with everyone who's there. but this year though, with it being the big 21 (i still cant believe i'm an adult), a slightly rah rah celebration wouldnt hurt.
since i've already had a huge ass celebration with my entire family the day before, i had my actual birthday to celebrate it with the one i love. but apparently neither karl lagerfeld or marc jacobs were free, so i was stuck with these 3.
of course, not that i'm complaining.
so they decided to create this little surprise for me by not telling me where we were going. the thing about me is that as much as i love planning surprises for people, i hate receiving them. i just dont know how to react to a surprise. and what the hell are you suppose to wear to a surprise? what if i overdressed or was terrible underdressed for the occasion?
anyways, it was so top secret that cecilia had to meet me at ang mo kio and bring me there while the rest of the girls, i presume were already there.
and when i reached clark quay, the first thing that pop my mind was a celebration at some bar or club, especially with girls knowing my penchant for alcohol. but then, i was greeted by flashing lights from their cameras. and they didnt seem dressed for a club especially jiafang who seems to have a strong dislike for clubs.
then they brought me to this really lovely place at Central called The Manhattan Fish Market. its like fish&co but way better. we had this seafood platter which tasted waaaay nicer than fish&co's.
then they presented me with this really cool 'birthday card' which was suppose to look like a school project. i really appreciate all the hard work that went into this and all those meaningful words and pictures inside. =D
and they they tried to scare me with a fake birthday cake from O-M-Ghastly polar cafe.
notice the WTF look mixed with a forced smile (see above). i dont even look remotely happy in the group pic with the fake cake (see below).
but then thank god they brought out the actual cake. its a caramel cake (i love caramel!!!) and from my favourite cake shop, Rive Gauche (Yippie!!). i knew my friends love me.
yummmmmmmmmm!!
notice i actually look happier now. i'm like so easy to please.
the only thing going through my mind now is ''cake ! cake! cake!''
the only thing going through my mind now is ''please dont let the candles burn my shu uemura eyelashes!!!''
i've got to be the luckiest guy on the planet.
and then came my eternal inability to cut a cake properly. can you believe it been 21 yrs and i still have problem with the cake cutting?! tsk tsk.
after dinner, it was really nice to just take a leisurely stroll along the singapore river.
clarke quay looks really beautiful at night =)
of course wad outing would it be without the usual camwhoring.
before we didnt know each other. after, we were inseparable.
my drunk one night stand.
the one night stand who kept checking out my ass. LOL!
jiafang's ambition. (we made her pose outside this place that she had no idea what it is. lol.)
making a fool of myself outside MOS.
you know how everyone loves candid shots. i hate them. everyone usually turns out retarded. proof as follows.
and we made random passerbys take pictures of our retarded antics.
and to top the fruitcake...
lets not forget one final group pic for the night.
yeah, a really wonderful 21st birthday it was. i really love these girls, they make me feel like i wasnt the only child, its like i have 3 younger sisters, although technically they're older than me.
and lets promise we stay friends forever k? until our shadows fade away.
and so i decided to go to the gym today. and on one of those days apart from the other 742 969 days that i finally decide to move my plus size butt to the gym, something bad had to taint the experience.
while i was busily engrossed trying to figure out the buttons that works the treadmill, my nose caught a sudden whiff of smthing peculiar. smelt familiar. almost like days in secondary sch at the science lab when we're testing for ammonia.
and then was when i noticed this guy on the treadmill next to mine. of all the treadmills, he had to pick the one second nearest to the tv. and i thought that probably the smell would just go away. and after five minutes, mr B-O started sweating like the gym was on fire. and oh golly, i couldnt take it anymore. if i stayed on any longer i would have just collapsed from ammonia poisoning and they'd have to evacuate the whole gym.
made a quick dash for the door as i wait for the oxygen to finally unclog my ammonia filled lungs. someone should introduce this guy to the deodorant. it could save lives. i didnt mean his, but other people's.
tmr i'm gonna spray calvin kleins on my towel before i go to the gym. if that guy is there again, i'm gonna breathe through my towel ALL the way.
thank god i found smthing on youtube that made my day. it beyonce's concert and calling her talented is an understatement.
you know how everyone usually celebrates their birthdays either with buffets at fancy restaurants, a party at a club/pub with lots of alcohol or the usual chalet cum bbq. this time around, me and the TLLM gang(i seriously thing we need a new gang name btw) decided to have an intimate evening instead for our wonderful friend, Jiafang.
we decided that the experience would a more memorable gift as compared to anything else.
so we settled on the idea of a picnic. there were plans of sentosa but since everyone couldnt make it in the day, we did it at night instead. but sentosa was abit of a weird location for a picnic at night.
so we decided on a more convenient location but yet equally beautiful. the roof terrace of the esplanade.
of course a successful picnic is not as easy as it seems. there is A LOT of preparations. someone has to bring the basket and a mat. all the different different types of foods from all over the place. the drinks. the Royce chocolates from the grumpy sales staff. the bouquet of cream roses. and the second part of the birthday surprise.
then after setting everything into place. we bring in the birthday girl but not without an added suspense to her suprise.
we blindfold her!!!
and lead her in circles till she's damn confused. LOL!
take individual shots with her while she's still blindfolded.
and after all that, comes the unveiling of the suprise which is...
the picnic basket with assorted food consisting of calbee potato chips, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, crackers and cheese dips, sushi, chicken pie, royce chocolates, carrot cake, oyster egg omlette and barbequed chicken wings.
complimented with a lovely bottle of Berlinger's Rose chilled in a halloween ice bucket to be served in fine wine glasses.
and of course a beautiful bouquet of cream roses for the even more stunning birthday girl.
and so we sat on the mat, nibbled on the yummilicious food while chatting over bubbly.
of course followed by some group fotos to remember the night by.
before all the food and the bubbly.
after. i love my retarded friends.
and so after the whole thing we packed up with jiafang thinking that was the end of the whole suprise but nooooo...
we told her we were craving dessert and so we made our way to haagen dazs and while waiting we snapped a foto.
and guess what arrives.....
