Zoe's 3rd Birthday Party - Supplier Review

Zoe celebrated her 3rd birthday last September 22nd at McDonald's Filinvest Marcos Highway. It was a relatively small and intimate party, we only invited her first cousins. 

In relation to that, here is my mini supplier review for her party.

Venue: McDonald's Filinvest Marcos Highway
Peso Power: P7,072 for 34 sets of Spaghetti and chicken, cheeseburger, fries, drinks, and sundae; P3,000 for 30 sets of lootbags and prizes, P500 1 hour extension
Review:
We reserved the venue back in June simply because I'm an overly excited parent who always wants things done ahead of time. Naturally, I was also expecting that if there were any kinks to the party, then I should be made aware AHEAD of time. This wasn't my first choice of venue, it was supposed to be McDonald's Libis but we settled for this branch because of our decision to have a short guest list. Let me enumerate the disastrous events that happened:

1. I pencil-booked September 22nd 2pm-4pm and was told that the slot won't be given to anyone else without informing us. This was back in May, I came back in June to make a deposit but was told that  somebody had booked the function room from 3:30PM-5PM on the said date. Fine, I adjusted and booked 12:30PM-3PM

2. They called me the NIGHT BEFORE my daughter's party to inform me that there were no Toy Story amenities available and they can only provide Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I didn't make any fuss since my daughter also likes MMC. Sure.

3. On the day of the party, they told me that there were no AVAILABLE LOOTBAGS and the party favors will only be distributed to the kids.This was when I lost my patience and almost ate the crew alive. WTF?! Even if this was just a small party, it deserved the respect deemed for all their other parties. They will hand out the party favors to the kids?? I booked and paid 3k in June, couldn't they have ordered their supplies then? Even if it was their supplier's fault, didn't they have MORE THAN AMPLE TIME to inform me so I could have at least bought themed lootbags?? Nakakabwisit! I went out of the party area and really shouted at the crew members. Kakabastos eh. They were frantic and they offered to put the party favors on McDonald's brown bags. Yes, the ones they use for take out food. Hinde ka ba maha-highblood nyan? San napunta 3k ko? Hay grabe. Super bwisit tong branch na to. Another thing, parang walang utak ang 2 hosts. Alam nilang 3-year old yung may birthday and the kids are also very young, yung games nila parang mga 10 steps yata kahaba ang instructions. Nag-react tuloy the parents of the kids. Bobo lang??

Lastly, Ronald McDonald decided to crash the event. OK lang sana, additional entertainment eh. Kaso he was so rude to plug his appearances in that branch ON OUR PARTY and stole the limelight by asking the guests to POSE with HIM FOR PHOTOS when my daughter was already seated in front and parang naiwan tuloy sya. I said talaga to the host and Ronald's assistant to get him out of our party
 area. 

Photography: For Keeps Photography
Peso Power: P3,500 (4 hours of coverage, 40 5R prints, and DVD of edited photos)
Review:
I found out about For Keeps through GT. They have so many good reviews and their photos are so nice talaga. When I contacted them back in June, they didn't even require a deposit so mejo nagulat ako. 
On the day of the party, I texted David to remind him that the party will start at 12:30PM. Lo and behold, ang alam nya pala was 2PM because I gave him the details of our pencil-booking with McDo so when I adjusted the time because we were bumped off, I forgot to inform him. I got surprised pa when I got a text from him saying that I told him the party was at 2PM. When I checked my email, that was what I told him nga. I already accepted that he will be late because it was my fault. I was super amazed when he got to the venue way BEFORE it started. 

David was a joy to work with. He never stopped taking photos, he had a lot of nice ideas for poses, and he had good camaraderie with the guests. In two days time, he already had Zoe's teaser photos uploaded in his FB site and Weebly site (zoebday.weebly.com). I highly recommed For Keeps.

