This is Me: 7 Things to Consider for a DIY Debut Party Preparation

24 June 2017, a new milestone for my daughter’s exciting teenage life had been witnessed by some of our close relatives, friends and my daughter’s classmates and friends as well. This was the exact day when Alexis, the oldest among my two daughters was born.

Any parent I guessed would be more than excited for this special day. And I can say I am one of them.

As early as June 24, 2016 the whole family is counting for that special day. However, excited as we are we do not yet have an idea of how are we going to celebrate it. Alexis is just a simple girl. She is not keen to the idea of having a lavish party or the Filipino tradition of a debut party. Not because she doesn’t like it but because she always consider the financial aspect. Second, she doesn’t know how to handle the formalities involved in a debut party.

Some of her friends and cousins think otherwise. They persuaded my daughter to push for it. Well, as they say it only comes once in a woman’s lifetime. To cut the story short, time flies quickly. We did not notice that we only had 1 month left before her 18^th birthday! And to think that we hadn’t agreed yet of what we are going to do!

First plan was, to gather all her friends and people close to her for an all-teenage party at home. Sort of a pajama party. This sounds good and with less preparation and cost. But as days passed by preparation become different. Her father started thinking of inviting his relatives. And I started thinking the same way, too. Adding to this, her grandmother from the province started texting us. She will be bringing a home bred native pig for my daughter’s birthday. I think that breaks the ice. Everybody was already expecting a debut party for my daughter and yay! my husband and I started feeling jittery. We only have 3 weeks left for the preparation!

How are we going to start the preparation?

From the few weeks that I been exposed to blogging I saw how useful blogging sites for research. Honestly and I must admit, I rely so much on different blogs related to debut preparation experiences of different people across the globe and I can say it did help a lot to me. That’s why I am doing this today as I believe I am committed to share and hopefully be useful to others in the near future.

Below are some of the things I consider in the preparation.

1. Financial

My husband, our financier he he lay down his card. It was not a big amount. And I did not push him to the limit. I know that this one is an important event but this doesn’t mean we will go for something which we know we could not afford so much. So, I know as a mom my budgeting style will be tested for this.

2. Event Place

There are several event place good to host events like this but since we are on a limited budget I opted to do it on our own home. We are lucky that our home was built with a roof deck. The only problem is that for the following weeks rain keeps on pouring late in the afternoon but good to know that after a few minutes rainfall will subside. Well, what we can do is rely on God providence for the weather to cooperate that day.

3. List of Guests

Since my husband and I both comes from a big clan finalizing the list of guest becomes difficult. Remember that we are on a tight budget but we do not want also to miss somebody and would later hurt his/her feeling. It is also good to consider that the main debutante had her list of guest also. Limited space also has to be considered.

4. Event Menu and Preparation

Setting the main menu for the event wasn’t difficult for me. My family had been host to some occasions prior to this so I just copied the menus from it. I started listing down the cost of recipes for each menu. From here, I got a good bird’s eye view of what comprises a big chunk my total expenditure.

5. Event Decoration

Since we will be hosting the event in our own roof deck I made it sure to make it the best if not at par to other event places. This is where my daughters and her cousins creativity enters. They started searching for DIY decorations to add colors to the place. And this is also the advantage of hosting the event in your own place. You can do whatever you wished to do for it.

For DIY decorations, we searched using Pinterest. And I tell you it was really a big help! Pinterest was able to provide us tips and techniques on how to make decorations on your own without hurting your pocket.

6. Preparing Hosting Script and Video

Again, a big thanks to the blogging world for an easy access to Party Script. Although I can say that writing Event Script is not new to me as I used to write script and hosted events like school programs, intramural, prom nights and graduations during my teaching days. But since I am already running out of time for preparation I consider searching for debut script and lucky to find one that suits my taste. I just made some revisions suited for our plan party. I am also lucky that my nephew and niece that were assigned to do the hosting job are also “veterans” for debut hosting. So the script Alexis @ 18: Debut Party Script is just really a guide for them.

For the video, I collaborated with my youngest daughter Alyssa, niece Marjorie and Alexis’ classmates. Well, I found out that young people or the millennials (see Related Post: (How to Deal with Millennial ) are really techie people. Creating videos are so easy for them. So we end having 3 sets of videos. One which I created, the second one was made by her cousin Marjorie and the third one made by Alexis classmates and schoolmates.

7. Party Accessories

Canvassing for party accessories is also important. You have to scout for the best price. Party accessories include invitations, chairs and tables, tents, balloons, sound system, utensils, photo booth and even chocolate fountain and cup cake holders that can add beauty to the buffet table. Again and again, I rely so much on internet and people connections for here. I used Canva Template for our DIY invitation, I scout the whole neighborhood for the best price offer for chairs and table rents. For the sound system, my husband was able to invest for a good sound system at home. Tents were provided by my husband’s cousins. With utensils, Alexis godmother luckily owns chafing dish so we just borrowed it from her. A cousin of mine also has a chocolate fountain and cup cake holder that she let us borrowed. For the photo booth, Irish Joie Photobooth was able to give us a good discount.

Some Techniques to Share

When preparing for a DIY event make sure to jot down or encode your preparation (for myself, I always had excel compilation of things to note for the preparation and expenses). I find encoding it in excel useful as I can always change/edit the content.

Also, it is good to note that I was able to bring back the “Bayanihan Spirit” in this event. Friends, relatives, our immediate families were all very supportive of us. In the early morning of the actual event date everyone has their own task to do. From food preparation, to setting up and decorating the rooftop and even giving their own share for the event. Thanks to my mother, who contributed some menus to add to my own. My mother-in-law who brought one whole native pig from the province and some fruits. My sister Aimee who prepare veggie salad and sister Alice who sponsored the photo booth. All those who comprises the 18^th Birthday Cake. I had so much to thank, really!

from: Tita Ana DeCastro

from: Tita Rose Gonzales

from: sister Alyssa Ricahuerta

from: Ate Lalaine Manlapaz

from: Kim Rioveros

from: Tita Fely Ricahuerta

from: Ate Micah Dela Paz

from: Ate Charlene Lucas

from: Ate Charlyn Lucas

from: Tita Gemma Halili

Well, I only had few weeks preparation for my daughter’s debut party but this guide really; really help me a lot to be more organized for this big event and made my daughter's 18th Birthday truly memorable.