All kinds of party ideas for all sorts of birthday parties in Melbourne, Australia

There are lots of different types of birthday party you can hold for a younger child. Many people elect to hold a cheap, low budget supermarket style birthday party, easy, simple, yes we understand the appeal. Cake in Aisle seven, snacks and fingerfood in the freezers, paper plates, some sparkly decorative stuff, some balloons and voila.

But what if you want something special. A truly memorable party, with a wow factor that resonates among the guests for weeks on end. Not to mention seeing the eyes of the party boy and guests light up in amazement on arrival. Something special indeed, which may take a bit more effort than a stroll around the supermarket.

But relax. Not much more effort at all. For starters, we will do our walking and shopping with a keyboard, or mouse, for the most part. A visit to a good party supply shop in Melbourne might still be on the cards if needed.

This post is mostly going to be about boys birthday parties. Kids birthday parties are always fun, but being a parent of two boys means more experience with boys birthday parties. Hence this post.  Over the years we have had many boys party ideas, the only shame being that you can only have one birthday party per year per child. From the moment the invitations go out, the fun begins. The anticipation, the planning, and yes a little bit of online shopping.

Some of our favorite themes were the pirate birthday party, the superhero party, and the cowboys and indians themed birthday. For each of these we used custom made and personalised photo invitations. These are quite clever, and use a photo of the birthday boy cut into a themed surrounding. They send a strong message to the party guests about what to expect, and what to wear. We even had grown ups arriving as pirates and cowboys, and yes, superheroes. Fantastic.

As a consequence, we highly recommend using themed invitations for a kids party, no matter what the event being held. From there, it was logical to theme the rest of the party supplies and decorations in the same theme, from welcome banners, balloons with helium in them, and an edible image for the birthday cake. Speaking of food, we were even able to find a place that sells custom and themed candy for our birthday party lolly tables. Match that with gorgeous apothecary style candy jars, a well decorated table and a custom backdrop in the party theme and you have the makings of a sweets table from heaven.

These are a few basic suggestion we hope will help you in your party planning. Have a grreat birthday party!!

 

Party planning in 2015 – some new product ideas

Welcome to 2015.

As we see in the new year – now that the hubbub of Christmas has come and gone, and the world slowly returns to normal, people start to party plan. Weddings, birthdays, christenings, baby showers and more. And with that, we have some fun new party products and supplies to make your party the best it can be.

With hot new birthday designs released by our invitation and party designers as well, you can style your party better than ever, with ease. Forget the mall, shopping online or at a well provided specialist shop means you can almost effortlessly buy the perfect supplies for exactly the type of party you want to hold – why settle for second best?

If you are looking for invites to a baby shower, we have some ultra cute themes that are proving to be very popular with mothers to be. From cute baby animals, to pastels, and more. We have themes just for girls, and baby shower designs for when a boy baby is expected as well. All custom personalized for your baby shower. Wityh each design, a matchin range of baby party decorations is also available. This means you can carry your theme right through your event supplies, with a stunning effect.

Personalized photo invitations are a specialty. With hundreds of designs available for all occasions, we will have one to suit your event. From a kids birthday party to grown ups events such as 21st, 30th, 40th and similar. Some hilarious themes and even caricature style invitations – these look great and are custom made just for you. If you are considering DIY invitations but are time poor, we make getting good invitations easy, and affordable.

With one of Australia’s most comprehensive range of custom party supplies online, we have niche event supplies that the most discerning party planner will enjoy. Huge party banners custom printed for events. Welcome banners and posters a specialty.

How about affordable bonbonniere you can buy online in Australia – we say affordable for a good reason. Bonbonniere is almost expected at many events, such as weddings and christenings for example. Bonbonniere is also sometimes known as party favours. These can be quite elaborate and, because they are custom made can often cost more than expected. We have a number of stylish and very pretty bonbonniere options in our selection. With low production costs, these are simple, yet professional, and always well received by our event guests.

With both an online and a real world shop for your convenience and peace of mind, it has never been easier to buy the perfect personalized invitations and party supplies.

Thank you for stopping by our blog. We hope your party or event in 2015 is the success you would like it to be.

Personalized event stationery ideas in Australia

With Summer around the corner in Australia people start to emerge from winter’s hibernation and start planning things. Sure, a certain event on December 25 takes its toll on family budgets and time but the fact is that right after that is New Years Eve – surely one of the biggest annual parties in Australia. After that the evenings of barbecues, parties, and celebrations stretch out through summer, evening after evening, party, birthday or wedding.

