Andi's 1st bday

Here's Minnie's thank you letter that got me teary-eyed:

"Hi Jacque,

Just want to thank you for all the assistance in putting up a wonderland for the kids and syempre for Andi! We were so happy with the dedicated service you gave from the balloon decors and coordinating with all the suppliers (food carts, side entertainment, host). You know what, pinabilib mo ako when I asked you nasan na si Blink and I said I still need to pay them. Sabi mo ikaw muna nagbayad! hahaha...San ka pa? Coordinator na, nagpaluwal pa! Even sa mga suppliers na hindi under sayo, ikaw ang nakipagcoordinate during the party, just to make sure that di kme mahassle ng asawa ko. =) We are truly grateful for that!

Thank you also sa tyaga with my kaartehan sa mga details. =P hahaha... Napa-wow lahat ng guests sa balloon decors! Super thank you Jacque! You are one of those people who made Andi's 1st birthday a very memorable one...for Andi and to her guests! Looking forward to working with you again. Keep making kids and parents dream of having a memorable party come true! =)"

and here are some pics ...

To God be the glory!

The one with december

Merry Christmas everyone! December has always been my busiest month.  And to welcome the month, I caught colds. waah! I guess it was because of the hectic weekend that was and the fact that i started running (err, walking + jogging = running) might have affected this clogged nose of mine.  But it wont stop me from blogging about how happy i was with the weekend that passed. (wow, it rhymed!) I had two Alice in Wonderland parties that i attended and i'm so blessed to have worked with them. super nice families. :)

Minnie - i've always loved minnie.  The first time we met when she went home for a vacation( they're based in HK), it was an instant connection.  I love it when i feel that connection with my clients.  It's very important that i gain their trust and that they're comfortable telling me what they think and all those things for their kid's party.  And Minnie is one of those clients.  When we met the second time, when they went home days before the party, I have to admit, I got a little pressured.  hahaha.  When she mentioned about how her guests are expecting too much from the party and how one of her friends who got another PP (hehe) will be there and that they might have the same theme...waah! hahaha. But I followed my heart, prayed for it and realized that I'm here to please God, to please my client and that's it. I just worked on what i can and i'm soooo happy that they loved everything. :) Thank you so much minnie! chat with you soon!

~0~

This might be the only weekend that i'm at my most relaxed mode.  But I'm still preparing for three parties this weekend and a corporate event on monday. :) I took the advantage that in between, I get to sneak shop for christmas, and organize the party for seeds of hope foundation on dec 20. yey! praise God for all the blessings and for providing for the sponsors for these kids. :) I'm blessed that almost everyone that i emailed have positively replied. So there's gonna be a party for the kids! I'm so excited! Will post pics soon. :)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Absence

Sorry if this blog has been neglected of my presence for the past months.  It's getting busier by the day and I really don't want to cram this time of the year.

I have a lot of stories and stuff to share, as usual, but at the top of my head, I wanted to share my unusual meeting with a client last week.  I won't disclose any identifying details about my client as it is confidential enough.  Her baby is a product of artificial insemination. yes, what you can only read about from the net is now something where i can say "i know someone who is..." I was pretty shocked when she told me about it.  But realizing about it now, I have more questions to ask her (although im not even sure if she wanted to answer)

~ she mentioned that she does'nt want to have a husband as it's just a headache. she just wants a baby. i never thought of any means to have a baby that to have a husband and have a family.  But of course, reality strikes that there are single parents, broken families, widows and orphans but never in my mind that i can actually say that this child has a mom, just a mom.  I don't want to pass judgements so i'm closing this statement now.
~ I wonder how she will manage to tell it to her kid one day.
~ I wonder if there are other reasons why she went through the process
~ As of this writing, I cannot even point out what i'm thinking about, whether i'm right or wrong.

But more than anything, every child is a blessing. No matter where he came from, how he was formed...a baby will always be a blessing. :)

Growing up

I got a little emotional the day of Dwayne's 2nd bday.  You see, I saw him grow up.  Nikki and Dan got me as their decorator when it was Dwayne's baptism at Discovery Suites.  Then came the party months after at Corinthian Gardens.  And now he just turned two.  How time flies really fast...and I'm so blessed that i'm a part of the special moments of their lives. 

