Event Styling: Good Things Come in Threes

When celebrating milestones like baby showers, baptisms & birthdays or holidays (we have tons in the Philippines!), I am lucky to have friends that have the eye for good design. They creatively decorate the space to evoke the sense of festivity. If you have the time for it, event styling can get addicting with the help of Pinterest and YouTube tutorials online but oh, it surely is therapeutic! 

Today's Halloween was definitely special because of the dessert buffet set up by Kaye Garcia in her lovely home.

She has been my friend since high school and is one of the (fairy) godmothers of my daughter Maya. She helped me set up Santi's "Yellow Submarine" 6th birthday party last year. Oh, don't mind the yellow pompoms because I did those myself :/

Kaye also took charge of Maya's bird themed dessert buffet in her baptism reception earlier this year.

Sometimes I get bitten by the DIY bug and have the energy to do-it-myself. I don't know how we did it but my husband and I managed to survive putting together Santi's Minecraft 7th birthday party when Maya was only 2 months old! (We had no helpers at home for a whole month during this stressful time!)

FLOW co-founder & freelance graphic designer, Noelle Hilario (www.wanderlustdrifted.blogspot.com) is also brilliant with her hands. She helped put together my Blessingway weeks before Maya was born. I blogged about this previously here.

Kai Lim (of Cura V) elegantly set this outdoor garden themed baby shower for 3 pregnant ladies in our high school group (one of which was me!) If you look closely, there are real brown eggs in the birds nest. That surely was my favorite touch on the table spread.

Out of the three fabulous friends I have that style parties so effortlessly, only one does it for work. 

Follow @kayegarcia13 on Instagram to see more of her creations. You may contact her at kayegarciaevents@gmail.com for inquiries. 

More of Kaye's recent works-

Lovely life sized backdrop for her daughter Carolina's baptism

Unicorn Dessert Buffet

Happy party planning!

A Blessingway

At the very beginning of this pregnancy I knew that I wanted to do things differently. From concealing the pregnancy  for as long as I could, to not revealing the gender, to a requested blessingway and of course, the birth itself.

A blessingway is an alternative celebration to a baby shower. Some websites state that the origin is that of a Navajo ritual. When I read about it, I thought it was a beautiful ceremony that I wanted to experience. Compared to a baby shower where the focus is solely on the baby, a blessingway gives focus on the mother and the coming birth. Since I wanted all the support for my upcoming vbac (vaginal birth after a c-section) home waterbirth, I wanted a group of strong women to hold space for my and my baby.

Sharing with you all some photos of that afternoon in Beyond Yoga BHS...

I came on time but they were still busy setting up the place-

Noelle aka Martha Stewart of Manila

Here's Pam and my doula Irina also helping out with the flowers

such a sweet looking set up :)

Green Smoothie Fest from Rawlicious! 

Noelle made these vegan nutella cupcakes, to die for!

Coconut Balls, homemade by Noelle too!

Here I am with Angela. Our babies are only a month apart! 

"M" made entirely of blooms and leaves from Dangwa

Vegan cupcakes from Pipino were to pretty to eat!

Denise helps put the white string on guests - the white string will remind my friends to think of me especially during the time of birth 

Loved these flowers! So refreshing to look at <3

Denise reading out something they prepared for one of the activities :)

a close up shot of my 'blessing tree' each handwritten by my special friends!

M stands for...? :)

That's me getting massaged while being serenaded by live kirtan (chanting) by loving friends <3

Look at how beautiful my tree of blessings and good intentions turned out! I still have this wreath at home, too!

Thanks again to Denise, Noelle and Pam for organizing this special day. I truly felt the love and effort poured onto this event. And to all that came as well to share this sacred journey with me- Chicho, Irina with her daughter Delphina, Joyce and her daughter Radha, Angela and baby A in utero, Devaki, Marnie, Chessy, and Jeri. I just realized we were ALL WOMEN in that room! How very powerful it is to combine our energies together. Much gratitude to each of you. Love, love, love!