Barbie Spa Birthday Party

Children's birthday parties are such a JOY for me to be a part of.....especially when the client is my very own daughter! In true fashion of how we help our client dream beyond their greatest expectations, still holds true when the client is 5 years old!  Barbie Spa Birthday Party, here we come!  Pink was the obvious starting point and after that, using what was already around the house incorporated into the theme perfectly.  Barbie's FIAT, bathtub, chaise lounge & dressing table provided perfect containers to display nail polish, nail files, hair clips and goodies.  From different shades of pink icing, bright pink paper popcorn containers and fresh colorful fruit, the theme was carried through.  The giggles & laughter of eight 5 year olds painting nails, getting glitter tattoos, eating jelly beans & dancing around made this party a fabulous success! All these little ladies were reminded about being beautiful on the inside as they begin to create their own place in this BIG world.  Needless to say, the "client" was over the moon about her special day and reminded me again how I love what I do!

Saskatoon Spring Sprint

RSVP Event Design had the pleasure of being part of Spring Sprint 2012 an event in support of Brain Tumour Research.  Last year you may remember us blogging about Kol Friggstad.  Kol was the spokesperson for the 2011 event.  It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Kol.  Kol passed away this spring from his two year battle with a brain tumour.  RSVP Event Design has had the honor of assisting with the planning of this event.  It amazes me each year the generosity, compassion and support that this event provides to survivors and families that are there to remember loved ones.  This year although the sun did not shine, Kol was not able to be there with us....we continued on.  Supporting and caring for one another as we walked in support of Brain Tumour Research.  A special thank-you to Stephanie Lawton who was the spokesperson for this year's event.  Stephanie shared with us the struggles of being the survivor and her families journey with her mom's illness.  I am honored each year to standby the start line and look out at all the "blue" shirts (survivor's) and say....ready set RUN!

www.braintumour.ca

Thanks again Spring Sprint for another inspirational event! See you in 2013!

Outdoor Events in the unpredictable Saskatchewan Prairies!

Imagine with me….. a bright blue sky, glowing golden sun, light breeze, temps at an even +25, no wind  not a mosquito in sight. Ah… A typical outdoor event in Saskatchewan.

Isn't that how we picture all of our outdoor events? Reality tells us that on any given day, our outdoor event can be a seamless event or a day riddled with stressful situations.  Through first hand experience our team at RSVP has had the pleasure of being part of many outdoor events!    In planning an outdoor event there are many different “elements” to consider. Weather, permits, location, food logistics are just a few…and did I mention WEATHER!

When planning outdoor events you must always have a plan B! With Saskatchewan weather being so unpredictable your beautiful outdoor wedding or backyard party can become a muddy mess very soon!

Tents and shelters are good things! Make sure that you have a tent or shelter booked as a backup! This is will allow you to sleep at night! Park permits, noise bylaws, tent markings, food safe permits are something that might not be on your radar. By hiring an event planner, we will see that all the proper steps are taking so that your event will come off without a hitch!

So...after reading all that, do you still want to hold your event outdoors? We hope so! With preplanning, a contingency plan and a great Team at RSVP Event Design to assist you in all of  planning and executing of your next outdoor event. It is bound to be a great success!

Developing the ability to be and stay organized!

A friend once said to me “touch paper once and deal with it.” If you go to the effort of picking it up, do something with it so you don’t have to pick it up again. Along with this same premise is the concept “complete a task right away if it will take you less than 5 minutes to do so” – everyone has 5 minutes in a day to complete the job. Putting it away or avoiding it till later only keeps it in your head and on your list sometimes, indefinitely.

So being and staying organized is a mixture of action, intention and follow-through. Things become unorganized when we say to ourselves “I will get to that later.” Just deal with it now and get it done – later often never comes.

Part of creating an organized lifestyle is knowing, what system works for you. In our office, many of us keep information and to do lists in notebooks. When I flip through the pages of my notebook, all my meeting pages have dates so I can look back to discussions and ideas as events develop. I can keep to do lists alongside meeting notes and use a system of an * highlighting my action items after every meeting. When jobs are done and pages in my notebooks are complete, and events are complete I use a diagonal line across the page to visually inform myself there is nothing else to see or do here. My job is complete which also provides a sense of accomplishment.

Finally the act of writing and re-writing to do lists keeps projects fresh and up to date while not losing key follow-through items along the way. Although it sounds tedious, the act of re-writing your action items gets the details out of your head, onto paper and ready for completion.

In summary remember four points of action when starting to get organized and creating your own organizing strategies:

1.       Touch paper once – deal with it!

2.       If it takes less than 5 minutes to do it…then just do it!

3.       Put things back where they belong the very first time

4.       Buy a notebook and create lists

Shabby Chic 1st Birthday Party

I feel as though I have blinked my eyes and a year has passed, as I start to plan my daughters, Shabby Chic 1st Birthday Party. So much emotion is involved with any event, and a 1st birthday is no different.


Throughout this past year, vintage items have been passed down and collected and in turn, this has created an ongoing style for my daughter’s nursery and now birthday party.