Thank you Nikki and Dan. :)

Gracie + Ryan = Dade

I know I'm really blessed with very nice clients.  God has made sure that my life is easier with the clients He gives me.  And one of them is Gracie.  They got me first at Dade's baptism and she was very satisfied with how the decors and set up turned out.  They love swags and I being very particular with swags, I was glad she was satisfied with our first party together.

Last weekend, Dade turned one and they went home from Dubai to celebrate it with a party! i loved them even more! It was so easy working with them, and they appreciated all our efforts, making me feel like i won a trophy for best party planner. hahaha.  I even saw her running in her stilletos just to see the  venue and the entrance arch. :-)

I know we get paid on what we do but more about the money, when we get thank you's and hugs from our clients, it's even more fulfilling to know that once again, God gave me the chance to make a family happy :)  and these are the things i remember when i feel burn out.  I will look and remember these things and know my real purpose in life. :)

Thanks gracie.  Below is a text message Gracie sent me the night of the party and the day after :)

"Jacque, thank u soooo much for the super gandang party! I love what u did sa party place!! Bongga talaga!! Naku, sa sobrang stress ko di na nga kita natanong if may add'l kami to pay -- sorry ha! just let me know na lang how much. kahiya sayo pati tension ko inabsorb mo na rin. Super duper happy kami and we will be bringing home happy memories of Dade's 1st bday party :) we owe u big time!! hope you got simone a lootbag before you left."

"I'm still not over the party, Jacque! now that i've seen pics, lalo ako na in-love :) than you sooo much for making it happen... I love you sister! and super thanks sa gift mo for Dade -- bonnga talaga ng party :) it means so much to us talaga, lalo na yung pag-asikaso mo ng items and all. you're heaven-sent! God bless u!

Meeting people

I was having a "business" talk with my husband, where we talk about our dreams, our plans for the future and other stuff.  I was telling him how i love my work, having to meet a bunch of new people every week and i always, always learn from them...on how we are as parents, how much we love our kids, and how we juggle being parents and doing what we do.

And he gave me the brightest idea ever...why not compile all the learnings and insights i learn from my clients and compile it into a book. ain't that awesome?! i know not many people will buy it but im sure i'd be able to share things, share God thru that book.

i'm just so excited. and i'll use this blog to start that book. :)

And the world will never know

Being a party planner, i share the joy of celebrating special moments of families, my clients.  And it is with the celebration that even if we get sick or one in our family does, they won't have the slightest idea of what happened.

I had high fever for two days and asked my husband to take me to the hospital on the third day.  It was severe upper UTI.  i was asked if i wanted to be admitted but i said i dont need to and i have parties that weekend.  i was asked to take more rest and destress myself and continue with my antibiotics.  Our parties were fully booked that weekend, as in fully booked. My husband was so supportive he was my "badong" that weekend.  as in, he drove for me the entire time. i even teased him i might get used to it. hahaha.

While i was trying to recover from the UTI, my daughter caught a virus and she had fever too.  I felt sad for simon for he had to take care  of his girls at the same time.  He did'nt have enough sleep either, making sure that we're both comfortable. i felt so blessed having a husband as loving as simon.

And so the weekend passed and non of my clients knew about what happened...and the world will never know...

