Last week we had Zoey + Zander’s birthday party! Before we left Erie, Zoey was really concerned that she wouldn’t have her friends at her birthday. It broke my heart a little, and I promised her we would have an amazing birthday party. As the date drew near I felt pressure to deliver on that promise, and began planning what hopefully would be their best birthday party yet. They requested a Harry Potter birthday party.
I will link to everything we used throughout the post, but here is a quick overview with all the links in one place.
Harry Potter Birthday Party details:
Event Location: Desert Colors Resort
Catering: Harmons, Smiths, Crumbl
Photographer: B.Baker Photography
Cake + Cupcakes: Sweet Tooth Fairy, Cupcake Toppers, Harry Potter Candle
Goody Bag Stuffers: Harry Potter Wands + Glasses, Harry Potter Bracelets, Goody Bags, Harry Potter Bookmarks
Decor: Balloons, Balloon Gold Frame, Platform 9 3/4’s Backdrop, Golden Snitch Wings
Activities: Photo Props, Hedwig The Owl Piñata, Have You Seen This Wizard Poster
Planning Our Harry Potter Birthday Party
Planning the perfect event starts with choosing the right location. My mind immediately went to the event center at the Desert Colors pool here in Saint George. The event center is absolutely beautiful, tons of natural light, and beautiful finishings like quartz countertops, tile floors and exposed natural wood beams. The space is outfitted with stylish tables, chairs, couches and even artwork. It’s definitely not your standard event center with fold out chairs and tables.
Outside of the event center you have a heated pool, giant hot tub, gorgeous rooftop deck with a ton of additional seating and stunning views. And if that weren’t enough, there is the one acre lagoon with sandy beaches just steps away. We knew it was the perfect place to host Zoey + Zanders Harry Potter birthday party.
Food + Decor For A Harry Potter Birthday Party
Next on the list was choosing a theme. Zoey + Zander wanted a Harry Potter birthday party and nothing else… At first the idea made me cringe a little because I really didn’t want to throw a tacky looking party in such a beautiful space, so I went to Pinterest. That is where I came up with the idea for a super cute, totally not tacky, Harry Potter birthday party, based on the cake below. We found one similar on Pinterest, sent it to a cake maker, and they did such an incredible job of making what we wanted. The perfect mix of my taste and the kids favorite things.
Once we had a theme picked, next was getting the food and party decor together. I had no idea where to start, but luckily the lifestyle director at Desert Colors had a ton of recommendations. She sent me ideas for catering, balloons, the cake, and more. It made my job SO much easier.
Once all the decor and food had been ordered, I scheduled a photographer. I found Brooke Baker on Instagram, and fell in love with her pictures. She came half hour before the party started to get pictures of the set up and a couple pictures of the family.
The Party!!
Zoey + Zander invited their classes at school, and a few friends we’ve met in the neighborhood. I was really worried about having people show up, since we just moved here. People have been SO welcoming and friendly, but you just never know with people you don’t know that well. We’ve only been here a couple months. It turned out I had nothing to be worried about. So many people showed up to support and celebrate Zoey + Zander at their Harry Potter birthday party. It was really touching to see, and made me feel so good about choosing Saint George as our new home.
The party itself was a huge success. I planned enough food for 80, since that was the RSVP count, and I figured less than that would actually show. We were left with half a tray of sandwiches and some rejected veggies by the end… Next time I will definitely plan for more food than RSVP’s.
Luckily aside from the food I had ordered plenty of treats. In case you didn’t know, Crumbl caters. We got 100 mini cookies, which they were happy to make matching our Harry Potter birthday party colors. They turned out SO cute, and were definitely the most popular food item at the party (no surprise there). We also got a TON of cupcakes, so that we wouldn’t have to cut into the cake, because the cake was an absolute work of art by Sweet Tooth Fairy. We selfishly ate it ourselves a few days later. It tasted even better than it looked, if that is possible.
Saint George Photographer
This is the first time I have actually hired a photographer – other than when Amber lived with us (please come back Amber!!!). Since Kris and I both can take pictures, and I have a nice camera, it has never felt necessary to hire someone else… Brooke completely changed my mind on that. I want her to come to every event we have from here on out. I barely even noticed she was there as she went around capturing photos of the Harry Potter Birthday party and the fun, yet somehow she captured 100’s of gorgeous images. Having her there was a giant stress off my plate. I didn’t worry about taking one picture the whole time, and still had all the memories captured in the most beautiful way.
All our guests commented on the event space. Like every single one. Everyone thought it was absolutely beautiful (because it is) and quite a few people asked me about how they could host their own parties there. I don’t blame them. It was really an incredible space to work with. Head to this link if you want to get in touch with Desert Colors. They book up quickly, so don’t wait.
The Best Party Ever!
After the party Desert Colors employees helped us clean up. They carried all the party decor and empty food trays to my car, and even the kids birthday presents. Then they cleaned up the whole event space for us and while the kids might disagree with me, I think THAT was the best part of the party. Not having to cleanup after a party felt like a dream.
The one hiccup we had was the weather. You can rely on Saint George for blue skies and sunshine almost 300 days a year… BUT of course, we had clouds and rain the day of the party. Thank heavens we did at Desert Colors! The kids stayed warm in the hot tub, the adults stayed warm and dry by the fires, and everyone had access to their big change rooms and hot showers when they were done swimming and ready for party activities and food. Me and the girls had planned to wear matching swimsuits from Tooby Doo, and I didn’t swim, but grabbed a quick picture with my little swimmers before quickly throwing my sweater back on!
All in all, I think I delivered on what I promised to Zoey back in Erie. The kids had the best Harry Potter birthday party ever! I think it topped all the birthday parties we have ever thrown. Thank you Desert Colors!!!!
One Response
Such a magical day!