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Photography by Katherine Bish
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Pax Jolie-Pitt celebrated his seventh birthday with a hot-air balloon ride above Paris, followed by a party cruise on a boat rented for $7,000. Mariah Carey’s twins had a black-tie affair, also in Paris, for their first birthdays, with gifts including a toy Ferrari. When my twins, Jemma and Jade, turned 2, they celebrated with a storybook affair in their Olivette “castle” that included a mini concert aboard a tour bus. There were 21 kids. The cake was designed by a celebrity chef. The cops came.
Yes, it’s true. It was just a parking misunderstanding, but when I found myself arguing with a police officer in the middle of my twins’ bash, I felt like I had either morphed into Honey Boo Boo’s Mama June or the twins’ gala had achieved celebrity status. The party was big enough to be broken up, regardless of the circumstances.
Twenty-four days earlier, I had realized I could no longer share details and seek opinions from family members without getting questioned about my mental status. The night before the party, I’d felt like I could be committed as I watched my husband clean up the glass from the table a friend and I broke at midnight while completing the finishing touches that converted my modest home into toddler heaven.
Over-the-top toddler parties are a trend that continues to grow. Americans are having children later in life, and therefore are financially more comfortable hosting such affairs. The spending doesn’t stop there: USA Today has reported that luxury is the fastest-growing market in children’s wear. The truth about me, though, is that I don’t work full-time and I wasn’t considered “of advanced maternal age” when I had my twins. I just wanted a really big party. And yes, my daughters wore Juicy Couture.
There are two kinds of over-the-top toddler parties: the kind that require money and the kind that require some channeling of Martha Stewart. Since we aren’t the Jolie-Pitts, the Edelstein gala was somewhere in the middle. Six months before my girls turned 2, I was consumed with thoughts of how to pull off the biggest toddler birthday bash ever. Should I have two parties or two themes? Should I rent the now-closed Black Cat Theatre and have the author of the twins’ favorite book series, Pete the Cat, come “perform” his books? But when the author, Mr. Eric (Litwin), wouldn’t change his family vacation to accommodate my needs and the theater couldn’t guarantee ample time to set up my cat zones, I knew I had to do it in my house.
I wasn’t going to just have music in one room and food in the other. I wanted craft zones, play zones, fancy decoration zones that included a Pete the Cat original painting shipped from a Georgia gallery, a kids’ dining zone, a candy zone, and a gift-basket zone. And I wanted the house to look like a picture book, too. Since we don’t actually live in a mansion, I decided to rent a party bus; sing “The Wheels on the Bus,” among other tunes; and play videos I had made for the party, like an animated Pete singing “Happy Birthday” to my girls. I wanted every adult to be able to sit down and enjoy the show without having a boring tent in my back yard or chairs from every room of the house crammed into our craft zones.
My theory is that big toddler parties are more common now because it’s one of the first times a woman truly gets to plan a party to her liking. For a toddler bash, a mother-in-law can’t influence the decor or the guest list like she can at a wedding and it’s not the adults critiquing your food, your furniture, and your hospitality. The only judges are the ones who can be influenced with colorful candies. And when we found red stains on the hardwood floor from cake icing, we thought “How cute!” that one of our little guests ate on the floor. Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser took care of doodles on the walls. If a friend had spilled wine at a dinner party, we’d be talking about whether to send her the cleaning bill.
Here's how I mad our toddler party a reality.
Go Theme-Crazy
As the book says, “Pete stepped in a large pile of…strawberries!” So the cake had to be Pete in that pile, with a head made of Rice Krispies treats and the strawberries represented by cake pops with short sticks for toddler hands. Life-size pictures of Pete stepping in piles of berries and mud, just like in the book, were pasted on the walls, with a trail of footprints leading to different activities in the house. Frisbees stuck to the walls depicted Pete’s groovy buttons, and I created an interactive school bus with a horn to beep, wheels to go round and round, and wipers to swish. Only a few books were destroyed to achieve that masterpiece. I made a life-size poster-board Pete for kids to pose with, and I also hand-painted a Pete onto a blank decal to stick on the wall so kids could play with Pete’s detachable Velcro buttons.
My mantel and shelves were filled with an original Pete painting my mother purchased for my birthday, my original paintings, red shoes and blue shoes like the ones Pete wears, and a framed cover of each child’s favorite book, which of course I got signed by the author and sent overnight from his hometown bookstore in Atlanta. Quotes from the books were attached to my walls. The twins and my husband and I all wore Pete’s trademark Converse shoes. Craft activities included decorating guitars like the one Pete carries, coloring cat masks, and lacing paper shoes. I made collars for all of the children to take home and/or wear at the party. (Choosing a theme that has licensed materials available might make your party planning a little easier.)
