MYSTICAL FAIRIES - A REVIEW OF KAI'S FIFTH (AD)
Kai’s fifth birthday came and went. Just like that. My baby turned five.
A few months ago the lovely Meg at Mystical Fairies got in touch and asked if we had a party on the horizon that her team could host for us and the first thing I thought of was Kai’s fifth. Let’s face it, I was going to be 34… that’s not special and it’s not about me anymore, have you seen my demanding little diva?
So just like that, it was decided, Kai was to have a super special fifth birthday! I’ve never used a party planner before. To be honest it always seemed like something that was deemed a bit too ‘lavish’. I should be the one planning his party and I should be the one scouring Pinterest and Amazon for all the party bag ideas! And I have. We did it all for his welcome to the family party, his second, his third and his fourth I loved doing it all. I’m a control freak after all and I love to plan a party so I always enjoyed it, even if I did find it a little hard so soon after Christmas. I got in to the habit of sending invites just before Christmas and ordering as much as I could in the weeks before the holidays. But this time, I felt like I wouldn’t have minded the break from all the planning. We’ve had four, solid, good parties. Could I really hand over the reins to someone else?
Turns out, yes I could. We’ve never been busier as a family. Work, school, appointments, meetings, general life… it was honestly a huge relief to have the team at Mystical Fairies put it on for us!
To kick things off I had a call with the team who wanted to find out all about Kai, what he loves, what a party for him would be like. He is so relaxed with things like this. All he would need would be music and his friends and he’d be happy. I felt like this was the time go for it though. My friend’s daughter recently turned six and she wanted her close friends round for a movie and some games. That could be Kai next year. What if is this was to be the last proper ‘book a hall’ type party we have? After sharing all the details, even down to his favourite colours and songs, the team went away and started planning.
We’d decided to go with an enchanted forest themed party because he loves the outdoors and the walks we have in the forest. This idea soon turned into a Knights and Dragon style, and I loved how it naturally evolved and the team were on board!
The weeks are flying by and the guys at Mystical Fairies were busy building Pinterest boards and emailing me with ideas for napkins, cups and party bags. They seemed to have access to a secret lair of goodies I’d never have thought up for a party! We decided on some designs for the tables, even choosing between light blue and royal blue for the table cloths, every detail was thought of. I just had to choose via email. It was nice…!
When it came to games, music and entertainers I wasn’t sure what to go for. We’d been to parties before where the entertainer just couldn’t keep the kids engaged. I told the guys that with Kai you get a short time, you have to win him over and he’s yours. If he gets bored, you’ll know about it, and that’s what I loved about Mystcial Fairies, they just got it. They don’t run a party to a rota or a standard ‘set’. It’s all off the cuff and they see whats working and what’s not and will work around the kids. We decided to go for two entertainers! Both trained actors and used by the team all the time. We were to have a Knight and a Maiden host the party, play with the kids and sort out all the party games!
On the day I don’t know why, but I felt really nervous. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really have to do much? We obviously prepared all the food but all of this was happening without my control, and like I said, I am a control freak. But in the end it felt good to relinquish it and just hand it over to Meg and the team. I arrived at the hall a couple of hours earlier to let them in and off they went setting up straight away, telling me to go home and get the birthday boy ready. Ahhhh!!
They wanted Kai to arrive a bit before the party started so they could make him feel a little special and also to allow him time to warm up and get to have one on one time with the entertainers, and it was such a good idea. I think that’s a nice touch especially as kids can act differently when in groups. I brought him before the party started and the minute he saw the balloons all over the floor, the tables and the set up he was all over it! The entertainers seriously did such a good job of making sure he felt special before the kids arrived.
The team checked in to make sure we were happy with the outfits (they brought back ups) and they looked just perfect. Of course, Danny and I had to dress up too! All of Kai’s friends started arriving and they were all dressed looking amazing and the entertainers made a start on getting everyone warmed up. It really was so lovely to see the kids laughing and running around together outside of school and I honestly put it down to the entertainers bringing them all together and making them all involved.
When it came to planning the party bags I was really excited. I feel simple is key and I didn’t want to have the same old pencil and a rubber, sweets and some playdoh… so we opted for a fun light up toy (unicorns and rockets, the kids could choose) and some chocolate inside. When it comes to cake it’s always an easy option for us, this was lovingly baked by my dear friend who runs Peach’s Bakery! (The guys at Mystical fairies do provide cakes too though if needed).
The guys were on hand throughout and were more than happy to coordinate the games, which the kids LOVED, and plan the cake and just about anything and everything. They really did go all out to make it as seamless and special for us. I made sure they knew that Kai’s favourite song at the moment is The Grand Old Duke of York, and I can tell you now a highlight of the day for Kai was having everyone march around to that. We also had a fun craft station with tattoos and foil scrapers. Just a nice touch for the kids who fancied a little break from all the games.
The two hours just flew by and before we knew it we’d played all the games, popped all the balloons, eaten all the food and blown out all the candles on the cake. The party bags went down a treat! We were packing up and I can’t tell you how nice it felt to just pop all the lovely gifts and cake into the car with the balloons and not a lot else. We needed a party like this… just to really be able to enjoy it and get involved and I cannot thank Mystcial Fairies enough!
Mystical Fairies offer different packages to suit all party needs and budgets. This party, which included everything apart from food and cake, would’ve cost £650. It’s not every year you’d splash out on such a party, but when it could be the last big one (til maybe his 16th?) I really think it’s worth it! You can get 10% off party with Mystical Fairies just by mentioning UNLIKELY DAD when you contact them. You can find out more at www.mysticalfairies.co.uk and on Instagram @mystical_fairies .
