Our precious Jordan Rock turned FIVE years old this August, and his party theme of choice was a FIREMAN party. It is honestly crazy to think that my sweet, kind and very busy little boy is already half-a-decade in age. What an absolute blessing he is to all our lives… I wrote him a little love letter:
A letter to my precious 5 year-old, second-born child:
To our gorgeous, blue-eyed, white-wispy-blonde-haired little firecracker.
Love your mama
You are a constant, overflowing ray of light in our every day. You bring joy out of the most ordinary of things or situations. You are the most beautiful example of JOY that I have ever known in my 33 years of life. You have taken five years to learn about how your body moves, or doesn’t/shouldn’t move, having taken years off your mama’s life from all the many dangerous and precarious situations you have put yourself in… but I think you are finally getting there. I do think you are destined to be a thrill seeker, but time will tell and we continue to pray for protection over you always. You love us and everyone you know whole-heartedly, and have a huge and forgiving heart. You have the ability to be the life of the room, and also at the same time to be the most sensitive to those in need of a little extra love. You are just all kinds of wonderful, my boy. Thank you for continually being a little light in our lives, we are blessed by you daily. Love you sooooo much.
XOXO
We were very spoilt to have had many brands and businesses collaborate on Jordy’s party so that they might show off what they have to offer you and your children’s parties, so please take a look and remember these awesome suppliers for future!
The party itself was a pure reflection of our boy – all the people he knows and loves, young and old, all came to celebrate our little champion. Apart from the rain coming down 15minutes into the start of the party and having to move and reshuffle the main table, as well as some painful gusts of wind that wreaked havoc on my vision for the balloons… #dramaticmuch 😉
it was a day full of fun, joy and celebration. Jordy was in his element and we appreciated the love shown towards our boy so very much. We had the party at our home, which is one of my favorite things in the world to do, and people stayed until after 8pm. It was awesome!
Let’s start at the beginning:
Party Planning, Set up & Breakdown:
A huge blessing in our lives has come in the form of a tiny yet dynamic little beauty named Natasha Parsons from POSH Events. Tash listened to my very few ideas I had for the party and she ran with them, building on to them and creating absolute magic… and the ideas just kept flowing.
See more about POSH & Tash HERE
Decor & Set Up:
UNIK Furniture supplied most of the tables and seating for the event. A brilliant and reliable company to deal with, who went above and beyond in terms of service and delivery. Their catalogue offers almost anything one could ever dream to hire for any event, big and small. See a few pics below and then read more about our experience with UNIK in the link below the pics.
See more about UNIK Furniture Rentals HERE
We also had a bar for the adults drinks, which was kindly sponsored by Artisan Events.
We also hired some glasses through Guy. Drop off, pick up and service was brilliant, so if you require a bar or glasses then Artisan is a good call.
Decor:
The theme was brought to the main table through the vinyl branding by TM Signs which was added to the white backing board supplied by POSH Events. The large light up “Number 5” which was supplied by Ricardo., brought a life-like element to the main table, as well as the cut out fire engine from Vinyl Deco, which was absolutely gorgeous! These elements (and more) were supplied by a trio of family-run businesses; TM Signs, Ricardo and Vinyl Deco, owned by Ricardo & Nadine Moodley and Sheryl Ann Naidoo. Vinyl Deco designed and printed the party boxes and plates for the party.
See more about TM Signs, Ricardo & Vinyl Deco and their services HERE, as well as what was inside the party boxes.
Balloons:
The balloon arch was inspired by something both Tash and I saw on Pinterest, and like nothing we had seen in SA yet. We sent the inspiration to Taryn from MadHatters Party Shop and she invested time and energy into learning how to do it just for us. It was one of my favourite features of the party!
