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With my mother’s 60th birthday occurring this year, and she did not really have any plans to celebrate, I knew I had to organize a party with our family and try to surprise her. She’s only turning the big 6-0 once, so I wanted to celebrate this milestone birthday and make it as nice and fun as possible for her. Before reaching out to the venue, I used the platform monday.com to plan out every task I would need to host the party, as well as associated costs so I could budget. When doing a preliminary add up of costs I was looking at a max budget of $3,500, and overall spend came about to about $2,500 (I’ll include a full cost breakdown below). I use monday.com regularly for managing and tracking simple to complex marketing projects for my day job, so using it for this reason was a no brainer.

My mom has been raving about and trying to host other parties at the Lake Forest Sun & Sail Club banquet room for awhile. She’d bring it up every time the family was planning a celebratory event - so I looked into this venue location and was pleasantly surprised at affordable costs with the amenities included. Given that we were members of the Sun & Sail club, we were able to receive a discount. Communications with the event coordinator Kaya were diligent and helpful. I was able to get a tour in quickly, and put down a deposit to hold the date. Then, she was very communicative and prompt on sending me reminders on when other items would be due such as meeting for the final walk through, finalizing the floor plan, submitting my event insurance and making the final payment. I invited a total of 62 people, and had 32 RSVP and attend, which was just comfortable enough in our banquet space.

The color scheme was metallic rose gold with matte gold and neutral accents - I utilized canva to create a mood board to help with the direction of styling for the event. This allowed me to visualize colors and decor pieces together and be able to mix metal hues with neutral and non metallic tones. Here’s every mostly new, decor item used with costs (the price I purchased at, but may have changed since I last purchase. I also repurposed decor items around my house as well as linens I had from previous events) - for any of the vinyl signage work you see below, contact me at Hammond Haus for your signage needs:

Round Mirror Sign - $60 Target, Hammond Haus vinyl signage
60 x 102 White Polyester Rectangular Tablecloths (x5 in White, used on 6 ft banquet tables) - $7.79/ea Tablecloths Factory
Linette Table Covers 7-pack- Costco $7.99
Lifetime Polyester Fold Chair Covers (x22 in White) - $2.19/ea Tableclothes Factory
10ft Gauze Cheesecloth Boho Table Runner (x2 Mauve/Cinnamon Rose, x2 Natural, x2 Dusty Rose) - $7.89/ea Tablecloths Factory
100 Piece Plastic Party Plates with Rose Gold Rim (x50 10.5” Dinner Plates, x50 7.5” Dessert Plates) - $31.50 Amazon
Rose Gold Accented Napkins (x100) $12.99 Amazon
Rose Gold Glitter 60th Birthday Cupcake Toppers (x24) $6.99 Amazon
Balloon Arch Garland Kit Blush Nude Apricot (x2 78 balloon pieces - includes double layered balloons, 1 roll dot glue tape, 1 balloon arch tape, 1 tying tool, 2 transparent hooks) $21.33 Amazon
Assorted Flowers -(made 5 medium sized arrangements, and had 2-3 bud vases) $104.50 OC Wholesale Flowers)
11x14 Natural Frame with Mat for Guest Book Signatures - $15.49 Amazon
Rose Gold Painted Foam Core Signage Boards - $2.25 Target, $7.99 Michaels
Number 60 & Birthday Balloons - $37 in-store, Party City
Noise Makers (x30) - $12.99 Amazon
Smiley Face Tote Bags for Party Favors - Hammond Haus
Custom Round Acrylic Cake Topper - Hammond Haus

Food & Catering:

Chafing Dish Buffet stands, dishes & warmers, plastic serving utensils, additional regular plates & utensils - $85 Smart & Final
Strawberry Cake - Pavilions $29
Macarons - Costco $36
Mini Eclairs & Cream Puffs $16
Vietnamese Food ( x50 Egg rolls, x40 spring rolls, x40 chicken & pork bao buns, x1 large tray beef stir fried pasta, x1 large tray seafood chow mein, x1 large tray house special fried rice) $402 - Tan Hoang Huong THH in Tustin

Venue & Services:

Banquet Room Space at the Sun & Sail Club $545
Hosted Bar $238 + $50 Bartender Tip
Event Insurance from TheEventHelper $114
Photobooth Service (with Attendants + Prints) - Fun Crusher Photo Booth $400
Photographer Services - $300

Pieces that I had from previous events like a couple sequin tablecloths, vintage frames, and vases - I used anything that could be repurposed and enhance the space. I went back and forth about hiring someone to plan, but wanted to go through this as I felt it would be much more personal that I coordinated and put everything together myself. So by planning out everything I needed to do on monday.com, I was able to set task deadlines and have a clear path of what I needed to do and when and how much time I had to do it by. The biggest items and tips I can share is:

Balloon garlands - I started on the garlands 2-3 days before the event, and used an electric pump. The balloons lasted with the exception of 2-3 that popped off of the strip but I just placed it back on. I just had to do one test with trying to fit the balloons into my car to ensure I would be able to transport them to the venue. Then during set up, smaller balloons were added into the garlands, and I spread out smaller balloons on the floor.
Organizer Bins - I had almost everything stored in bins so it could be easily transported from home to venue and back. Also labeling or keeping a storage list to know what’s in each bin.
Foldable Cart ($54)- this was one of the best decisions I made because it allowed us to effortlessly move boxes and items from the car to the venue space. The cart I purchased holds up to 330 LBS, and because it’s foldable, it’s easy to transport then unfold to use.
Arranging Flowers - I purchased flowers from the wholesale market, OC Wholesale Flowers, 1 day before the event to try to maintain freshness. To help with arranging if you’re a novice like me, you can try to use clear floral tape to create a grid at the opening of the vase. I also worked through cutting and prepping the all fo the stems and filler pieces before arranging. At the time it would get really cold overnight, so I left the vases in the bathtub and the flowers stayed fresh.
Timeline/Schedule for Execution - Since I had help from my dad, brother and husband, we all used a shared document that listed the task and dates/times of execution for each person so everyone was on the same page.
Pre-Planning for Item Availability & Costs - Any costs that I could not acquire online for budgeting reasons, I went to the stores beforehand to get an understanding of what food items and such would be available and the associated costs. For example, I wanted to know what cakes and desserts would be available at my local Pavilions, Costco & Smart & Final. I took pictures for visual reference and made a tentative list of the items I’d want.
Digital Save the Dates & Invitations - I used the free version of Paperless Post to send save the dates and an updated invitation. I like Paperless Post because you can track which guests have opened the invite and send follow up if needed. I can also copy/paste a unique link and send via email or text if the invitation might be going to spam. Despite noting that the event was a SURPRISE, it was mentioned to my mom a few times that there was a party for her. But because there were many other things happening around that time, she was oblivious to us throwing her a birthday party.
Party Signage - However which way you want to do it, create signage so your guests know what’s what. Do not assume people will just figure it out. I had signage explaining the guest book, where to put gifts, what type of food and desserts were out, etc. This eliminates everyone asking you what to do or where to put gifts etc.
Create Ambiance with Music - I was going to buy a large portable speaker with microphone. But figured why purchase for just this one event (I didn’t know when I would use the speaker again), and I knew that my cousin my have a speaker so I asked to borrow it. Turned out great because it created a fun atmosphere and fills the space with background noise. I had a smaller speaker just in case I needed it, I created a playlist with current songs and songs from different decades that I knew my mom loved (she commented several times on how great the songs were). I was just annoyed that I had to play from my phone because laptop was not connecting (I forgot to save the actual playlist to my laptop). So for future if I needed to do this again, I’d have my playlist accessible from a different device.

I even made up a cover story and created a fake invitation for an alumni sorority charity event, and so my mom thought she was attending an event to support me. The entire time leading up to the party, despite being told 3 times that there was a birthday party for her, my mom was completely and utterly surprised when she arrived to the event. The best part was I able to get so many of our family members together that she was just not expecting to see so many of her family and favorite people in one place to celebrate her. She even did her first shot, yes you read right - with all of our cousins and she drank it so quick like a champ. What a major success! What are your party planning tips? Have you ever tried to host a surprise birthday party?

How to Organize a Surprise Birthday Party - Rose Gold Accents (60th for my Mom)