Its fair to say that many of these will be impromptu. But that being the case, it is also true that most of life’s most important events are anything but.

Lets start at the beginning. In 2005, we looked at the state of things. Events were largely generic. They needed stationery that was a bit more fun, family oriented, and best of all affordable. So we decided to act.

We decided to create an online shopping website specializing in personalized invitations.  And announcements.  In Australia.

Birth Announcements

Lets start at the VERY beginning. Do you remember being born? Neither do we. In fact, most of us didn’t even realize we had been born until well after the event. Many people in our lives today likely know about it long before we did. Back then, the arrival of a new baby was usually done in the classified section of the newspaper.  Pre Facebook days, we thought, there has to be a better way to announce a new baby.  So we started to design photo birth announcements. These feature an image, a photo usually, of bub, with a personalised message. Here is one of our latest birth announcement designs below.

 

 

Baby shower invitations

OK. So perhaps that wasn’t the very beginning. You see, before baby arrives, the women usually get together for a special secretive event. Its called a baby shower. No, there isn’t usually water involved fellas. The mum to be gets given gifts that will be useful when baby arrives. And they have fun, and make a huge fuss of the expectant lass. Lots of other things happen too but we were sworn to secrecy. To get to one of these events you will need a ticket to get past the door. These are called baby shower invitations. Here is one of our favorites :

 

 

Kids birthday invitations, for both girls and boys events are something we have spent a lot of time on. With hundreds of personalized designs, all can be ordered online in Australia. We have printed invitations as well as ones you can print yourself – yes, printable kids party invitations. If you are looking for invitations made with photos there are plenty to choose from. We cover most popular children’s birthday party themes, such as princess, angel, fairy, magic, fireman, superhero, cops and robbers, trampoline….the list is long, and detailed. Here is a rather bouncy invitation now…boing….boing…

 

 

Party Invitations

Once we move past children’s parties, into the tween years, then on to 18ths and 21st birthdays things get a little more detailed. With a wide range of custom invitations for grown ups parties, and some stunning designs we are kept quite busy. We offer matching themed party supplies that we deliver Australia wide, such as wide format banners, candy buffet supplies, decorations and more besides. We find that if you are going to hold a party, many people want things to be just right. To match. So if you can have the same theme made in the one online shop, it all gets a bit easier, taking all the stress out of party preparation.

 

 

Weddings

And so we save the best for last. One of the biggest, most important journeys in life. Just as well you will have company. That’s right folks, we are talking about weddings. Getting hitched. Tying the knot. You know GETTING MARRIED. We have a range of designs for different styles. If you are going to have something quite formal we have affordable personalised wedding invitations that are well worth considering. If your wedding is going to be a bit less formal and more of a fun celebration with friends, we have a special engagement and wedding invite range for this as well. Here are a few ideas :

Well those are the major events in life, and our take on invitations and announcements for them. We hope you like them, but in any event, to quote two great men “No matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive there are some things we ALLLL need. You. Me. Them. Everybody”

We hope, with this in mind, that your event is the success that every event deserves to be – thanks for stopping by our blog.

Red party ideas

Red is an ancient colour. A romantic colour. Across time, red has traditionally been associated with love, with passion, and with life.

It shouldn’t be any surprise then, to find that red is a very popular colour for party themes. More popular perhaps with grown ups party themes, possibly due to the association with romance.

When you are planning a party, be it a wedding, engagement party, anniversary, a romantic Saint Valentines Day dinner, or even a rip roaring birthday party, if you are  having red as a colour or a party theme then you had better get planning well in advance.

These days, the internet certainly makes that easier. In days of old, when knights were bold, and computers weren’t invented, you could spend days wandering endless shopping strips and malls, in search of inspiration. Oh and party supplies at a reasonable price.

Here are a few of our fave sites with some good selections, and some good ideas, about all things red, from invitations to decorations – even some custom party banners, some with red influences.

Kidspot

Kidspot is one of Australia’s most popular online parenting and family resource websites.

Here is a neat page about party themes. It features ten of their favorite kids party theme ideas, several of which feature red in the decorations and activities. There are some for boys, and an equally impressive list of great party ideas for little girls parties. Loads of easy things to do and make, and lists to make it easy for you.

Need sweets or candy?

In Australia, Little Dance Invitations offers not just invitations, but also  a range of birthday, party, wedding and christening candy , all for sale online in Australia. Australia wide delivery. The range includes jelly beans, lollipops, chocolate hearts, crystal candy swizzle sticks, chocolate candy, gumballs and more.