Cake: Swirls n Sprinkles (Nadine Abraham)
Peso Power: P2,000 for a 9" cake with 12 free cupcakes
Review:
Nadine has always been my cake supplier from Zoe's christening to birth month celebrations to birthdays. I've also recommended her to friends in and out of GT and they all had good things to say about her. 




















For Zoe's 3rd birthday, I decided to order just slightly bigger cake than her 1st birthday cus I wasn't planning on getting cupcakes anymore. However, Nadine gave Zoe 12 cupcakes as her birthday gift. I was super happy =). My husband and I asked Zoe what cake design she liked and since she chose Toy Story as her McDonald's party theme, she also said she wanted Toy Story for her birthday cake. HOWEVER, she changed her mind about a week before her party and said she wanted a Doc McStuffins cake instead. It's a good thing that nadine still had time to come up with a design. 

Nadine delivered the cake for free, ang hilig sa free ng babaeng to, ako na nahihiya hahaha. The cake was delivered even before we got there. When Zoe saw it, she was just enamored. I think we could've gotten away with not pushing through with the party basta katabi nya lang her cake :P I gave the cupcakes to the kids after the party and we kept the cake. It was too beautiful to eat, honestly. It broke my heart when we cut a slice to give to my brother and my nephews. 

Zoe's outfit: Peach dress from Gingersnaps and gold studded T-strap shoes from Marie Antoinette Baby 
Peso Power: P800++ for the dress and P650 for the shoes
Review:
I tried almost all the clothes in Gingersnaps cus I was unecided on the look that I wanted for Zoe. I didn't want it to be too dressy cus it was a simple McDo party and I wanted her to be able to move around without dress constraints. I thought of a shorts ensemble, pants ensemble, several dresses, jumpsuits, the works. I finally settled on the peach dress that I've seen couple of store visits ago and sure enough, it was the winner. I also bought another top as an alternate but she didn't get to wear it anymore.

I had been wanting to buy the shoes from MABC for Zoe but kept on holding it off cus the first pair that I bought for her wasn't very comfortable and she ended up only wearing it twice. This pair however is not only very pretty but quite comfy too (according to Zoe). My only comment is that the shoes had a different hook; I thought it was like most kids' shoes that comes with a 'belt-like' strap that you can close securely. It came with that design but it wasn't made to be closed like that, you simply hook the strap to an L-shaped metal. For kids who like to jump and run, the shoes can easily unhook itself. 


Overall, it was still a nice and fun party. It rained non-stop on that day and it was a good thing that the venue is just across our village. That was the only good thing about that McDonald's branch, really, and we got them for that reason alone. I'm still waiting for final photos from For Keeps but here are some shots that David uploaded in Zoe's site (zoebday.weebly.com). 

With Dan's family

The Manila-Dys

With cousins from Manila and Dy sides

It was good thing that my cousin, Sugar, was able to join this party before flying to Germany with her two daughters

Piñata 

Zoe with Tita Mye and Tito Mark, Jessalyn, Cacai, Russell, and Mama Lola

with achie Meg and baby Zara

Ang saya naman ni Mama Lola ;D

Zoe Alexa's Christening

Zoe Alexa had her christening celebration last November 13 at Christ the King Parish. Traffic was really bad around the Ortigas area and half of her godparents weren’t able to make it to the ceremony and most guests were late in arriving at the reception venue (including us!) since we all got stuck in traffic. Despite the hassles, everything still went okay in the end and our guests were able to take advantage of the buffet except for Dan and I since we were busy attending to our guests.


Below is the list of my suppliers and a short review on each:

Church: Christ the King Parish Church (Green Meadows QC)
- We listed Zoe’s baptism 3 months before she was born. We were that excited (okay, I was that excited..)! We decided on a Saturday since most of our friends and family didn’t have work or school that day. The thing was, I originally wanted the ceremony to be held at 1pm but there was no slot offered on that time block so we settled for 2pm which was a bit narrow on our schedule since the reception at Dad’s starts at 3pm. We were a bit late on the day itself since traffic was also bad along Marcos Highway. The rites started at 2:15 PM and half of her godparents weren’t there yet including all of Dan’s family.

