Old is Gold: Granny's Birthday

October has officially become my busiest month this year. Having planned three birthdays already and currently planning three more birthdays, I have been too preoccupied to be able to even breathe at times.

If by reading the above lines you feel I am complaining, then let me tell you I am far from it. Yes it has been chaotic but its worth it when you see that smile when you scream SURPRISE.

My maternal grandmother turned 86 this month . Freshly out of the hospital after being treated for heart burn, she was just settling in her normal routine. At that age, all you want is to spend some quiet time with family. And that's what we did.

Being a weekday we arrived at her place in the evening after work. Being a birthday we brought with us her favorite Butterscotch Crackle cake from Merwans and sang along as she blew the candles. As far as gift was concerned, as there is a wedding coming up in the family we bought her a heavy sari that she could wear for one of the functions.

The one thing I always focus on is the surprise element . Taking her age into consideration  I decided to keep it simple. I am made sure she believes that her we all were busy with work and had no time to spare. But evening as we all started pouring in her smile broadened. That moment was picture perfect.

We ordered in her Masala Dosa from her favorite restaurant Radhakrishna for dinner. Some of coke and some old stories. That's all took to make it a night to remember.  


Gyaan:
Life is not only about grand moments but it is also about the small events. If you want to do anything for the birthday girl/boy, do it. No matter how small or how big the gesture it maybe. Your intent & feelings that's what really matters.

As I always say as long as you keep it simple and a surprise you are good to go.

This is your serial gifter signing out,

Untill my next gift,

Cheers,
Manasi Kabadi

60th Birthday: A Diamond birthday

Birthday celebrations are meant to be loud & filled with surprises right?. Well this party that we had on 30th August 2015 at Regency Banquet Hall, Andheri for my masi's 60th birthday was loud and filled with surprises for the birthday girl.

The entire event was my cousin's vision and my execution and personal touches which is why I am sharing the same with you. Hope you enjoy it.

60th Birthday Party:
It all started with getting the list of people and booking the perfectly placed hall for the party & Regency fitted perfectly for the occasion. The ambience at the newly furnished hall was perfect for an intimate gathering of about 60 people like ours.

We did not specifically have a theme for the party as it was an adult party. We tried to keep thing simple to honour to the simplicity of the birthday girl.

Cake:
60th birthday being a diamond birthday, a chocolate(eggless) cake in diamond shape was arranged. I ordered this one from Not Just Desserts, Wadala. It was moist and chocolaty even though it was eggless.

Decoration:
We knew we wanted something personalized and going by our theme, simple. We opted for a hand made banner , hand made greeting card which was decorated with pictures & a handmade flower arrangement of 60 sticks of glads to mark her age. After putting up the banner we thought we should do something more. That's how we came up with the idea of writing wishes on craft paper & sticking it up on strings of rope. Completely last minute but brilliant.

Program:
As the birthday girl was completely clueless we had even printed a program of the event for her. This was printed from a local printer shop with a glossy finish. The number 60 gave it a nice touch.

Return Gifts:
It essential to be thankful to the guest who graced the celebration. We packed up a nice glass candle stand & Toblorone chocolate bars as a return gift. Along with thanks we even added the words 'Sonya Sarkhe Raha...' on the gift as they are the birthday girl's blessing to all. This added another touch to the gifts and made the guest feel special.

Gyaan:
(At the end of every blog I will be giving you some gyaan to help you in the task of gifting)
The key to making any party successful is to focus on two set of people-the birthday girl & the guest.
All arrangements need to be around the them and their comfort and interest. This guarantees that everyone enjoys the party and has a gala time. 

All and all as long as you keep it simple and a surprise you are good to go.

This is your serial gifter signing out,

Untill my next gift,

Cheers,
Manasi Kabadi
   

Introduction

Should I buy this or should I buy that?

Will she like this? Does she need that?
Baffling questions to some. But exciting to some. Like me.

Me being a 24 year old serial gift giver from Mumbai mostly know as the official gift consultant in the family.I have arranged birthdays, anniversaries, parties, surprise parties, naming ceremony , etc .

This blog is going to be me simplifying the herculean task that is gifting through my experiences & some tricks that I learnt on the way.

So stay tuned as I share my passion of gifting with you.

LOVE,

Manasi Kabadi