18.9.16

My Project X: How to Organize & Throw a Successful Pool Party

Hello guyzzz! I am back with another personal post which I'm very excited to share with you. Not sure if you know but I, together with 2 cousins & 2 friends, threw a super fun house party last month to celebrate all of our birthdays. We decided to hold a joint celebration so we could combine all of our resources for a bigger party. Of course, it was a success!!! And when it comes to organizing unforgettable parties (eh d wow haha), you know the perfect person to call--- ME! Haha. Ever since I started celebrating my birthday (I hated it before), I vowed to up my game every year. Competitive sa sarili? Lolz. It started 4 years ago when Mich threw me a surprise party at Ponti and I realized celebrating could be fun din pala. After that, I threw my own circus themed party at Victoria Court, went on a 20-day Asia trip and then a Coachella themed house pool party! Keep on reading and scrolling to see photos from that awesome night, as well tips on how to throw a successful pool party. Let's go!



1. The Perfect Venue

Once I have an idea in mind, I stick to it. For this event, my non-negotiable is the private house with a nice pool within Manila. It was a struggle at first because there weren't too many listed & online, and most of the nice ones are in Batangas or Pansol. I was able to see a few for rent in Antipolo, Caloocan, Valenzuela & Marikina, but they're either not good enough for me or they're not available on our chosen date. Mejo last minute kasi our decision to push through with the joint party. Then one day, out of the blue, I decided to try searching sa Airbnb and it was the best decision ever! After 2 days and countless hours of research, I finally found THE one. :) 



Out of all the other houses, WHY THIS HOUSE??? Well, aside from the fact that it's just located within Manila, near NAIA Terminal 1 to be exact, I also loved how classy it looks! Loved the pool & it's dark tiles even if it's a bit small, the stairs (lakas maka debut), the interiors, kitchen and that the rent includes 6 bedrooms. Six! Other places for rent only have 2-3 rooms max. But really, I just fell in love with the whole house. In tagalog, "Yayamanin". Db??? Haha! 

Photos from our ocular...
 It's very easy to locate:)

Room #1 - No aircon, located at pool area

Driveaway. It could fit 6 cars! Couldn't believe din nung una, but possible. 

Left - function area, Right -  pool


Function/Videoke area facing the pool. 


They also have an in-house staff to assist you. 

Pathway from the pool to the back area



Backyard or back area where you could grill food or make it as your yosi area. They have a griller you could borrow. :)

A door north of the pool leads to the living room! So nice! We left it open para easy access to the pool area:)

Sala

Stairs leading to the bedrooms

A cute little corner near the kitchen and the living room. More space for the party! Decorated the window area with a nice blanket and pillows.

Kitchen! They have a digital stove which was quite complicated to use. I brought my own electric stove with 2 burners so we could cook food faster. They have pots, pans, utensils & other kitchen tools. 

View from the 2nd floor

Hallway

Bedroom #2 (leftmost part sa 2nd floor) with extra couch 


Bedroom #3

Shared bathroom of bedroom #2 & #3

Bedroom #4: with private bathroom


Bedroom #5: my assigned room during the party! Haha

Kitchen

2. Invitation

I made a Facebook event page and invited mostly family & a few of our closest friends. :) I read somewhere that when creating a successful event page, the title should be unique & fetching. The content should also be personal and fun. I think success naman coz a lot of people RVSP'd. Haha. It was also a nice way to update each other, exchange suggestions and share photos after the party. :)

3. Food 

Our barely 2 weeks of planning was comprised of endless exchange of messages about what food to cook and drinks to buy. We had a very limited budget so it was necessary to come up with a solid list that could feed more or less 50 guests. It was the ultimate party planning challenge. Aside from the food & snacks we prepared (fried chicken, papaitan, lumpia, chili cheese sticks, adobo, chips, candies), we were able to successfully feed everyone with the help of my newly discovered food delivery service, The Party Kitchen (TPK)!!! 


