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Planning events and hosting parties has always been one of my most favorite things to do. And I’m not just talking about getting a few balloons and a few people together - no, I go ALLL out. My family often has a running joke that I am very ‘extra’ when it comes to even the smallest of events.

There is just something about watching my ideas unfold together, I love it. And I love creating spaces for others to enjoy - moments to remember.

Recently, I planned Mila’s christening in our home. It was such a memorable day with my closest loved ones. My Grandma was able to bless her which meant the world to me as she also blessed my twin and I many moons ago - we were almost the same age as Mila too!

Mila’s blessing day was my favorite event to date, the little details and statement pieces really tied everything together nicely.

Blessing our Baby girl by her godmother at her christening ceremony!.

Here are my top 5 tips for turning your event into a success!

1. Plan ahead and determine your theme!

Plan, plan plan! This part is so important to the overall success of the event! Spend those initial hours browsing Pinterest or IG to gain some inspo for your upcoming event. Personally, I like to set up a Pinterest board with saved image inspo for food, desserts, decor, outfits, and colour schemes! This helps my mind to not want to ‘do it all’ in one single event and keep a solid focus.

Once I’ve done this, I narrow in on one theme and choose 3-4 colours that everything will revolve around. For example, we chose dusty rose, beige/light brown, cream, and pink as our colours. Everything at the event (minus some brighter colours in the food of course) was consistent with our colours.

2. Contact potential vendors early!

Event planning is a great way to support local businesses in your area - but plan AHEAD as they fill up quicker than you’d think and may not be available on the date of your gathering - I learned this the hard way so now I am currently planning Mila’s 1st Birthday party even though it is just over 2 months away.

I seek out most of my event vendors through searching keywords like ‘balloon decor’ ‘balloon arch’ ‘bakery’, ‘graze boards’, ‘charcuterie’ ‘event decor’ ‘event screen’ ‘event backdrop’, ‘florals’, etc on social sites like Facebook Marketplace and Instagram.

3. Stay consistent with your colour theme/style!

Keep your event within your chosen 3-4 colours, this will help the aesthetic to have better flow and photograph much nicer as well! For example, since we chose neutral, dusty rose, and pinky tones, everything from our backdrop, to desserts, to decor, to cutlery, to dishes, and even outfits matched this theme. This effort will be noted and felt by your guests as well as it will be reflected in the photos taken.

4. Have a statement piece As your party focal point!

A statement piece seamlessly ties the theme and decor of your event together. This will serve as your guests overarching takeaway and will be a vast part of their initial impressions upon entering! Great focal pieces are things such as backdrops, balloon arches, large light up letters/numbers, or decorative lights, etc!

For Mila’s event we used a decorative screen from Bloom Screens here in YYC. It was the most magnificent dusty rose colour with a velour finish and some real dried flower arrangements! We elevated the screen further by hanging Mila’s name in a wooden cursive sign done by Wild Comb Designs

The screen was better than anything I’d ever imagined and really was the eye grabber of the blessing. It was amazing to have delivery , setup and take down all completed by the owners.

We had Mila’s ceremony in front of the velvet backdrop - which later in the evening also served as a photo opp for all of the fam to grab a picture with Miss Mila in her darling christening gown. We cannot wait to work with Bloom Screens again for Mila’s First Birthday!!

5. Create a Dessert and Grazing table for your guests!

We decided to do a charcuterie spread and other little snackies to feed our guests! Charcuterie is the perfect way to provide light eating with many options! Having a variety available to your guests is a great way to insure everyone has something!

We chose a well known and loved YYC company called The Graze Company to do two charcuterie boxes - which provided the perfect amount of food for our 15 guests!

These boxes were s t u n n i n g, almost too pretty fo eat - almost! We loved all the little touches from the positioning to the teeny tiny little jams! I will most definitely be ordering from them again!

Now on to the best part - desserts - we ordered ours from Ginger and Spice Cakery in Okotoks, AB, and man were they worth the drive!

Carla ensured everything matched our theme to a tee and went all out with her creative expertise! The details were perfect, there were even real flowers on the cake!