Naomi's 18th Birthday - Tea Party

We had two weeks to prepare, all those years I've been asking my daughter if she wanted a party for her debut...all those time she said "no", then two weeks prior she decided to have one!

We knew it was almost impossible to hire a venue and other stuff we needed for the party we decided to go for the DIY projects which we used for the party. The table cloths were old mixed and matched curtains , decorated with some laces and other trimmings we got from the dollar store. The hanging bottles, vases we used were from my daughter's work; we recycled the bottles, wrapped them with doilies, twines, burlap and even the vintage-looking napkins to achieve that vintage-y look. The photo booth was self-served; I laughed so hard when my daughter came up with the idea but it actually worked! She printed out everything, colored them, glued on BBQ stickes and voila! We saved a minimum of $500 and everyone actually enjoyed taking turns in taking pictures. We just send each family the actual pictures a week later and tagged everyone on FaceBook.
Everyone was raving about the party even after a few weeks; they said it was intimate, it was fun and a bit different from the other glamorous 18th birthday parties they have been to...most of all we saved a lot and my daughter had a birthday she said she will forever treasure.

• What People Ate

  We started them off with an afternoon tea party with savouries and sweets from The Sweet Alley. Followed by a program and some games, then dinner. Dinner were consist of mostly Filipino favourites like Caldereta (beef stew), Beef Steak with caramelized onions, Asian noodles (pancit), Dinuguan (you don't want to know), Filipino spring rolls (lumpiang shanghai) and more.

• What People Drank

  Vintage colas and some sparkling wines.

• Desserts

  Vintage cupcakes Designer sugar cookies Chocolate-dipped-strawberry tower

• Party Favors

  Vintage-decorated cookies

• Activities / Games

  Games - Best in Vintage costume for a lady and a gentlemen Activities - Celebrant's best friend and friends sang a song for the debutante. 18 Candles - where very close friends and families say their prayers and wishes for the Debutante (consist of women only) while they lit a candle. 18 Roses - where selected Gentlemen offered the debutant a rose, but this time we chose different kinds of fresh blooms (which we picked from our garden) ; then said their wishes or recites a special memory they have with Debutant, then each took turns and danced with the Debutant; first dance was the boyfriend and last dance was her dad ofcourse!

• Aunt Lina and Aunt Dina for helping us set the foods. Tita Carmi for hosting (she was only told the last minute). Friends and families who helped with set-up and tear down.

  The Sweet Alley - for all the tea party's savouries & sweets