The one with good feel

I got a text message from a client today. It said, "I got distracted while viewing your site. You are so creative. Buti na lang you resigned from your company"

Reading this felt so good. And i thanked God that He reminded me of how blessed I'am to do what i do now, why i do what i do and feel that somehow i'm doing something right. And i know that i'am coz i know this is what God wants me to do. I'am blessed to say that i can enjoy the best of both worlds..my family and my work. :)

Thank you Lord. :)

3 Mickey Mouse in a day

Praise God for a wonderful weekend! I had three Mickey Mouse clubhouse parties all at the same time. hahaha. And i thank God for giving me the strength, and everything turned out really good. :) I'm blessed that God gave me nice clients. :)

I also had a wonderful time meeting up with Malou, my June 19 client. She ordered before some lootbags for her son and this time, we'll be planning for her daughter's party. I felt so blessed meeting her again and being reminded the reason why i started Partyboosters. I was reminded that everything was an offering we gave to God. that if we heed to His calling, He will be delighted and blessings will come along the way. Thank you Lord for this opportunity. :)

April 10 - 11

I realized, in order for me to maintain the quality of this blog, i will share my experiences of the parties i have every weekend :) and i'll start with a great weekend i just had.

April 10
Abi Sungcal - Mommy Abi is a loyal client. i love working with them as they completely trust us for their party. Her boys always celebrate the same party as they fall near to each other. cool and practical too! thanks abi again!!!

Gladdys - Mommy gladdys is a singapore-based client. i so love working with her, doing online meetings (aka tsismisan). Meeting her was like meeting an old friend. we instantly bonded. not to mention i was able to work with a co-party planner, emie dizer. it was a great team up. i seriously thought everything went well :) thanks gladdys and aldwin and emie too!

Lisette - Mommy Lisette is another loyal client. She's easy to talk to. as in had a quotation laid out for her, revised a bit and voila. and she's very pleasant to deal with. i was happy i was able to work with her request for the cake stand and the host without transpo charge. ahehe. :)

April 11
Lara - Mommy lara had to be one of the genuine, pleasing OC moms i've worked with. there's OC toxic kasi and there's plain OC cool lang. she's got to be the latter. :) she knew what she wanted from the start. and when i get to work with really nice people, giving freebies or additional decors is something i'm very much willing to extend. when i surprised her with her freebies, she hugged me and can't stop thanking me. it was a simple upgrade but the happiness i saw in their eyes were priceless. :) her guests were really nice people too.

Anna - Mommy Anne is the kikay and kwela mom. I actually see myself in her, promise! and she's one loyal client too :) the thing though, we planned the party decors for like 3 days only! hahaha. and it got me nervous thinking that i might not be able to execute it according to her plan. but thank God, everything was good. :) thank you so much!

Shay - Mommy shay is one working mom. my world went ballistic with our last-minute bookings but party was still a blast! im glad she loved the details. we made a very intricate centerpiece for her which i will post in my multiply soon :) thanks shay!!

thank you Lord for giving me good clients! :)

DTI done

For the longest time, I've been waiting for my application online made with DTI to be processed and approved. I've finally given up and decided to do go directly to their office and apply the business name. I don't want to be pessimist or see it as a negative sign but when i went to their mandaluyong office hoping that it would be done within the day. Lo and behold, the address i used (cainta address) should be applied to their provincial office. ok so i then got another form and used our pasig address only to find out that my surname is foreign sounding and should have other supporting documents to prove that i'am a filipino. betcha by golly wow!!!

I lost my temper but i kept my cool and asked an explanation as to why the girl had to let me fill up another form (in two sets) despite of her preliminary "browsing" of my application. I mean, she should have seen the surname before she asked me to fill it out again.

So after a week, i went to the antipolo branch. This time i called their office first to make sure that someone will accommodate and receive my application. The girl i talked to said yes it will be received. so i went there with all the documents in tow and then as soon as i reached their office, they are in the process of trasferring office. hahaha. i wanted to get angry but i can't. i called the same girl who told me that someone will receive my application and told her not to give wrong information. people spend time for this, it's not like it's a stone's throw away. After my speech, they asked me to go to their new office and they accepted my application.

Sometimes, people need to fear on something or that you have to enforce anger or "angas" just so people will treat you fairly.