The Party Kitchen is a food delivery service that brings chef created dishes to your office, home, and gatherings. If you have limited kitchen space, limited time, resources & manpower to prepare, then this is perfect for you!!! I love how their dishes are not what you'd typically see or eat during catered parties. I'm sure you know what I mean. During and after our party, I heard amazing feed backs from our guests, as well as my blogger friends. I also could not stop raving about it!!! 

 They delivered 4 dishes to our party place -- Korean Chicken Wings, Sisig Lechon Wrap, Chicken Satay & Chapchae


Just 1/4 of what was delivered. Had to take photos so I transferred them to serving dishes. OMG, they were all good!!! My favorite is the lechon sisig wrap! Nomnomnom.

 Even my blogger friends loved it!!! 

Thank you TPK for being a lifesaver! Thanks also Ana for donating a box of pizza!:)

TPK's success can be attributed to Chef Ging Garcia Cruz, a chef certified by The California Culinary Academy in 1991. She creates an array of dishes for TPK and oversees the food quality to assure that all customers who order from The Party Kitchen have an enjoyable and memorable food experience. So sure na sure that all the dishes served and delivered are world class. 


Chef Ging’s dishes do not only satisfy discerning palettes, they also provide one with a “healthier option”. For example, TPK’s Sisig Lechon Wrap and Lechon Sisig are made from pork belly (instead of innards), fresh & prime ingredients are used daily, and base sauces are made from scratch. Figures! :)

Pricelist!:) Chef prepared dishes that's budget friendly. Love it!

TPK offers free delivery for miminum order of P3,000 and accepts cash on delivery. :)

Want to order??? Contact TPK:
IG: @thepartykitchenph
Call: 02(519-1111) 

* Advanced orders are appreciated for larger orders. 
*Their delivery trays are also made out of ecological materials and come in Small (2-4 Pox), Medium (6-8 Pox) and large (10-12 Pax).

4. Drinks

Most of our drinks that night were from sponsors! We asked guests to bring their own drinks or to donate a bottle. Thank you Ms. Macel of Primer for donating 2 bottles of Bacardi! Thanks also to Yna & Seb for buying them for me. Love you!:) Thank you also Seph & Trice for donating 2 bottles of Black Label & a few bottles of Coke! Super big help. Love you guysss. 

 We bought nalang bottles of Red Horse from a warehouse at a cheaper price for the beer lovers. Hihi. I think we spent P3,000. 

It helped big time that we had 2 expert bartenders in the family. We were able to come up with killer drinks for everyone! Mixing hard drinks is also a great way to save money on alcohol. Harhar.


4. Dressing Up the Place (mini event styling hihi)

We didn't have enough time to buy props or decors for the party. I bought those blue "Happy Birthday" letter balloons from a party shop in Glorietta (beside National Bookstore) for P300. Quite cheap na din! I also bought a few white & gold balloons for the floor. 



It rained hard that day so we decided to just put the balloons and letter balloons on the floor. In fairness, nice naman the effect! The letter ballons were donated by the owner of the house. They were left behind by their guest who rented the place a week before our party. Hihi. Thank you!

If there's a pool, there must be floaties right??? To save money, I tried to borrow nalang from friends. Thanks to my love Deegee Razon for lending me your pizza floatie & Melanie of Something Pretty Manila for the pink flamingo!   You're the best. Love you both. :)

 Gulo gulo the letters pero keri na din! Haha!

I planned to rent party lights to set the mood sa place but had to cancel it at the last minute because we needed more budget for drinks. Next time!:)
5. Sounds & Music

I made a playlist a week before the party. It was a long list of EDM and indie songs. Aside from bluetooth speakers, we also borrowed pang barangay na speakers from our friend Kuya Bong. Success! Do note that noise should be reduced to a minimum by 10pm. :)


If you're planning to rent this beautiful house, here are some rules & reminders to avoid disruption:

1. No smoking inside the house.

2. You can buy water from them. We used 2 gallons of water and paid P100. But we also brought our own.

3. They have 1 stove and kitchen tools, but it's best to bring your own if you're going to cook food. 

4. Bring lots of garbage bags for waste disposal. Rental includes P2,000 cleaning fee but this does not mean that you could trash the place.  I actually spent most of the night picking up and taking out trash. Haha.

