La Vida Birthday ~ The Way To Organize The Frilliest Birthday

It's odd to think that in a little over 3 weeks, I'll be 21. Over these many years of having birthday party after party, I've seen a lot of great ideas and tips come out from the imagination of both myself and my mother. Though not till in the last three years have they been influenced by lolita, they've all had something neat to embrace and share. But what about if you want to throw something on the frilly side, and not just the usual birthday flair? Here are some helpful tips!

1) Pick Something Fun and Frill!
If it be a sleepover, a trip to a special place, a dance party or all combined, pick something you want to do! Even if the thing you chose isn't exactly lolita related, make it relate in your own special way. If it's going to be a sleepover, picked lolita related movies or create lolita versions of games. If it's going to be a trip going celebration, pick a frill friendly place! I love going to places like Soho (Tarina Tarantino and Betsey Johnson, anyone?) and getting something delicious to eat with friends (Cafe Angelique is adorable). If you decide on a dance party, have fun creating a fantasy playlist of the coolest and cutest tracks! One of my favorite bands to dance to is Alphabeat, who have a great mix of cute lyrics and delicious 80's inspired beats!

2) Buy yourself a new birthday/party dress or come up with a cute new coordinate! Every birthday, if I can, I buy myself a new dress to celebrate the occasion! I always love to pick something ridiculously pink and fluffy to the core, to fits my style and price range (I never spend more then $150 if I can!) For those of you who don't have the budget for a new dress, come up with an amazing coordinate out of your favorite colors and items if your wardrobe! I'm a sucker for themes ~ pick something in lolita that you love. For me I adore Carousels or old toys, which could be my theme this year. Celebrate yourself in a color, theme and style that represents you on your special day! If you want to get something new for your outfit, but don't want to get a new dress, get a new jewelry piece! My favorite place to buy pricey yet beautiful quick additions is Top Shop. They may not be the cheapest, but they are amazing accessories that are just as good as brand pieces, like this Pocket Watch Necklace!

3) Plan even more!
After the essential ideas and plans are mapped out, it's best to dig into the details. Make a list of times for people to arrive, food to prepare, and music to play! What movies should you watch? Wait...

What Movies Should You Watch!? Here are some ideas
For Classic Style: Little Women (1995)
For Sweet Style: A Journey Through Fairy Land (1985)
For Gothic Style: Panna a Netvor (Beauty and the Beast) (1979)

You might also wanna try some frill related games! Create a Lolita based trivia game or play games like Clue - whoever wins gets prizes! Don't go crazy, but you could make something like a batch of cookies or some handmade jewelry. Either way you can be extremely creative and fun with it.


4) Decorate your cake with something about yourself
No matter what, store bought or homemade - make sure your cake is personal. Some years, I've let the cake step aside and I end up disappointed, as I find the cake or delicious baked good the best part of the celebration. The cake should speak volumes of what you love and like, so everyone can share in what makes you amazing - just like the cake! I also go to little cheap toy stores and by in-expensive figures of my favorite characters or use ones I still have from when I was a kid. Check out etsy for tons of fun things to put on your cake. You can even print out pictures of Misako Aoki or Amo, laminate them and put them on sticks to put on the cake for a nice touch. This year I'm going with an Icebox Cake (picture above)! It's made of chocolate circle cookies stack on top of one another with lots of white frosting!

and finally....
Have fun at your party!
It is your birthday after all and hopefully this list makes it a little more fun then the usual bash!