When being right means refund

This week alone, I cancelled two parties already who were suppose to get services from partyboosters. The first one was an incident that caught me off guard. A client inquired from me originally for decors, host, give aways and food carts. she then cancelled all party items and retained only the food carts. it was fine with me thinking that maybe, her budget would'nt allow what she originally wanted. so she deposited and one morning asked me if i knew the address of the venue. it was a residence so i did'nt know what her exact address is so i simply replied with "no, please send exact address". i was shocked to read her reply saying "how can you accept payment without even knowing where the venue is? is this how you handle business?" i was more surprised and confused then later got angry about why she replied that way. Then i explained that i was referring to the exact address which she did'nt give and told her that she does'nt have any right to ask me how i do business as i've been accommodating her for the longest time and i was fine with all her revisions until her text. i asked for her account number and i refunded her payment. the following day, she apologized.

Another client snapped at me. She confirmed like 5 days before her party and finalized that she will also add ceiling decors after i convinced her to add the ceiling decors as it will look really bare. So when she decided to add, i informed her that we'd have to rent out scaffolding for the decors since we party planners all rent out scaffolding. She got mad as to why it was only now that i informed her about it. The answer because I did'nt know what she will confirm for her party. she originally didnt want the ceiling decors so why would i inform about the scaffolding in the first place. She apologized immediately and asked if we can accommodate her given the constraints. Personally I wanted still but a big part of me values my relationship with my clients and if we'd work because we're stuck with each other, I don't want that to happen. So i gladly refund the payment as well.

I know that having to refund means some loss as you've exerted effort already and also expected that you'll do business with your clients but then again, these happen and i value what i have with my clients. :)


Another client had a burst of emotions when she emailed me her final order and dimensions of the ballroom. finally knowing about her order, i then explained to her the situation that we might need to rent a scaffolding and all that. before i can even try to find a way for her not to shell out more money, she replied with why did'nt i inofrm her earlier? i could have but i have'nt gotten her final order until a week before the party so that's the only time i can inform her about our situation. anyway, i told her i could decorate it still but after reading her email of wanting to cancel, i thought then it might be the better option. she again emailed and apologized for her burst of emotions and asked if i can accommodate her party. given the situation, i think it's best to work with a different supplier. :)

just want to share my share of experiences with clients from all walks of life...hehehe.

From east to south to north

I will make a more detailed posting about how my weekend went but one of the many things i did was to drive from rizal, to cavite and then fairview. whew! good thing it was a sunday and the traffic was not at all that bad, considering that it was hearts' day. but man, the drive was so tiring still. i'm just so glad that my clients were all happy with what we did and all the stress was worth it. :)

It was a good weekend

I've always anticipated weekends because it's party time for me once again. Saturday is my Monday. The weekend that passed was a pretty good one. I had four parties all in all. Clar's party (Lucas' 1st) was a blast. I loved how we did our swags and loved it more that her family raved about it :) It was also nice to see a familiar face, Kim of Let's paint the town red. Sabi ko nga, "aha, enjoy na enjoy ka at guest ka sa party ha. " hahaha. you see, it's very seldom for us party planners to come to a party that we did'nt organize/work at. that's why when that opportunity comes, you grab it and enjoy it bit by bit! haha.

There was also Ninet's party (EMAN's 7th) at Fun Ranch Alabang. And oh man, naloka ako with the miscommunication or misunderstanding that we had. as in, i was frantic for a while but grateful that ninet understood me and the situation was under control. :)

There was also Jacqui's baptismal reception of Migo's, her third child. i'm so thankful when my clients get me not once, but twice and going on third pa. kakataba ng puso. and even more grateful when you find out that almost one table of her guests were your clients already. ahehe. thanks jacqui for trusting us always.

I won't post pictures as of now since i've a lot of backlogs for uploading my party pics in my multiply site. that's it for now. :)

First time

Wow, i just created a blog for partyboosters. i hope i'd be able to maintain this blog. my multiply site has a blog tab there but i can't blog there feeling that's the site if too "official" to be posting personal stories of my experiences as a party planner.

I hope this blog will deem its purpose of being updated with stories of my life as a work-at-home mom and how it has been an effective set-up for my family. I also hope that this blog will be updated of the pictures that i will take from the pictures that we help organize.

Welcome partyboosters to the blogging world!