The Making of a Themed Spa Party (Mary Chia Chapter 3)

This post is otherwise known as Beauty Journey :: Mary Chia (Chapter 3).

My party planning mode has kicked into full gear this month and as a finalist in the Singapore Blog Awards 2012 Best Beauty Blog category [vote for me please], I’ve been asked to host a spa party at one of the Mary Chia treatment locations. Not many people know that one of my past creative incarnations is running a one-woman event floral design business in NYC, called Blooms Boutique. Safe to say, I have played in the party planning sandbox before and in the last couple weeks I was laboring over concepting this private spa party for mah best girlfriends.

I enjoy doing this because it’s fertile ground for creative people like me to thrive and no two party productions are ever the same for me. Coming up with a theme and piecing together the details of the party is a fun and exciting process. Additionally, this is always a good exercise for me to pull together all the resources I can secure to make the party happen. Starting from the venue, decor, catering, activities, outfits, guest list, event graphics, and ending with goodie bags, I am ALL OVER the details. (OCD alert!) Stressful, but it is good stress because it gives me an adrenaline rush.

THE CONCEPT

For this spa party, I knew right off the bat that I will avoid the saccharine sugar-overload sweetie-pie cutesy girly-girly themes. Why? Because that’s way too boring safe and predictable. Plus, I’d already hosted an ultra girly all-pink-and-tiara tea party before…. like, seven years ago. Been there, done that. *yawnz*… I decided I’m going to kick it up a notch and must raise the bar for myself this time. Just because I can. }:P

A few ideas bounced around in my mind but the one which got me excited is a theme that’s badass.

I think of good gurls gone rogue.
The gurls I think of are confident, wordly, enjoy travel, good food, have an adventurous streak, and they are poised to be tomorrow’s lady bosses.
I imagine these gurls as the mafia princesses of today who bravely go through whatever their daily lives throw at them (presumably intense but exciting). They’re tough cookies but mad sexy as hell.
And naturally, girls being girls, they never neglect their well-being and will pamper themselves whenever they can.
I use the black rose as a symbol of their femininity and “don’t-you-dare-mess-with-me” sassiness. Because like an exquisite rose, my mafia princesses can be delicate and soft like velvet petals yet you’d better be careful and watch out for the thorns.

Uhm, actually I’m describing myself eh?!? Puwahahaha. I am the OG mafia princess. :P

THE IDEA BOARDS

Once I hit upon a great idea, the ripples of this idea can go very very far. I like to gather as many images as possible that sorta help me narrow down my broad spectrum and identify the key details. In my experience, idea board is a tremendous help because what was once in my head is now illustrated tangibly. Below are my idea boards for my spa party.

You can kinda begin to see what I’m thinking and what direction is my party theme going to be, right? After considering a handful of options, I finally settled on naming this theme “Velvet and Roses”.

THE DESIGN

Tadaaahhhhhh!!! Here is the invitation design to my party. Sugary sweet ain’t the first thing that comes to mind when you see this huh? Kekekeke.

So what’s next? Why… the party itself, of course! For that, you will have to sit tight and stay tuned for my next post.

In the meantime, I can only bitch about share with you that putting together this party required A LOT of effort. It hasn’t been easy because I have limited resources in this town and I am also required to work within a humble budget to produce the party. These are challenges which I had to overcome and at times, the logistics got extremely bloody frustrating. But! In keeping with my party theme and as the OG mafia princess, I must uphold my Moonberry standard. Besides I have been conditioned to be detail-oriented in any creative endeavor I’m in. My OCD-ness doesn’t help either, muwahahaha. New town, new game, new rules. I can do this!

My “Velvet and Roses” spa party is going to be one helluva kickass party. Watch out for it!

♥ℳ

Follow Moonberry’s Mary Chia Beauty Journey :: Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6

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