hi everyone! my son sloan's birthday was held last october at mcdonald's c5-metropoli and though medyo matagal na, i still want to post reviews and kwento as pay-it-forward na rin dahil sa mga nakuha kong insights dito sa girltalk
it was a baptism+birthday kind of celebration, with the miyazaki film "my neighbor totoro" as the theme. i had a graphic artist-friend design a logo and this was the first version of it:
http://lenloveslife.tumblr.com/post/9585897392/first-version-of-sloans-birthday-logo-createdbasically, we wanted a simple, fun, and memorable celebration. thankfully that's exactly what we had
here are my supplier reviews:
church: parish of the holy sacrificewe wanted a no-frills church for the baptism and got exactly that at this church found inside up diliman. the ceremony was short and sweet. my only complain is how the church staff assisting us made no effort to hide his disapproval when we asked if we could wait a bit for some of the godparents who were running late. there was no scheduled baptism (or any other event) scheduled after us, and even so, he could've been more pleasant about it.
party venue: mcdonald's c-metropoliokay kausap yung staff nila and very reliable, from the reservation, to the event itself, and even after the event.
the host was good and there were about 4-5 crew members assisting kaya bawat move na kailangan ng assistance, may sumasalo kaagad. they all assisted in packing the food which weren't consumed and the male crew members even helped carry our things to the car.
also, i ordered for around 130 pero maraming hindi dumating but they were considerate enough not to prepare all the sundaes and drinks just so they can charge me for it. at least i was able to save a few pesos
my only concern, though ilan lang naman ang nakapansin, was that the music they were playing. hindi lahat kid-friendly. i understand na they'd play songs na uso pero hindi yata akma sa children's party and s&m by rihanna and the like hehe.
ballons: f colors balloonsthis is the branch's official supplier and they were very easy to deal with naman. minor issue was that i told them the theme was blue and gray yet when we arrived at the venue, may mga green na drapings. the staff explained na hinaluan daw nila para may accent. i guess this is my fault as i failed to stress that they should stick to the theme colors kaya i don't take it against them naman, i knew they had good intentions for jazzing up the decor.
photo booth and photography: cconde fotografiathis was courtesy of my sister because one of the owners, yeye, is a good friend of hers. yeye was okay to deal with - replies promptly to messages and very amiable. for the photobooth, medyo bulky ang setup and the print could be better, but they have a lot of props and the people handling it are all very nice too.
cake: bunny bakerthis was one of my non-negotiables after seeing how bunny boss ayla and her team she did justice to a cake of sanrio characters. i needed one who was good at this because the theme was totoro, a japanese character. they totally did not disappoint! they had the totoro characters down pat. my mistake was that i forgot to tell her it was a birthday so she didn't provide a candle (she thought it was a baptism) and that the cupcakes should be individually packed kaya i wasn't able to give it away to the ninongs and ninangs. but overall, sulit na sulit because considering the price range and the output, value for money talaga.
those are my supplier reviews. as for the invites, lootbags, and giveaways, were prepared by me, my jowa, and my sister (who flew on from jakarta for the event, bringing with her 140 lootbags so all the guests were able to bring home treats), so syempre winner ang review ko don
that's it! hope this somehow helps other mommies preparing for their kids' parties. here are links to the photos (though i'm not sure if i have the settings right hehe. kindly let me know if you're unable to access):
party photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150322091235910.336485.724055909&type=1&l=ba3a995f53totoro and diy details: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150324293045910.336901.724055909&type=1&l=6032a870e7 