See more about MadHatters Party Shop and their gorgeous fire-inspired balloons HERE
Another balloon supplier we were lucky to have feature their gorgeous balloons at the party was YOLO Party Shop. YOLO Party Shop offers the most incredible personalised balloons. Their balloons are also all biodegradable which to me is just brilliant! Owned and run by such a lovely couple who are new to Ballito, it was wonderful getting to know them: See more about this new-to-Durban couple HERE
Birthday Cake:
It has to be said that one of the most intimate parts of a birthday party is the singing around the birthday cake. It is the one time during the party that everyone is able to lay focus on the birthday boy/girl, and gather around to celebrate them in unity. It was wonderful to have Nix from Decor & Delights come on board to create an incredible masterpiece for Jordy. Nix admits she doesn’t love working with fondant, but I feel like she absolutley blew us away with this incredible, double-layered Fireman-themed cake.
See more on my thoughts about Decor & Delights HERE
Food:
It was a chilly day in Durban on the day of Jordy’s party, and I cannot begin to explain what an absolute treat it was to have the Chilli Chocolate Chefs at our home. They arrived and set up {in a matter of minutes} the most incredible burger-slider bar, aptly named their Fire Sliders! They made everyone the MOST incredibly scrumptious burger sliders I think anyone had EVER tasted!
See more about these wonderfully talented ladies HERE
Treats:
Krispy Kreme sponsored the most incredibly tasty sugar & cinnamon donuts – a favourite of our family. Always delicious – these were polished off in a matter of minutes! Whyyyyyy are they so delicious?!
Entertainment:
When it comes to a kids party one of the most important things is that there is FUN! It is a little more challenging when it comes to Jordy’s parties because he wants EVERYONE to come, and that means there are children of all ages, which is more difficult to cater for. We decided on 3 main forms of entertainment:
The main “star of the show” entertainment package was having Coach Learnmore from Learnmore Soccer Academy. Learnmore was an incredible addition to the party. He adjusted his activities to suit the theme of the party, with fire drills, “stop, drop & rolls” and more! He kept the kids engaged and active for as long as the rain stayed at bay, and the smiles on the kids’ faces were priceless. The birthday boy enjoyed himself the most, for certain! I can not recommend Learnmore enough for party entertainment! This is the second party we have enjoyed having Coach Learnmore run entertainment, and he is too wonderful for words!
See more about Coach Learnmore HERE, as well as pics from a previous party he ran entertainment for!
Hasbro very kindly sponsored us PlayDoh for the party, and it is safe to say it was an absolute hit! Most especially among the younger children and the girls. The ‘creations’ sent all my OCD tendencies up the wall, but the aim of the game was fun, and fun was had!
See more about having PlayDoh at your kids party HERE
Lastly we felt a jumping castle was a must, and Tash (POSH Events) managed to source an actual Fire Engine castle from Tony Miller Promotions. It was AMAZING!
* It has to be said that I would not recommend this particular castle for parties of children younger than 4 as you are not able to see the kids inside the castle. It was perfect for kids Jordy’s age & up. The castle was not sponsored.
Photography:
One of the most essential additions to any of our parties has to be the presence of a professional photographer, and BlondeZulu Photography was such a gift and HERE is why
See all the pics by BlondeZulu Photography HERE
As a whole, and as you can see, Jordy’s fifth birthday party was brimful of love, decor, food and fun! It truly was a wonderful and perfect celebration for our little boy. Please make sure you click through to all the linked posts to see more detail and full experience of each supplier that took part in the day, and why I would recommend them to you as a supplier for any event in Durban. A heartfelt thank you to every person, supplier and brand that came together to create the perfect Fireman party, and especially to Tash from POSH Events, who pulled everyone and everything together with a huge, beautiful red ribbon!
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL SPONSORS:
Artisan
BlondeZulu Photography
Chilli Chocolate Chefs
Coach Learnmore
Decor & Delights
Hasbro
Krispy Kreme
Mad Hatters Party Shop
POSH Events
Ricardo.
TandCake
TM Signs
UNIK
Vinyl Deco
YOLO
#SponsoredPost
The services of above-mentioned suppliers were sponsored in return for review & exposure. All feelings and comments on their products and services are completely unbiased and 100% my own.
Another AWESOME party for our precious Jordan Rock!! Well done my Shanny, and to all the brands involved x