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Pandemic party planning has definitely been interesting! There are so many things to consider to comfortably throw a pandemic party and to get people to comfortably come out to said party.
On top of pandemic planning, planning a party for a girl who loves so many things is no easy thing to do. My daughter Leila exudes feminine energy but engulfs herself in all things sports. Her favorites right now are basketball, tennis, golf, and endless cartwheels. So when it came to setting the vibe for her party, it had to be high energy with so feminine touches.
The party's vibe
The starting point for the party was picking a theme; athletics with feminine energy or as it was presented on the invitation A Cute Sweatsuit Party. From here, plan the details that would make it a vibe such as theme colors, decor, and menu!
Theme colors
The party is supposed to be about the honoree of course so we grabbed her favorite colors and splashed them all over this party! Her favorite color at the time of the party was purple, blue, and gold (does anyone else's child's favorite color change with the day???). These colors in their bright and saturated hues popped off of our mostly white interior perfectly! The color was implemented through the party signage and other cute decor selections.
Decor
The color being implemented through the decor was the fun part. It was important to push the athletic theme forward by selecting actual sports equipment for the design SO why not make those elements fun and colorful! Blue tennis and basketballs filled vases, pompoms topped vases and garnish tables, and sport-like drinking cups were given out to make sporty cute.
In addition to making color the focus, breaking the party into sporting event-like zones made the athletic theme come together. The zones all had their own functions and consisted of Gifts (gift table), Concessions (snacks), Gametime (the meal), and Drinks (drink area).
The main display of decor and food was on our island which is also the focal point of our living space. As you approached the island from our entry door, the Concessions signage sat on top of a bleacher-like stand that lit up and displayed the snacks (cute right?!). In the middle of the island held her basketball birthday cake on a cake stand making that the focal point of the island's design.
Finally, throughout the party, there was athletic paraphernalia to encourage play and picture taking like jump ropes, hula hoops, etc. These also made fun picture props as well! We had a table set up with a polaroid camera (adjacent to the photo backdrop area), a scrapbook, tape, and colorful markers for guests to write fun messages and place pictures for the honoree to remember the day by.
DIY
To save a few precious coins, a couple of days before the party we sprayed one side of the letters that made up the signage and glittered them up with one color (per zone) from the theme (purchased the letters from Michaels). Cute and functional is always a win!
In addition to getting our hands sticky with the signage, a custom backdrop was created for the party pictures. Blue, gold, and purple streamers were layered to create the look. The focal point door-hung basketball court was found on Amazon! Oh, how did we hang it? We never took our sunray mirror down that was behind the streamers so the court just hooked (with its door hooks) into the mirror rays.
Streamers and plenty of balloons hit the windows and tables as well! Several floating balloon bouquets were created to complete table vibes and window endcaps.
The menu
Going back to what the honoree (my athletic daughter) loves, her favorite foods created the menu and ultimately the setup. Starting with concessions, luckily her favorite snacks aligned with actual concession snacks, so deciding on cotton candy, pretzel bites, and popcorn was a no-brainer. Buying everything pre-made also made the decision easier! Making things easier played into selecting Chipotle to cater the event. Letting your guests select their customizations and just having options is such a vibe and Chipotle made that so easy!
To top off her menu, we served lemon-lime water, a custom mocktail, and canned drinks for people to fill their lidded cups with.
pandemic party practices
Having a pandemic party can be nerve-wracking because you feel responsible for the people you are bringing together for an OPTIONAL event. For that reason, my team and I take the planning for these events very seriously. Here are some practices we put into place for this party:
First and foremost, we communicated our concerns to our guests. We didn't go as far as to make them have a negative test before arriving or take temperatures, but we did strongly advise any attendees to take precautions on their own.
Thorough cleaning and disinfecting of our space were done before and after the party.
Shoe removal at the door! It just tracks fewer germs throughout the house.
We encouraged hand sanitization by having sanitizer literally all over the party.
The Food Set-Up: All of the food items were individually portioned and the hot food all had lids. Lidded beverage cups were distributed so the guest could keep one cup on which they wrote their name.
We did not shame people who wanted to wear their masks because why would we do that.
Do you have some tips to add? And what do you think about the party set-up? Watch the videos below to see the full process!
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Watch parts one and two of the YouTube videos to see the full process and how the party turned out!
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