I still have one pending school requirement, but I just can't keep my mind off Sam's birthday!
Excited? hmmm, konti lang...lol
I have always had this thing with planning things. It didn't start with my wedding. I have had this since I can remember. So imagine the thrill that I experience whenever I start planning my own event! :)
Two things though to always keep in mind when it comes to my kids' events:
a. to be practical -- spending our money wisely and
b. do what I did with our eldest, with our youngest
The thrill and excitement is the same, except for one: this time, I'm planning and preparing everything from overseas.
My realization? It's hard.
It's a challenge because even if I have my family back home to do some errands for me for the party, they can only do so much. I can't force them to do it the way I would have done it if I am there. They are working and I know and I have to understand that I'm just asking a favor and they will do it on their convenient time.
I know it's still 3 months away, but can you blame me? Of course I will (or, make that we hehe) be shelling out money for the party (a 2-hour party) and I would only want to have something good for the value of the money we're spending. Yes, compared with Liam's before and now, we're much more financially prepared to spend, but I think it should not be an excuse for me to just spend, spend and spend, right?
The venue is booked.
What I want to do now is get feedback from the other caterer (and possibly a food tasting session as well), the venue just accredited and see if it's better than the other one (old caterer we had with Liam's). The only thing I can do is to ring the venue, ask if they have a scheduled party with Caterer B so I can send someone to watch and give me feedback. I'm considering Caterer B because the price for their best package is just the 3rd best Option for Caterer A. I'm just toying with the idea: can I rely on the company's accreditation standards for me to choose it? I mean, they won't get accredired if their food and services were not good, right? But I still want to play it safe. Aside from the program, the food is the next most important factor in a party. You want to make your guests happy too, right?
Second, I already want to know the prices for their Cotton Candy and Ice Cream Carts. Why? Because like in Liam's case before, I hired a trusted face painter even if it means I had to pay an extra Php500 corkage because I still ended up paying less than by getting Tom's own face painter (and I wasn't sure if he is good). It wasn't printed in the contract or flyer -- the exact cost, so I was ringing them a couple of times already (yep, overseas call!) but I can't talk to the person in charge. I want to know if it's cheaper to get these suppliers from outside (plus the corkage for each cart) than to get their in-house supplier. Unlike with Liam before, the prices were clearly printed in the flyer. I guess not all of their clients avail of these carts, so they just made it into "other options/services."
The overall plan is done. The loots are ready to be shipped to Manila. Funds are ok (I think hehehe). I just have to wait until the party date gets nearer.The little things I can do now, I will do. I'm giving myself until the end of August. When the "ber" months starts (and I'm done with all my school work by that time)I'll move mountains so I can already get what I need (and want!) for the party.
The waiting part is killing me. ;)
