Geerthana Uthayakumar For the past three years, Udayan and Achyuthan have been celebrating their birthdays together and so far they love it! Even choosing a theme that my boys, four years apart, both like has not been as difficult as I had previously thought. This year Jurassic Park-obsessed Udayan chose a dinosaur theme and Achyuthan couldn’t be happier since his latest craze is dinosaurs. I was happy to help bring their vision to life with the help of some amazing vendors.
Once the boys chose their theme, we settled on a colour theme of brown and green, with hints of orange and red for contrast. Amily of AR Inks, designed such fun birthday invitations for the boys. If you are looking for an amazing graphic designer to create invitations, logos, or anything in between, I highly recommend her services as her creativity and attention to detail is like none other. We are so happy with all the birthday invitations Amily has designed for the kids over the past couple of years.
The backdrop was provided by Veena of Pink Blossom Event Décor. She actually made the stained wooden backdrop which complimented the boys’ dinosaur theme perfectly. She also made the cute little balloon arch and creatively arranged all the foil balloons I had purchased. The white table was also provided by Veena. Check her out for a variety of backdrop setups, table rentals, and now table set-ups as well.
The cake was made by me, as usual. It is the one thing I hope to do for my kids for every birthday until they tell me to stop. I am notorious for leaving the cake until the last minute (usually the day before), and this time was no different. Fortunately for me, my brother came over to help colour and roll the fondant, as well as shape the rocks on this cake. Originally, I had wanted to make the dinosaurs myself but due to time constraints, I settled on using the boys’ dinosaur toys instead. Udayan and Achyuthan were thrilled with their cake and I’m so happy that they are willing to share not only a birthday party but also a birthday cake. They honestly make my life that much easier and every year I feel so grateful.
Sweet treats included cupcakes, jello cups, and caramel popcorn made by my friend Luxshi of Sweets by Lux, who recently turned her passion into a business. The cupcakes were delicious and decorated with tiny dinosaur figures which the children got to take home as a keepsake. The homemade caramel popcorn was packaged beautifully in mason jars complete with a cut-out leaf.
In addition, we had delicious dinosaur cookies as well as dinosaur-egg shaped cakepops made by Angie of Angie’s Sweet Little Kitchen. As usual Angie’s treats were received with much enthusiasm.
The table was decorated with dinosaur toys, some of which were my brother’s from when he was around Udayan’s age, foliage, a moss table runner, and a nest with a dinosaur egg. I kept the décor fun and colourful just as the boys had wanted.
As with any children’s birthday party, a party just isn’t complete without balloons! I ordered dinosaur foil balloons from Party City and had them inflated right before the party at Party City for free. The latex balloons, also bought at Party City was filled and arranged into a small side arch by Veena of Pink Blossom Event Décor. The “RAWR” balloon was purchased from Amazon as well as the number balloons that were stuck on the table. This year Udayan casually mentioned that foil balloons are recyclable but latex balloons are not. I think next year we will be opting out from using latex balloons 🙂
Perhaps, more important than balloons is the entertainment and we had awesome entertainment at this party. We booked again with Zoum Zoum Party, but instead of a slime party, we booked a science party. I was so impressed with Zoum Zoum Party. Our host, Blossom, arrived on time and set up promptly. She brought everything she needed with her and cleaned up as well. Blossom kept a group of children aged 2 – 9, happy and engaged as she walked them through the three different experiments. She was incredibly friendly and made sure everyone was having fun. In addition to Science Parties, Zoum Zoum Party also offers Girls Party, Magic Party, Hip Hop Party, and Slime Party.
Udayan, Achyuthan and their guests had a wonderful time. They coloured, ate pizza, played games, enjoyed the little experiments they performed, and ate treats until they were content and then took home a bag of caramel popcorn as well as a toy dinosaur egg, which “hatches” when placed in water.
Here are some of my favourite photographs from the boys’ birthday celebration.
Photographs courtesy of my friend’s talented husband, Dilipan of D-Touch Images. He is patient and thorough, making sure to get all those important, detailed, and fun shots. You can check out his work here.