A few elements that will define the look for this memorable bash are:

1. Vintage typewriter – This typewriter was given to me as a gift when I was a little girl and it will be the perfect addition to the guest book table. Guests will type birthday wishes on textured cream paper and it will become a perfect keepsake for the baby book.

2. Antique Teacups & saucers – My grandmother has given me a few sets of beautiful, floral teacups & saucers over the past few years and I have started to be on the lookout for them when antiquing. These eclectic dishes will set the tone for a dainty afternoon.

3. Custom party hats – My sister-in-law gave me the most adorable 1st Birthday Vintage party hat which has now created the activity for the older kids to create at the party. They will be crafting custom hats with pearls, buttons, lace & feathers.

4. The Table – Like any party, the food & beverage is one of the highlights. Using lace tablecloths, retro fabric flags, and modern dishes mixed with old vintage items will create the perfect backdrop to delicious bite size treats & candies.

5. Storybook Favors – To finish the party, classic storybooks will be handed out to the children as they go home.

Combining all of these elements together will create the Shabby Chic 1st Birthday that my daughter, won’t ever remember!!!!, but will be able to look back on through photographs for a lifetime and see the love that has surrounded from the beginning.

Kimberly Evans
Partner & Director of Special Events
RSVP Event Design, Decor & Rentals

Planning the Perfect Home Christmas Party

So I’m sure you are all getting pretty overwhelmed with the crazy busy holiday season. If you’re hosting a Christmas party the stress level goes up a few notches! We at RSVP have a little experience in this area so I thought I’d pass on some wisdom…



What to do, what to do …

We all go to so many Christmas parties that it’s often hard to come up with something creative to make yours look a little different! This year for our staff party we are doing an around the world theme. We are each bringing dishes that reflect our heritage. This (hopefully) will result in an opportunity to try new things and learn more about each other. This could even go a step further and involve sharing traditions or costumes!

Other themes could include a Chocolate Factory -where every dish has to somehow include chocolate (Chocolate martini’s anyone?), a color theme – A white Christmas where everyone wears white, or be inspired by your favourite Christmas movie – an Elf theme might include a lot of Maple Syrup!

A Winter Wonderland

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful…” We know all to well how it would just be easier to stay home in the cold evenings of winter. Let’s come up with some ways to make your guests feel warm and cozy and right at home! If possible putting a fire on is a great idea. Lots of Christmas lights and candle light can warm the space right up! Even having a few nice throw blankets around the room can allow your guests to cuddle up on the couch and enjoy the evening and the company. Having a variety of warm foods and drinks will also warm up your guests when they come out of the cold. Consider specialty coffees or hot chocolates served with warm sticky toffee pudding or fresh out of the oven pumpkin pie!



Make it easy…

The most important element of a Christmas party is entertaining your guests, the second is making it easy on yourself! Having a themed potluck allows others to contribute, opportunities to be creative, and takes some of the stress away. Have guests bring their favourite board games or movies for entertainment. Planning a gift exchange is always a great source of entertainment and there are lots of options to spice things up! Another way to take away stress is to minimize dishes. At RSVP, we rent a variety of plates, stemware, and flatware. Renting a place setting will make your space look beautiful and we do the dishes! You can also rent linens, napkins, and décor so come see us as your planning the perfect home Christmas party!

The Takedown

I am going to talk about the aspect of weddings that nobody likes to mention: the takedown. Oh, the dreaded takedown! It is so much more fun setting up a wedding and making everything look beautiful than it is to tear it all down. It’s great to see the months (and in some cases years) of hard work and ideas come to life but taking it all down and loading it out is a completely different story.




Some venues allow you to come back the next day and take down but more often than not, everything has to be taken down the night of the wedding. That means every single chair cover, sash, candle, cake stand, favour box etc has to be out the door. Let’s face it, the last thing the bride and groom want to do is untie 200 chair covers and sashes at 2:00 in the morning after the biggest day of their life! Although your family and friends may not admit it, it is also the last thing they want to do. Weddings are fun and emotional but they are also very exhausting and by 2:00 am and after 4 glasses of wine most bridal parties are spent!



When hiring a wedding planner it is very important to find out exactly what they take care of and what is up to the bride and groom



• Will they tear down tables and chairs if the venue requires it?

• Do they clear place settings, including cutlery and glasses?

• Will they mop floors and wipe down tables if necessary?

• Can they remove empty bottles from the venue and return for recycling?

• Do they charge a minimum of time for takedowns?

• Do they charge extra for after 2:00 am or on long weekends?

• Will they return all of the rentals including those that were not rented through them?



The return of rental items is a very big issue. You might have rented items from 5 different rental companies and they all have to be returned the day after your wedding. Do you want to wake up the day after your wedding and spend hours driving around the city returning chair covers, arches, candles, cake stands etc? Do you even have the right vehicle to facilitate this?



At RSVP Event Design we take care of everything for the takedown and I mean everything! We do not charge a minimum of time or any extra for coming in at 2:00 am. We will come in and untie every chair sash, wipe down tables, climb ladders to remove ceiling draping and even mop floors. We will return everything even if it is not rented through us. It’s not the most glamourous part of our job, but as the planner it is a very big part of our job and we are happy to do it!