 

If you are feeling a little more adventurous an want to cook your own, how about this recipe for red toffee apples.

Perhaps something a little more substantial for your guests?

Taste.com.au is a very good Australian online resource for recipes and party food ideas.  Everything from fingerfood and little snacks, to full on dinner party dishes and meals.

Need something visual? That’s not too abysmal? Pinterest. Loads of pictures sampled from all over the web. Here are a few of our favourite pinterest boards, all about red themed parties of course.

This first one is about party foods, mostly red, with a few other splashes of colours. And here is one that we really like, featuring some simply stunning red wedding and party decorations.

 

Well thats it for us for now. Back to the party!

 

 

More invitation ideas online – some useful Australian sites we like

Firstly I need to start this post with a word of warning : It is completely and unashamedly all about those who hold parties and birthdays. You know, fun stuff where everybody has a good time and dances the day or night away.

Many of us get to this place by having children. Which of course means that we are now destined to be party planners and birthday organizers whether we like it or not. Its just as well that most of us like it then.

One of the first things we do when planning a party is to get a list of guests organised. And then we need to sort out a place to have a party. Get invitations organised. Its that simple, and even here in Australia we still do things pretty much the same way as the rest of the world. A bit more laid back perhaps.

So when we are going to get invitations made one of the first places we turn to is online. There are so many places that turn up in the search results these days, its almost hard to know where to start. One good place to start looking are the forums and the parental resources type websites. These usually have whole discussions dedicated to how people went with various businesses, reviews and more. Often there are also pages and pages devoted to free or cheap ideas, and lets face it, when you have kids you get pretty good at being frugal. Bubhub has one good party invitation and announcement section, as does Kidspot

One route you can go down if you want to buy personalised invitations or birthday supplies online in Australia is to try sites like Ebay, Etsy and similar. Usually that will guarantee cheap. Sometimes the quality is okay, but you get what you pay for.

One issue to be aware of in Australia when buying online is to check out the actual location of the site you would like to buy your birthday party supplies from. If they are overseas, in the Unites States of America maybe, often you wont get your items in time if you have left it late to order.  Some sites don’t even carry their stock at all, leading to huge delays in delivery.

We always check out the reviews on a business before we buy, bearing in mind that not every one will leave positive feedback but on balance, if there are many more yays than nays, and the reviews are from real people, we suggest you go with your instinct.

Caricature birthday invitation

Making your own printable invitations online – useful tips

Printable invitations are a great way to save money.  And with today’s software advances, many programs – in fact, apps, laptops, even phones, have the ability to make some kind of invitation.

Of course, many today prefer electronic invitations. E invites. And while inviting people to an event or party via a text message or email is easy and might seem appealing for that reason, the fact is your guests will know you took the easy option. And if you are too darn lazy to send a proper invitation, well that’s hardly a great selling point for your event.  So don’t be surprised when the invitation that was so easy to send fails to have the impact that you were hoping for.

Its a fact. Going to a little effort creates a healthy respect. Plus, as your invitations are the first thing your party or birthday guests will see, they might as well be good ones.  So if you want to hold a successful event, start by creating plenty of guest enthusiasm and anticipation.  And if that’s the goal, steer clear of electronic i.e SMS or email invitations.

Lets take a quick trip down memory lane. Remember when we were young? Remember receiving your first invitation? It was probably for a birthday party for a schoolmate.  It probably wasn’t the first birthday party you had attended, as you wouldn’t remember the first and second birthdays, you know, babies parties? What mattered was that letter and that invitation ADDRESSED TO YOU. And how special did you feel? How included. And did you check the letter box after that, hoping to see another invitation to another fun party? Most of us would say yes to this question.

This is why you should send physical invitations for parties such as birthdays, baby showers, christenings and smilar. Its all about making people feel included right from the start. But where to get some good ones? The first port of call is usually the stationery shop, but most of them only have generic, pad type invitations. Or you could engage an artist and graphic designer, however these can sometimes be expensive. Then there is the DIY invitation option. That’s where you actually set aside some of that spare time that you have plenty of and devote it, uninterrupted, to designing your own fantastic birthday party invitations. With today’s busy lifestyles, some people struggle with that.

And then, once you have designed them, its time to get them printed. Hmmm. Photo invitations were big a few years ago. Still popular, and so easy to get made. One choice is to visit a Harvey Norman or an Officeworks shop. Most of them have photo printing booths. All you need is a photo that you are happy to use on your invitations, then drop them into a template. The drawback to these is that there is very limited editing and cropping available, still, you can get a reasonable result for a relatively cheap price. If you don’t mind the drive to the shop, the car parking, then waiting for a booth.