 Reception: Dad’s Mega mall (Merienda buffet)
- We had reserved the function room good for 120 pax and our contract stated that should we fail to fill minimum 100 headcount requirement, we still would have to pay for a hundred. On the day itself, only 85 guests were able to arrive due to really bad traffic and almost all of us were late. We arrived at Dad’s at 3:45 and I was afraid that we weren’t going to make it. Our last batch of guests arrived at 4:40 PM and yet they were still able to take advantage of the buffet.

We didn’t get the baptismal package at Dad’s but I requested for extra tables for the cake and gifts as well as a tarpaulin. We also stayed until around 7:30 PM which was beyond the 5pm reservation but it was okay with them since there was no other function after us. Though I didn’t get to eat (huhuhu), I was still happy that we got value for our money here so no regrets.

Baptismal Cupcakes: Nadine Abraham of Swirls N Sprinkles
- Nadine is my favorite among all of my suppliers. Everything was very smooth and easy not to mention that her cupcakes made me totally throw the thought of sugar and fats out of the window. I ordered 70 cupcakes with packaging and she gave me free fondant toppers and discounted delivery and set up. I booked with her a couple of months before I gave birth and most of our conversations were done through email and through text message on the latter part.


We had 3 flavors for our cupcakes: Chocomoist cake with Hershey’s butter cream filling, Vanilla cake with Vanilla icing, and Chocomoist cake with vanilla icing. They were all made up to match Zoe’s pink and brown motif and they were all very delicious that I almost regret having to give them away. I also ordered a dozen of cupcakes from Nadine for Zoe’s first month celebration and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of transactions to be had in the future.


Souvenirs: Eileen Dela Rose of EroseJazz Clay

- I have seen Eileen’s multiply site even before I got pregnant and fell in love with her hand and footprint clay magnets immediately. So when I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t look elsewhere for baptismal souvenirs. I ordered 50 pieces which came with packaging and tags. They were the cutest thing and got compliments from a lot of my guests. I was sad to give them away too hahaha!


Invitations: Elegant Pieces
- I ordered 50 pieces of invitations for Zoe’s christening and our transaction was done mostly through email. The invites were okay although it would’ve been better if they were printed on photo paper. I would’ve done the invites myself but I am probably the least artistic person in the world so I decided to have an experienced person do them for me.


Candles - DIY
- I never thought I would contribute something to this baptism that I would actually make but I did. I bought a pink ribbon with gold trimming from National Bookstore and put it on the candles. Heck, I was so proud of myself!


Baptismal Gown, Cap, and Booties: Landmark Department Store
- I decided not to spend a lot of money on Zoe’s baptismal outfit since she will only be wearing it for 30 minutes tops. So on our way to Trinoma to meet up with Shally to pick up my orders from the US, we passed by Landmark and got Zoe’s baptismal outfit which didn’t even cost us 500. The only downside was that the sizes were a bit limited. We got the smallest size but it was still a bit too big for Zoe. She hated the booties and she was already barefoot half of the ceremony.


Reception Outfit: Ralph Lauren Romper, Nike Mary Janes, Carter’s socks
- I scrimped on Zoe’s baptismal outfit but splurged on the ones she used for the reception. The RL romper and Carter’s socks were bought from the US when I had my Google training and the Nike shoes were bought from Rustan’s.


Mommy and Daddy outfits: Dress from Plains and Prints and Hubby’s shirt from Memo




The total expenses for Zoe’s christening were more or less 45k not including the gas and food expenses to and from the suppliers. Every penny spent was definitely worth it as it was Zoe’s first coming out party. Now, I can start writing our Christmas shopping list and planning for her first birthday ;).

*Here is the link to more of Zoe's christening pics: http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#%21/album.php?aid=2086142&id=1045323257