How to Plan a Last Minute Birthday Party
Dessert Table: decorated by Sister 2. Baked goods by me! (Except for the Costco cookies. They were not my choice!)
Let me start by saying I have no idea how we pulled this off in less than two weeks. My sisters and I had been floating the idea of a surprise party for my mom’s milestone birthday for like three years! We’re all pretty Type A (well, I’m like a Type B+), so the fact that we had nothing set in stone three weeks before my mother’s birthday was absolutely insane and completely unlike us.
My mom arriving to her surprise party!
Was that going to stop us??
Absolutely not!
Here’s how we did it.
Step 1: Find a venue.
Fortunately, we’d had a venue in mind since the idea’s inception. The banquet hall of a local Mexican restaurant provided a decent sized room as well as several menu options that would suit many diets.
Venue: Check!
Food: Check!
That was the easy part. Well, sort of… The restaurant also wanted a headcount.
Step 2: Get a headcount.
First, we had to sneak onto my mother’s cellphone to steal 15+ contacts for her close friends. Sister 2 created a nice digital postcard/invitation to send to invitees, but of course we had to call as well.
Getting a headcount when half the guests give you a “maybe, but most likely yes” made things incredibly difficult, but we managed to get a solid “yes” from most of them two days before the event. We went from a small party of under 30 people to 50+ guests about 48 hours before the party, but don’t worry. Sister 2 and I get carried away with projects and parties. We had it covered!
Sugar-free birthday cake made by me!
Step 3: Plan theme and décor.
Sister 2 said green, white, and gold. She wanted to decorate with eucalyptus and gold accents, and I said “sure, why not!” because I can’t decorate. At all. It’s quite sad.
You’ll have to ask her about the details because I have zero clue how she planned it. I do know that she used Amazon and bought way too much. It’s how she does things.
Step 4: Plan the dessert table.
Okay, okay! It’s my time to shine!!
I’m always looking for project, so naturally I decided to go BIG with my mom’s birthday party and chose to do a dessert table with a small birthday cake, mini cheesecakes, and French macarons in several flavors.
I also needed to keep in mind that both of my parents are diabetic, as well as several family members, and other guests at the party.
There is an abundance of sugar free recipes online. I decided to go with:
1. Sugar free almond flour cake with strawberries
2. Sugar free cheesecake slices with jam and berries
3. Regular French macarons in three flavors.
a. Mint & Chocolate
b. Vanilla Bean
c. Honey
I can be impulsive, but I was determined to do this right!
Sugar replacements are easily found, and after much reading, I settled on Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener with Erythritol. I purchased it on Amazon, but it’s also available at Target and Ralph’s.
Even with al of my planning, things go wrong. My candy thermometer decided to stop cooperating after the second batch of macarons and there were no suitable replacements nearby, so I had to order one from Amazon and pivot to the other baking. An emergency trip to Costco, Joann’s, and Target, and I was mostly back on schedule, but definitely rushed.
Honestly, we all felt like we were pulling this event out of our asses, and it wasn’t until 30 minutes before the start of the event that we looked at each other and thought “this is going to be great!”
And it was!
My mom was almost in tears when she walked in, the food was great, and the dessert table was such a hit!
We couldn’t stop staring at the dessert table. My sisters and I were so impressed with what we had pulled off.
I’ll be posting the detailed recipes soon!