Planning A Birthday Party At Home

Planning A Birthday Party At HomeRecently we celebrated Little Mirchi’s birthday and decided to keep the party at home. We were toying with the idea of an outdoor party but since the weather was being unpredictable, we decided for the safer option. Having a birthday party at home can be stress free if you plan appropriately. I can personally tell you the days before hosting a big event I’m usually a chicken with my head cut off. I didn’t want to be like that this time around so I tried to plan and organize as much as I could the day before to avoid any meltdowns. Here’s how planning a birthday party at home can be sweet, simple & enjoyable:

Planning_A_Birthday_Party_At_Home_1Decorations
Little Mirchi is a spring baby so I decided to have that as the color scheme. I chose blush pinks, mints and golds for her balloons and my husband brought home some beautiful pink flowers on her actual birthday. Other ways I incorporated the color theme was with gold platters, mint & pink favor bags, the cake stand and dessert colors.

Planning A Birthday Party At HomeFood
After mentioning to my mom that I was keeping the party at home we convinced each other to keep everything homemade (yes we are just two peas in a pod haha). Luckily my parents both love to cook so I knew I would have helping hands. Since the party was midday-evening we chose heavy appetizers as a lunch or dinner menu didn’t make sense. Here’s what we chose for the menu:
Planning A Birthday Party At HomeAfter planning the menu, I planned out what could be prepped for and when. Luckily enough, Indian food is such that it tastes even better the next day so making things in advance would only help us. Two days before the event I made all of my masalas, chutneys and marinades and soaked the chickpeas. I also organized the platters in which the dishes would be served in and set everything aside (don’t wait last minute to look for these things, for some reason they tend to disappear the day of!)

One day before was our major prep day. Starting at 7 am I baked all the cupcakes. By the time we all had our morning chai one task was done. Next my dad marinated the tandoori chicken and we popped it in the fridge, this was the only dish that would be cooked start to finish the actual day of. My mom and I worked simultaneously to prepare the Chole/Chana masala and rose custard. While working on these dishes the potatoes were steaming in preparation for the next task. We par made the tikkis (Aloo patties) as my Mom decided she would fry them fresh as guests arrived. We pre plated the desserts in their cups and even pre scooped ice cream (I told you I wanted to be prepared). Before heading to bed I whipped the frosting for the cupcakes and put it to chill.

Planning A Birthday Party At HomePlay area
Don’t forget who you’re having the party for, your little one and his/her friends! We cleared out Little Mirchi’s playroom of any bulky pieces (like her teepee) and set up different stations around the room like a kitchen area and reading nook. We lined drawing paper along the walls to create a standing drawing station (keep in mind kids heights while creating this). We also made sure there would be an adult in the room while the kids had crayons in their hands, to avoid any other masterpieces.

Planning A Birthday Party At Home

Planning_A_Birthday_Party_At_Home_3

Favors
We made bags filled with some of Little Mirchi’s favorite things including coloring books, crayons, sidewalk chalk and bubbles. All usable things!

Storing the mess
My butlers pantry was designated as the party goods storing location. Everything from favors to cutlery was stored here. It was a good was to keep everything together.

Planning A Birthday Party At HomeGuests
Since we were having the party at home we knew we had to limit the guest list. In total we had about 26 adults and 8 kids.

Delegate
I can’t stress this enough. I’m a control freak, there I said it. (I hope the husband doesn’t read this 🙄, fuel for later.) But honestly, delegate your tasks. My Dad was 100% in charge of the Tandoori chicken, my Mom the Chole, Aloo Tikkis and setting up the food. I was in charge of prep work, paneer and desserts. The husband had the responsibility of picking up beer, balloons and samosas the day of. My brother and his friend were my wingmen, literally everything from putting up the drawing wall to hanging the decorations to moving around furniture they did it. My mom kept reminding me to share whatever vision I had in my head so things could get done, thanks Mom 🙂

Planning_A_Birthday_Party_At_Home_6Don’t sweat the small stuff
Ok, obviously you want everything to go perfectly but with kids is that really possible?! So minus the fact that every picture I have of little mirchi she looks annoyed (she was tired of pictures and happy birthday greetings, she just wanted to play!), my frosting not setting (it looked liked a melted mess), and not getting one single picture of my brother at the party… things worked out okay and Little Mirchi enjoyed herself to the point of exhaustion!

Planning A Birthday Party At HomePlanning A Birthday Party At HomePlanning A Birthday Party At HomeHow do you prepare for events/parties at home? I would love to hear your tips and tricks.

12 thoughts on “Planning A Birthday Party At Home

  1. Love the number 3 photo collage!

    Who knew birthday parties at home entailed so much planning? I look back at old home videos of my birthday parties and my mom is literally still cooking as the guests are arriving!

    Arya is so lucky! <3

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