***Very very late post…
This Christmas was more eventful than the previous ones. Dati kasi tulog kami hanggang hapon 😉
My husband and I, with the help of my cousin Buds, organized an outdoor Christmas party for some relatives and friends. We initially planned to have a small get together lang. However, midway our preps, we decided to invite more people. We thought, since nag-abala na rin lang kami, why not make the party bigger and merrier.
With my husband’s prodding, I created a Facebook event and invited several people. I then asked them to invite whoever they wanted to add.
Preparations
Party planning was more stressful than I thought. Being the organized person that I am, I really wanted everything to be perfect — from the menu, t-shirts, decorations, etc. However, given our limited budget and time, we had to forego a few things and keep everything as simple as possible.
Anyway, here’s a peek on how we prepared for the party.
balloons, gift wraps, & party sprays
Photo booth props printed from the internet
I was constantly in touch with Buds to plan our Christmas lunch menu
My husband found this t-shirt design which became our overall theme na din. (source: google images)
DIY cupcake topper based on our Christmas graffiti theme
On 23rd December, we drove to Abu Dhabi to buy several pieces of SNYGGIS mugs from IKEA which only costs AED1.50 per piece. I wanted to give away a small token to everyone and those mugs were just perfect.
As soon as we entered the store, my father sort of warned us already…
Papa: Pustahan tayo, mapupuno yang trolley na yan pero hindi nyo mabibili yung mugs na sinasabi nyo!
Hahaha
My very thoughtful father ‘volunteered’ to drive us to AUH. hehe
Feel na feel.
The mug was part of IKEA’s wedding/ love collection
Ian came up with a bright idea of giving away NAKTEN tea towels too (AED1.50)
And so Christmas morning came…
My target was to be at the venue before 10 am in order to secure a nice location and start setting up. I was also planning to make this balloon arch from scratch.
It would have been great to have this as backdrop for our party but time wasn’t on my side 😦
I got up at 7 in the morning and started prepping. We still had a whole batch of shanghai rolls to fry and so many more other tasks to do. Rence took over the kitchen and I went ahead and made sure all our stuff were packed. Zabeel park is almost half an hour drive away so it wouldn’t be practical to go back and forth in case we forgot something.
While having breakfast in the kitchen, we handed out each other’s gifts and had a good laugh when we realized that we all received shoes! lol!
By mere chance, we all got shoes as gifts! hahaha
10 am passed, then 11 am and we were no way near ready! I began feeling worried because the party was supposed to start at 1 pm. By the looks of it kasi, we will no longer have enough time to set-up once we reach the park.
My husband saw how upset I was and kept reassuring me that everything will be ok.
Ian: Paskong pasko, problemado ka masyado. Hindi ba pwedeng masaya lang? At huwag kang mag-alala, Pinoy lahat ng bisita natin. ‘Filipino time’, remember?
We finally left around 12 noon. Hay, salamat naman!
Zabeel Park
We parked by Gate 3 and unloaded all our stuff. After that, my husband had to leave right away to pick up the food from Buds. Entrance fee to Zabeel park, by the way, is AED5.
Picture muna before we enter the park…
Probably the only decent picture I had from that day
That’s papa’s car on the background
As soon as we entered the gates, we were greeted by groups of families and friends who were also having their mini-parties. Buti nalang Zabeel park is unbelievably massive. There were already hundreds of people inside pero we still managed to find ample space to move about comfortably.
JR taking charge of the barbeque
Gino setting-up the tent that would house our valuables
Roselyn & Gena helping with the table while Rence was assigned to pump dozens of balloons.
Gino’s friend, Ems, icing the cupcakes with chocolate ganache
While waiting for the food, we quickly finished setting-up and made the venue look as festive as we could. At the same time, I gave up all hopes that we would be able to come-up with a balloon arch. hehe
Instead of balloon arch, we just settled with a balloon banner. lol!
Our buffet table almost done…
Gifts and prizes
Then one by one, the guests started to arrive. We handed out their t-shirts and apologized for the delay. They didn’t seem to mind though because they spent the idle time catching up with each other 🙂
Austria Family
My pamangkin, Xania (Ching ching)
Sammy and Ching ching playing with the photobooth props
Jerome, Jayson & JR
Christmas Lunch
By the time Ian and Buds arrived, I could feel that everyone was already hungry. We hastily placed all the dishes on the table and called everyone for a prayer. After which, we took a quick group photo… and then finally, it was time to eat!
Ems leading the thanksgiving prayer.
It was overwhelming to see the number of people who showed up. Worth all the stress! hehe
Our humble Pinoy Christmas buffet 🙂
Ian, Gemma & Dei
Kuya Nhel, Jerome & Gino
From L to R: Gemma, Triah, Dei, Tei, yours truly & Buds
Ian with his friends Jeff & Joey
Wendz, Tita Gemma & Tito Ponga
GinOrange
Kuya Nhel & Rhea
Jerome & Hassan (Half of the photos (the good ones) were taken by him)
Jerome, Ian & Bayan
The ever ready battery team 🙂 (My sister Gena, Faraz, Roselyn, Crissy, Ems)
Gino & Rence with team Tarlac. 😉
with Baby Erin
Happy to see everyone having a nice time
Games
Right after lunch, our party hosts gathered everyone in to play some Christmas themed games. For the first one, the whole group was divided into 3 teams…
Team #1: TEAM DUTERTE
Team #2: TEAM MIRIAM (walang maisip na group name. haha)
Team #3: TEAM UNICO HIJO (for obvious reason)
You can watch the group cheers on the video below. They were hilarious!
Here are more photos of us in action…
It was amusing to see everyone competitively participating in all the games. Akala kasi nila mamahalin ang prizes! hahaha
Before sunset, our official photographer took another set of group photos.
Ang saya diba?!
After our energy-draining games, we proceeded with the exchange gifts and rested a little before we wrapped up and called it a day.
Here’s a 5-minute clip summarizing our Christmas Party. Enjoy!
Awesome pictures! Blessings, Emma
Ang saya naman! galing! 🙂