14 February was the day that I finally turned 21, and I was pretty stoked to throw my first ever birthday party (that I can really remember, because I had one when I turned 1, and another when I was 7).
I've always enjoyed having birthday celebrations (maybe because I am an extrovert) and so when I planned for my 21st, I was very very excited about it.
To say the truth, I actually started having ideas about it and wrote down how I envision my party to be a year ago! :p
(kiasu I know, but I am just THIS excited :p)
So from the picture above, it was my super pretty E-invite card that Em did up for me (i really love it so much, that it became my guest book design too) and I used it to invite all of my friends!
I held my birthday party 2 days before my actual because I didn't want to tire myself out too much on my actual birthday, and since my actual is Valentines Day as well, I guessed many of my couple friends would rather have their dates than to attend a party :P
And thanks to Shar, I was able to use her condo's open-air function area and I did not need to spend a single cent on location booking!
Since it was a Friday, many of those who came down early to help me to set up specially took off / half day leave.. and for that, I was so touched. :')
As you can see, my deco (specifically my backdrop) was a LOT of effort.
But because it was what I dream my backdrop to be, my dearest few willingly helped me with it :')
Jiejie, Kel, Em, Pam, Shar, Ni, Jord, Jason, Bert were the earliest few to arrive and they started preparing the location together with me from 4pm onwards!
So the girls and I started cutting the strips of 'tissue papers' and pasted it on the wall, before we put up the gold birthday banner (that dearest Jlynn did it few days before the party by herself .. thank u Jojo), the flowers made up of tissue papers (that Em, Jo & Ni helped me to do it few days prior too), and then the fairy lights (that Bert bought for me, along with all the balloons and deco-ish stuff.. Thank you Bert for buying it all for me and settling it for me and helping me soo much!).
#Karisblessed (indeed).
On the other hands, the guys helped me to blow up all my balloons (and there were alot, ranging from my big '2' & '1', heart shaped balloons, star shaped ballons etc).
The funny thing was the '2' actually looked like 'S'... and 1 of it flew away ;p
But thankfully, Bert ordered 2 of each numbers as he was preparing for such situations to happen. (good foresight eh)
And then Nana & Karel arrived to help me too, and they were helping me to set up my guestbook table + cutting of photobooth banners etc (my dear niece was trying to help too, as you can see in one of the pics above.. aww)
All these preparations took us almost 2 hours+, and I am so so thankful for each one of them!!
It was so much work involved, yet they willingly took their time to come and help me! (Jason took a day leave just to be around to help me with the food orders and he even volunteered to help me 'run' and coordinate whatever that was needed. I am so so humbled and touched by all these kind souls..)
And tadahhh, my beautiful deco was all up and it was so so magical....
They were really what I envisioned my party deco to be, and I am so so happy..
Sorry I am bias, but I really think I like my deco the bestttt! :p
Everything was so ME, including the photobooth signs that Em printed out for me. haha.
And I really really R E A L L Y love my birthday cake (baked by my friend's friend), and to my pleasant surprise, she was so thoughtful that she gave me those floral cupcakes that she baked herself too!! (you may check out @noblycakes on Instagram and order from her!! It tastes yummy, looks super pretty, and it's affordable too!).
I also really love the heart-shaped tiramisu cake (made by Chef Sam,.. thank you Sam for finding those heart shape tins and making the tiramisu so well, and for blessing me with this... But anw, I really think it's nicer than those tiramisu cake shop! Serious! If any of you are interested, you can ask me for his contact ;)),
and ofcos, those blue & pink cake pops (made by Isaac's brother, but thank you Zac for helping me with this and blessing me with it.)
And all these, made up my beautiful cake table + desserts table.
After most of my deco preparations were done, I went to shower and change and got ready for my party!!!
I was so happy to see so many pink balloons too, and we tied them around the railings.. so it was super pretty!!!!
And also, I really like my dress that I bought from MGP. :D
When it was almost 715pm, more and more of my friends started coming in, and soon, I became super busy, trying to talk to all of my friends as much as I can.
I was so happy to see all of my friends coming, and I started becoming overwhelmed by all of their presence...
We started taking many pictures too, and posting it onto my birthday instagram account (yup, we created one for the print out purposes but also for keepsake, so you can check out @kars21staffair for more pics too hahah).
I hired Print It Out for their service, and it's really good! All we had to do was to take picture, post it on instagram with a hashtag, and they will print out the photos in the template that we like (and Em helped me to design the template once again).
(You may like to check out their website: http://printitoutsg.com for more details!)
After an hour+ of eating, phototaking, talking etc, it was time to cut the birthday cake!!
So Kel helped me to 'host' and gathered all of my friends around, and when they started singing birthday song for me, I became really shy (and I mean it. I know, you will say I am lying etc, but it was really quite overwhelming for me :P).
I took a snapchat of them singing song for me, evident in the pictures above haha.
But I felt so so happy... and thankful... for everyone who loves me, for showing up, and making my birthday so memorable..
And after the cake cutting, it was time for group shots, and I am so thankful and blessed for Henzy's help... (thank you Henzy for taking the photos, and editing it for me, for free! When you usually charge for such service... thank you.. i am so blessed!)
So here goes the group shots!!
And also, my favourite pink balloons... There were so many of them.. :')
But by the end of the night, after my friends took some of the balloons back, I let go of the remaining... It was quite sad to let go so many of them, but no choice, I can't bring it all back.
So I did a special thing: before I let go of the balloons, I made my wishes ;)
And snapped pictures of it to keep it as a mermory. Hehe.
But anyway, I am so humbled by everyone's love for me, for the presents (I love all of it!!!) that all of you have given to me, and the friendships that I've forged in this 21 years of my life.
Though many come and go, I've gained the few that really matters.
I've met new friends, great friends even, and I just feel so blessed.
Growing up, I've always struggled with friendships problem, but now, I can only say God is good.
Thank you everyone who rushed down or could only send their regards, for being a part of #Kars21stAffair... And I will always remember this day. :')
