My fav corner at the entrance of our home, adorned with a poster frame given by a dear friend…

At the blink of an eye, baby Alexander turned 6 weeks today. We threw him a small full month celebration 2 Sundays ago to introduce him to our family and close friends. Due to my work schedules, I had only a week to put everything together. I decided on the colour scheme, designed the invite and thankfully, everything fell into place from there.

The invite

THE CELEBRATORY BOXES

To the Chinese, it’s customary to have two items as part of the full month celebration: 1. Red Eggs to symbolise birth and new life 2. Ang Ku Kuehs (literally translated from Hokkien as ‘Red Turtle Cakes’) to symbolise longevity and good luck. I wanted to perpetuate this Chinese tradition so I googled for Full Month gift packs to be distributed to our guests.  After some research, I ordered these gorgeous looking ‘Full Month’ celebratory boxes from a rather new local start-up (Lulu’s) to support local entrepreneurs.

Each Lulu’s celebratory box contains 2 Red Eggs, 2 Pointed Ang Ku Kuehs (for baby boys) and 2 yummy Swiss Rolls. All packages come with a personalised baby photo message card in a generous 4R size with glossy photo quality printing (see below). When the boxes were delivered, I was wowed by its quality. It’s very presentable, modern and yet traditional at the same time – just what we wanted.  The items inside Lulu’s celebratory boxes are halal, making it an ideal gift for colleagues, neighbours and friends. It’s also priced reasonably at SGD5.90 per box.  We all know that with a newborn, the expenses increase exponentially so if we can get an attractive Full Month gift box for relatives and friends at a non-exorbitant price, why not?

Each box comes with a personalised message card in 4R glossy photo quality printing!

Freshly baked, beautifully packaged

Tasty and tasteful!

Great way to spread the joy of your baby’s Full Month!

THE DECOR

With the venue booked at the outdoor poolside pavilion at our condo estate,  I wanted to dress it up with yellow and grey to align with the invite.  I contacted Most Wonderfully Made, a Mumpreneur who runs a local online party supplies store. She graciously helped me conceptualise and even hand-draw the layout of the decorative lanterns and pom poms. As I contacted her very close to the party date, I had to supplement some of the decor items from Give Fun, another local online party store. Both vendors were very friendly, very professional and went out of their way to ensure the party was a success. I was very touched to receive such personalised service.

The preparation went into overdrive with all hands on deck on the day of the party. The hubby drove me to the nursery to pink up bunches of yellow roses and white astromelias to accentuate the venue. I printed food tags and roped in the daughter to write the labels. My mother-in-law helped me unfurl each pom pom layer by layer (didn’t know it was so tedious!). The banner was printed and strung together.  An hour before the party, the hubby was also tasked to go collect the 50 helium balloons from our favourite balloon vendor, Balloon Blasters, at The Grandstand.  All these done while we took turns to tend to the baby. At 5pm, as the last lantern and pom pom were being hung, our first guests arrived…phew!

Yellow roses and lanterns give it a summery feel…

Tiny white daisies in mason mugs…

Food labels lovingly written by the Big Sister…

A frame and a table floral centerpiece for the long table…

A poolside party…

The dining pavilion all dressed up…

Love how the yellow and greys blend so well together…

THE FOOD

Due to the lack of time, I wanted the buffer dinner to come from a reliable and tried and tested caterer – Neo Gardens. I had specific requests for my table cloth (silver on black), the set up (two food lines), the type of cutleries to be used (biodegradable cornwares etc) etc. The customer service I received surpassed my expectation. Even though I was indecisive about my menu items, the sales executive, Ms Kah Men patiently attended to my queries.  Her email correspondences were always polite and prompt. The night before the function, an SMS was sent to inform us who the driver would be. On the day itself, another confirmation was sent. We had engaged many caterers before for family functions but Neo Gardens has surpassed them all in terms of service delivery. Our guests were impressed with the food presentation and quality too.  That was my biggest relief. As a host, the party food must be good. I was pleased to have chosen the right caterer for this celebration.  One of the best dishes I enjoyed from this spread is their Teochew Yam Paste – so so good (I helped myself to multiples after the guests left)!

Buffet Spread

Red Eggs, hand-dyed by AJ’s maternal grandma…

Traditional snacks for a dose of Chinese heritage: Ang Ku Kuehs and Glutinuous Rice…

Braised Ee Fu Noodle with Seafood…

Sumptuous Steamed Siew Mais…

Broccoli with Abalone Mushrooms and Grilled Snapper with Mango Salsa…

Wasabi Prawns and Pork Ribs Deluxe with Longan…

As the sun sets and the last guests took their leave, my sister’s family and my Mum stayed on to assist us with the clearing up. It was time-consuming and energy zapping to throw a party but seeing so many of our loved ones come to share our joy in AJ’s arrival made it all worthwhile. In the course of planning for the full month party, I spent considerable amount of time compiling this list of useful contacts. Hopefully, it will serve as a good reference to fellow parents planning for your own celebrations.

Thank you aunties and uncles for coming!

Useful Contacts for Party Planning

1. Full Month Gift Packs | Lulu’s Celebratory Boxes

Website: http://www.lulus.com.sg/our-packages/baby-full-month-packages/
Contact Number: (+65) 66933160
Email: [email protected]

2. Lanterns | Give Fun

Website: http://www.givefun.com.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/givefun 
Contact Number: (+65) 81123719
Email: [email protected]
Quote ‘DANAXGF’ for a 10% store-wide discount with no minimum purchase!  

3. Tissue Pom-Poms | Most Wonderfully Made

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mostwonderfullymade.sg
Email:  [email protected]

4. Balloons | Balloon Blasters

Website: http://www.balloonblasters.com.sg/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BalloonBlasters
Contact Number: (+65) 64661268
Email: [email protected]

5. Customised Party Banner | Etsy

Website: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/shop/BumpAndBeyondDesigns

6. Catering | Neo Gardens 

Website: http://www.neogarden.com.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeoGardenCatering
Contact Number: (+65) 68967757
Email: [email protected]

7. Ang Ku Kuehs | Ji Xiang Confectionery

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JiXiangConfectionery.AngKuKueh
Contact Number: (+65) 62231631
Email: [email protected]

8. Glutinuous Rice | 146 Famous Bukit Merah Ang Ku Kueh

Website: http://146angkukueh.blogspot.sg/
Contact Number: (+65) 62735159
Email: [email protected]

CELEBRATORY GIVEAWAY!

Lulu’s Celebratory Boxes

The kind folks at Lulu’s Celebratory Boxes is sponsoring 3 Lucky Princess Dana Diaries Readers a SGD50 Lulu’s voucher each! Simply leave your name, email, with a comment why you would like to win the Lulu’s voucher.  This giveaway is only open to readers residing in Singapore and ends midnight of 30 August 2014.  Winners will be notified by email.

Terms and Conditions:

* Voucher code must be used when making the online order.
* A minimum order of 50 boxes is required.
* This e-voucher is valid for 1 year till 31 July 2015.
* This e-voucher can only be utilized once by each winner.