Celebrating with Megan, mother from Los Angeles
How do you bring party to your daily life?
I have always loved planning parties and even remember planning my own parties as a child with detailed timelines and decorations! It is such a thrill to have a theme and bring creative ideas together.
I love developing traditions for our family that we can look forward to and finding any reason to celebrate. I keep a helium tank, balloons and party decor on hand so we’re always ready to throw a celebration at the drop of a hat.
I love nothing more than making simple get togethers special for my young son and his little friends. He has a group of peers who visit our home regularly for playdates and I will find any excuse to turn this time into themed celebrations with special treats, decorations, fun activities and always something special for each guest to take home. It’s all in the details!
How do you celebrate childhood and special milestones?
I am sentimental at heart so I always like adding an extra little special touch to holidays and special occasions. A special birthday outfit or a monogrammed pair of pajamas are so dear to me and go straight to our keepsake box.
I love having my son’s yearly silhouette made into jewelry or an ornament by @lepapierstudio. Every year I also carve a silhouette pumpkin of him with his current profile.
We also have traditions sprinkled throughout the year in which I like to include some of my German heritage. We like celebrating St. Nicholas Day and just this year started the new tradition of giving him a German Schultüte (A cone full of presents which plays an important part of in every German child's first day of school).
For every birthday and Christmas he receives a German carved animal to add to his collection. These small touches make childhood extra special and I hope he always remembers our traditions.
Photography is another passion of mine and capturing these fleeting years of my son’s childhood brings me such joy. Every day is the perfect day to capture your child with your “real” camera! I take my camera everywhere and it makes the memories just a little more magical. Everything from dying Easter eggs, reading his favorite book, to feeding the ducks and dropping off a letter at Santa’s mailbox can be extraordinary when captured in a meaningful way. It is always worth the extra few moments it takes!
Can you share about Alden's birthdays parties?
Planning Alden’s birthday parties has been one of the highlights of being a mother! He has always loved celebrating with his friends and has often told strangers about his parties months and months after they happened. He must take after me and my love of parties!
It’s so fun to create a party based on my son’s interests. Right now we’re planning his fifth birthday drive by party with giant oversized Legos. He is SO excited for his friends to see them!
One of our favorite parties was his third birthday themed after his favorite ride at Disneyland, It’s a Small World. We recreated the It’s a Small World castle in his birthday colors and had a hot air balloon photo op, nautical themed activities, and we finished off the party with the birthday boy leading all the children on his favorite thing: a musical instrument birthday parade to the song from the ride.
For every party I like to have something personalized for each child to take home as a favor. It is a way of thanking our guests for attending and giving them something for them to remember the party. For this party every child went home with a tote bag with their name embroidered on the front and full of party goodies. For his second birthday puppy party every child went home with a darling shirt embroidered with a puppy dog and their name that matched his birthday outfit, and for his fourth birthday train party every child got to take home a train car made especially for them with their name on it.
Can you share your favorite cake recipe?
While I do enjoy being in the kitchen, my favorite cake recipe is one I don’t have to bake.
One of my favorite party tricks is to order a plain white cake from our favorite bakery then decorate it myself. It definitely takes off the pressure of baking on top of entertaining and I love that I can still be creative and have a blank canvas to decorate however I want!
We have decorated three-tier 6” white cakes every year for son’s birthdays with various different themes. Our new favorite go-to cake is the Chantilly Cake from Whole Foods here in the United States. It is truly delicious, affordable and can be ordered in a variety of shapes and sizes to serve a small family like ours or a crowd at a birthday party. It is the perfect white base to add your own personal touch.
Can you share one or several Instagram accounts that inspire you when it comes to parties?
I am so inspired by so many creative and talented ladies on Instagram! Some of my favorites are @pizzazerie, mum to 2 and author of several cooking books including The Southern Entertainer’s Cookbook. I also love @bonjourfete who offers great party goods and balloon install.
Follow Megan and her darling family on Instagram
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