There is another way to get great personalised invitations made. You could visit a website like Little Dance Invitations. We have a huge range of templates for all occasions, including birthdays, parties, christenings, weddings and more. Many designs use photos, and look brilliant. If you want to save some money and have them printed yourself, no problem, we can send you a digital file for this.  Or you can select the printing option, and have us print your invitations for you. We deliver Australia wide.

http://littledanceinvitations.com.au/

Some special ideas when it comes to planning your next party : Candy – Homewares – Decorations too!

Another post in our series about party and event planning : Post four candy buffet accessories and homewares part one

When we are first invited to a birthday party or other festive event, the anticipation begins. Fun, friends, and food. In no particular order of priority of course.

For some of us the most important part is the fun. Thats why we have a number of planned posts all about party games, jokes, competitions and similar activities for parties. Kids, grown ups too.

With that in mind the decor often enhances this, after all the first impressions revolve around the visual. Good homewares can help create a good looking home, and all of this helps with atmosphere and the visitor experience.

For others the focus is all around the friends. The people. The shared memories and the good times yet to be planned, had, and paid back off the credit card.

And still, there is a third category. The foodies. Little Dance Invitations can help here too. And while there are plenty of posts abounding around cakes, which are a special part of an event, several more about savory snacks, this blogger has a sweet tooth.

One of the most important things that you shouldn’t forget when planning a birthday, party, wedding, christening or similar event is the candy and sweets. One of the highlights of any event we think. Here is what wikipedia says about candy : Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added. Candies come in numerous colors and varieties and have a long history in popular culture.

Now thats broad. Also sounds delicious.

On this topic, here is a really neat post all about candy, on Squidoo. It discusses a huge range of candy and lollies that any party planner would be proud to keep in their cupboard for a rainy day. Or a good party, of course.

There are tips and tricks to tell you how to keep things looking good, as well as matching your party theme perfectly.

Many of the items depicted on these posts can also be found at Little Dance in Australia. With a huge range of candy and party supplies for sale online, as well as multiple personalised items, there is something there for every event.  From apothecary style candy jars to candy, sweets, and lollies you can order online. And everything in between, even the trimmings, ribbons and little things that really make things look pretty.

All that said and done,  we hope this post has helped. There are some pretty nifty ideas on the page. If you see more and think we need to know about them so we can share,, please let us know 🙂

http://littledanceinvitations.com.au/

Using photo party invitations when planning supplies for your party

Long ago – or not so long ago, depending on how old you are, there was a thing called photos. These were pieces of paper, with images on them. This is how long ago they were around – before the internet. Now surely that’s ancient history right?

Around the same time, at least so the fossil record tells us, there was a also a thing called an invitation. Also usually on a piece of paper or card, with party details on it. This would have the name, the why, the where and the when of an event. And sometimes if it was a themed or costume event, even the how.

You with me so far?

We track forward till today, and there are things like email, facebook, twitter and more. These technological innovations have in many cases replaced the humble paper invitation to a child’s birthday party. Hardly surprising in some cases as many invitations were rather cheesy, and in some cases, even boring.

Yet the same technology that has taken away from the invitations used of old can also bring new life to supplies for kids parties. How, you say. Why even bother, I hear others say. One of the reasons that an paper invitation has such an impact is the fact that it has a physical presence. As soon as we add the element of touch, everything changes.

One of the benefits of modern innovation is also using a photo on your party invitations. Clever photo shop work can place a photo of the party boy or girl into a background of your choosing. Clever text can then be added, telling your guests where and when the party will be. The type of photo chosen can provide visual clues to your guests as to the style or theme of the party as well.

When planning a child’s party, if you are going to use a photo invitation, which is what they are called, it is a good idea to design these as a part of choosing all of the supplies for your kids birthday party.  If you are going to have a theme you can dress the birthday boy or girl up in a costume that matches the theme, then take the photo to use on the invitations. At the same time, you can also consider colors to use for decorations, and party food.

Decorations can be a broad topic, which we will not go into in detail here but here is a short list. Many items can be personalized or themed by color. Party banners, streamers, pom poms, balloons, glitter. And when it comes to the party food,  remember also that you can purchase candies, chocolates, finger food, cupcakes and cakes that have colors that work in with your theme.  For example all pink and white for a little girls or girl babies party, or blue for boys. Red and white for a fireman theme, perhaps black and white for a soccer theme, or Australia Gold and green for an Aussie themed party. Just don’t forget to use kangaroos, koalas, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and other Aussie icons. These all look great – imagine the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia as birthday cake!!