Serve Food for Every Mood
The food must stick to the theme, but also satisfy all taste buds. For our party, cat-shaped sandwiches and cheese on Goldfish bread were no-brainers. But recreating the mud from one of the books and coming up with other sides and snacks was a little more challenging. I found a recipe for “dirt cups” consisting of pudding, Oreos, and gummy worms. And since cats eat mice, cheesy butternut-squash potatoes shaped like mice seemed like a perfect fit. Goldfish crackers, vegetable sticks, and apple slices became the deep-sea background to my mini aquariums, which consisted of dyed blue cream cheese spread across rice cakes. The sweets table lured every age group with chewy fruit snacks and a mix of colorful cereals placed in cat bowls for little hands. An assortment of color-themed candies was placed a little higher for adults. After intense Googling, I found bright blueberry- and strawberry-flavored Crayola Color Coolerz waters to serve.
Goodbye Party Bags; Hello Gifts for Guests
The first Pete book my girls fell in love with taught them about strawberries, blueberries, mud, and all different colors of shoes. In another book, they were obsessed with the page where Pete eats his lunch of a single fish while drinking milk. So I gave each little guest a bucket of goodies to match the theme.
Of course, we included the traditional stickers and erasers, overnighted from the publisher, HarperCollins. But to take the gifts up a notch, I added strawberry-flavored milk straws, cookies with cats on top and a food-safe decorating marker, knockoff Converse key chains, mud masks for moms to use or kids to play with, and sunglasses with strawberry-shaped lenses.
Make Sure You Have at Least One Major Splurge
Our splurge could have been the party bus, the videographer, or the food staff. The truth is, my major splurge was the party as a whole. I suppose ultimate insanity did set in, though, when the bus driver pulled up to the house and told me he couldn’t get in my driveway without breaking it.
Hire Professionals to Help—and Help You Remember It All
Having a videographer, a food-preparation team, and baby sitters around made the party more enjoyable. I was able to socialize with guests and enjoy my children without the pressure of getting the perfect picture or making sure the cake was sliced properly. In hindsight, I should have hired a cleaning team afterward to help get red icing and stickers off the floor.
Plan Ahead
As of this writing, my house will be decorated with mouse ears and turned into the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for the twins’ third birthday. But the inside will be all pink, with Pinkalicious furniture in the living room, Fancy Nancy dress-up clothes in the dining room, and women dressed as Amelia Bedelia running throughout the house cleaning up after every child.
Stars, Cameras & Assistants
›› Entertainment
Babaloo (636-390-4014, babaloomusicandfun.com). Prices vary, depending on the venue and audience size.
Fun Tyme Limousine (314-313-5466, funtymelimo.com). $500-plus, depending on the vehicle.
Kids Klub Gymbus (636-288-5555, kidsklubgymbus.com). For 10 children: $140 per hour.
Mad Science of St. Louis (314-991-8000, stlouis.madscience.org). For up to 15 children: $165 for a basic party, including entertainment by the science wizards.
Teacups & Trucks (843-469-3593, teacupsandtrucks.com). A themed party truck, it first has to make its way from South Carolina. It’s $395 without the travel fees.
Tekno Bubbles Bubble Bus (teknobubbles.com). $250 per hour.
›› Recording for Posterity
Fat Chimp Studios (2055 Walton, 888-621-7824, fatchimpstudios.com). It produced an edited video of our party with all of the highlights for my girls to watch every day. Cost: $500-plus for an edited video.
›› Assistance
The Event Fairies (636-223-0034, theeventfairies.com). The Fairies will add creative touches or plan and execute the entire affair. Prices range from $10 for cupcake toppers to the Pixie Posh Package for $595.
Oogles n Googles (314-602-7271, ooglesngoogles.com). The team will do all of the work for you, at a home, restaurant, or banquet hall of your choice. Prices vary per party.
Party Places, People & Prices
Sure, you want to throw a birthday bash—but where, and for how much?
›› Impressive Venues
American Girl St. Louis (Chesterfield Mall, 877-247-5223, americangirl.com/stores/location_stl.php). For girls 3 and older, in parties of four or fewer: $28 per girl, $18 per adult. For girls 8 and older: $45 per child, $35 per adult. Includes complete menu, cake, crafts, and more.
Circus Flora (Grand Center, 3509 Samuel Shepard, 314-289-4040, circusflora.org). Price depends on the show.
Gymboree (31 Allen, 314-961-3000, gymboreeclasses.com). For birthday parties for ages 1 through 5, with up to 20 children: $250 for 90 minutes for nonmembers. Juice, invitations, a gift for the birthday boy or girl, gift bags, and paper products are included.
The Magic House (516 S. Kirkwood, 314-822-8900, magichouse.org). $15 per child for a small party room that includes crafts, cupcakes, juice, and paper products. $375 to rent a larger room without any extras.
Myseum (283 Lamp & Lantern Village, 636-220-7930, stlmyseum.com). For up to 15 children: $225.
Once Upon a Bash (2732 Sutton, 314-645-2386, onceuponabash.com). For up to 16 children and 16 adults: $200-plus, depending on what you want included.
Pretty N Posh (696 St. Ferdinand, 314-921-7674, prettynposh.com). For four girls: $150. Call for additional pricing. Parties include costumes, temporary tattoos, glittery makeup application, manicures, games, a runway show, pizzas, juice, and paper products.
Sweet & Sassy (West County Center, 314-909-1901, sweetandsassy.com). Pricing varies, according to the party you pick.