. . . . . .
the cake from Chocz and ice cream from haagen dazs. many thanks to the staff at haagen dazs esplanade for complying with our incessant demands. =)
the make a wish part. honestly, everytime somebody ask me to make a wish before i blow the candles, my mind usually goes blank. and so i count till ten and i blow the candles so that everyone thought i had a really looooong wish. lol.
and the blow the candle part. ignore my retarded face. i actually wanted to push her head down but sheryl didnt let me. =(
and of course, a final group pic of the memorable night.
decided to hail a cab home since it was way past the mrt driver's bedtime.
the one who cannot hold her liquour and created a scene outside haagen dazs when we're leaving.
hahahaha!!!!!!!
like i've said before and i'll say it many time again, its never what you do but who you do it with that equates to that perfect day.
i really hope jiafang loved the whole experience as much as cecilia, sheryl and i did. =D
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! wishing everyone health and happiness and that 2008 will be an even better year!
now usually i'll be blogging about my resolutions around this time of the year, but i guess this year i wont.
shocking i'm sure.
i'm been doing some random blog surfing to check out what everyone hopes for in 2008 and most people come up with a list of resolutions. i've had it with resolutions. every year, one of my resolutions is to lose weight and every year my weight fluctuates more vigorously than stock market.
2007 has been a year of 'increase'. the GST did, the taxi fare did and not suprisingly, so did my weight.
so losing weight is definitely not in my resolution for this year. not like i'm having one to begin with.
i would have loved to blog about this yesterday, especially it being the last day of 2007. but LUCKY me was stuck in camp doing guard duty. and so while singapore parties the last few hours away before the arrival of 2008, there i was inside a dark bunk, on a hard bed listening to class 95 as they count down to the new year. definitely not a grand way to end the year. but a soldier's gotta do his duty, although very unwillingly.
but for tradition sake i'm gonna do something i call a lookback.
2007
has been quite a good year for me.
i turned 21 and so did most of my friends and there were so many parties that i attended to celebrate it. i donno bout you, but 21 does make me feel a little bit older. i'm starting to listen to more Class 95 instead of 98.7fm. i cant enter an arcade and not feel like a grandfather. everyone there feels 10 years younger than me. heck, i've even started using an anti-aging eye cream.
2007 also saw me dabbling quite a lot in the clubbing scene, whether blogged or unblogged about, i was there shaking my booty and doing all those stuff thats kids shouldnt be doing. i guess i've kinda had my fill of the vibrant nightlife. i have no regrets about it but i think i just need to grow up and stop partying like i'm paris hilton.
army wise, i've done sooo many things that before national service it would have been in my wildest dreams or you can say nightmare. army has taught me one important thing. it is that i am even tougher, whether physically or mentally, then i think i can be. no doubt i still hate it, but i'm starting to take all the bittersweet experiences and sow it into a quilt of memories. in 2006 i did brunei, 2007 i did thailand and 2008, i'm gonna do ORD.
family wise, i'm spending more time with the only two people at home that i love, mum and dad. i make it a point to spend at least once a week to have dinner with the family. just cook something for everyone at home and then just watch a dvd together. spending time with my family is one of those simple things in life that makes me happy.
love wise. i've got nothing much to say here except that 2007 has made me realise how being single is not the worse thing that could ever happen. truth be told, i am enjoying very much singlehood and i dont intend to change my mind anytime soon.
in 2007 i tried my best to meet up and keep in contact with all my friends. i can only try my best and it definitely takes 2 hands to clap. to all my friends, you know who you are, i love you.
now some might say what i'm doing next is called a resolution. but i digress. i prefer the term Objectives.
2008
there are quite a few objectives that i want and need to meet in 2008.
first and foremost, i wanna ORD in peace. fuck national safari, i'm just here to pay my dues and get it over and done with. 5 more months!!!!
i also wanna get a bike licence and my very own vespa. as soon as possible would be nice so i dont have to take long boring bus rides.
then study wise. i hope i get accepted into SIM. my gpa is retardedly low because no one warned me about the addiction to slacking in poly. therefore, i'm not even gonna set my sights on the lights of NUS, NTU or SMU. to those wondering, i'll most likely be going to RMIT at SIM for a degree in marketing. anyone wanna join me for the jul/aug intake?
i want to stop getting allowance from my parents. YES, I KNOW. i'm still getting allowance from mummy. but now that i'm 21, i wanna take up a part time job, after ns that is, so that i can support myself financially. and i'm gonna start saving FOR REAL this time. even if it means i have to eat at ghastly kopitiams and shop at giordano instead, i just have to suck it up.
of course spend more time with my family.
and every single resolution i've had, be it 2007 or 1997, i've always wanted to love weight. well this year i wont. my objective instead is to live healthy. just eat healthy, drink more water and regular light exercise.
also obviously, i want something that no amount of money can buy, i wanna be HAPPY!
and, i wanna be less himbotic.
well technically this sums up my lookback at 2007 and also outlook into 2008.
i wish everyone the best and i do hope you continue to keep reading and support realitee.blogspot.com