5. Videoke machine is available for rental. Ask owner for price.

6. List down all plate numbers of people who are staying because they need to submit it sa guard house. They transfer all licenses from the guard house to the clubhouse by 6am.

7. Don't put towels on the floor.

8. Staff are there to assist but not to do chores. Treat the place as your own. 

9. No shouting or shrieking or whatever noise after 10pm. 

*We were not aware of this since the listing said it was open for parties, we thought there were no restrictions. We were reprimanded a few times by the owners, because the neighbors reported them to the village guards. The owners were nice naman and I was the one who consistently talked to them and pacified the guests. If you're planning to throw an unli party until the wee hours of the morning, rent a place that's not located inside a village. Preferably an isolated place nalang like houses in Pansol or Antipolo. But if your party is just chill chill lang, then this place is perfect. ;)

10. ENJOY!!!:)


Here are more photos our party! 


 When they started asking people to drink straight from the bottle, I sneaked out and hid somewhere. Haha.

Blowing of candle by the 5 August celebrants! Thanks to my love Nico for the yummy Estrel's cake! :)

Cake read "Happy Birthday, My Queen". Awwww. Buti alam mo. Charot. Labyuuu. 

May nagpaconfetti. Haha.



 2am situation. Bad idea coz owner got mad, but it was still fun.  Haha.


Cousins & childhood friends

 Naliligo po ako sa pawis the whole night haha

 My bro and cousins

 Barangay EDM haha

80% of the people there are my cousins haha

 Brought chips from Granny Goose! Yum!



 My cousin Gabe straight from Dubai!

 



 May emcee pa! Lakas maka Republiq. Haha.



 Best boyfriend everrr. He spent the whole night cooking food and trying to feed me. Haha.

 Carmaggedon that day but my closest blogger friends still came! So touched. Huhu. Love you guys. Kahit 4 hours sila nastuck sa traffic. Huhu.

 Love you girls! Also Gersh and Sephie.




With birthday girl Paula and her guests/friends








 Kikoy & Patrick forever lolol

 With my best cousins, Rjae & Kang!

 Thanks baby boy!

 My cousin Pat & Nico

  Best in costume sila. Coachella squad. Harhar.



 My cousins from Baguio also came! Love you Balong, Grace & Shyder!:)

 It was super hot that day & night that I jumped in the pool as soon as my blogger friends left haha. Jinettt. Lol.

Even with all the mishaps and arguments that happened that day, I'd say it was still one for the books! It was epic and truly memorable. I may not do the joint celebration ever again (it's hard to control people you don't know), but I'm glad we did it. As I said, more than our birthday, it was a celebration of our love for each other, all our hopes & dreams. We maybe a year older but we'll be forever kids at heart. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated our birth month with us! Thank you also to all those who remembered my special day, took time out from their busy scheds to greet me & those who sent me gifts. I love love love you. :)

Now how do I top this party off? How do I celebrate my birthday next year.? Hmmm. Party in BALI, maybe? :)


“As you grow older, start using your brains, energy, and the means available to you, however little they may seem, to go after what you need to get better, so that you can have what you want to live the the life you desire.” ― Saidi MdalaKnow What Matters


“Age is a seasoned trickster. To our parents, we will always be children. Within ourselves, the same yearnings of youth; the same aspirations of adolescence, will last a lifetime. Only to the young - blinded by our grey hair and slowing gait - do we appear old and increasingly beyond the pale.” 
― Alex MorrittImpromptu Scribe



Want to rent this house? Click links below:

2 comments :

  1. Pressure cleaners are best for swimming pools surrounded by trees. It works through the pressure coming from the water on the pump of the pool. ANDREW

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my humble blog! I read all your comments (even though I don't reply often). So keep them coming! Love to everyone:)