 

Related articles

• Baby’s First Birthday (cunninghamphotographyblog.com)
• Party Planning Timeline (birthdayinabox.com)
• Planning a Successful First Birthday Party for Your Child (parenting.answers.com)

Childrens party planning ideas – for babies and kids event planning

Party planning for a childrens party can actually be quite fun if you approach it from the right perspective. Rather than think of it as work – which too many people do – why not get involved in kids party planning as if it were a game. One big party right from the start.

Imagine if the whole thing was fun. One big game, full of surprises and happy ones at that, around every corner. Consider the other angle, with stress and anxiety ruling your every moment. I know which one I would choose.

Now that we have got that out of the way, lets start with the basics.

When you plan a party, it pays to have a plan. And, as with most plans, lists come in handy. Annoying, true, but they do stop you from forgetting things. So lets get the pen and paper – or iPad – okay, or the iPhone, out.

Here is the list, in brief. Don’t forget, it needs to be age appropriate. So for young kids think balloons, older kids, physical activities, older kids again, competitions and noisy activities. Same goes for childrens party venues.

Party theme – decide this first as the rest flows from this

Party venue – choose relative to the theme and the size of the guest list

Guest list

Kids birthday party invitations – there is an example of one above

Decorations

Party supplies – read food, candy, lollies, drinks

Tableware – choose disposable – no dishes

Games and activities

Gifts or thank you presents -sometimes also called bonbonniere

Now its time to go shopping and get things made. The team from Little Dance Invitations can help here.

In Australia there are an awful lot of party shops and online shopping party sites. Some can do some of the above, some do one or two but not many do the lot.

One of our favorite online party shops is Little Dance Invitations Australia. You can visit the website here. With a full range of party supplies personalized and custom made for all kinds of occasions there is bound to be something there to please almost anyone. They specialise in childrens and babies parties, however they also have a range for other occasions.

You can have your entire party supplies range personalized to match your invitations, and also order other needs online, all in the one shop. Speaking of shops, they also have a real world shop that you can visit, if you need to. It is in Melbourne, and it is from here that they ship party supplies, invitations, gifts and candy buffet supplies across Australia.

If you visit you can see all of the products for sale – ideal for those who might be a bit reluctant to purchase over the internet. And yes, there are plenty of us around still who like exactly that, to pop into a shop, browse for awhile, then buy once we are completely satisfied with our purchase.

Plus you can pick up the phone – business hours – and speak to a real person, who can help you to plan and style your perfect party, with helpful suggestions.

Hopefully this post has been of benefit to you in your party planning. Have a great event!

Related articles

• Tips When Planning A Costume Party (peckfran56.wordpress.com)
• Masquerade Party or School (livelifewithyourkids.wordpress.com)

Little Dance – Australian Online Invitations Designers – Party Personalisation Supplies

In Australia, as in many other countries, online shopping has been around for awhile. And that’s a good thing we say. In the beginning, there were quite a few people that were a bit nervous about shopping online, then we became more used to the concept.

Fast forward to today. Its pretty much all anyone ever does, other than supermarket shopping and big ticket items where physical checking out is required. Sure, there are some horror stories around but by doing your research the risks are minimal.

One of the things the internet has really encouraged is diversity and with that, personalization. Diversity, individuality, all those things that are unique about each of us. And in the party and event field, that has come to mean event styling and party supplies personalization like never before.

Gone are the days when an event meant simple invitations, a few songs, perhaps some music. These days, events have become almost a competition to see who can have the best, the cutest, the most memorable.  Sound familiar?

One of Australia’s more established online party supply businesses is Little Dance Invitations. Don’t be fooled by the name however. Yes it’s true that they started out as an invitations business but have since branched out to be so much more.

While they still carry a fantastic range of custom, creative and personalized invites. So if you would like to buy birthday invitations online in Australia, party invitations, or perhaps want some personalised baby shower invitations or even themed christening invitations in Australia, they also make an impressive range of themed party and event supplies.

These include items as diverse as custom photo bonbonniere, huge six foot wide party banners and welcome banners, even huge custom backdrops. It doesn’t stop there however. A very pretty and rather tasty range of candy buffet lollies, fairy floss and candy, even chocolates and gumballs, in single colours. Perfect for a DIY lolly buffet. Even tableware, disposable cutlery, gosh the list just goes on and on.

Little Dance have their own real world shop as well, just in case you prefer to call in and see for yourself. Many people do, which is great. Open six days per week.