Luna's First Birthday Party

We did the whole crazy big Korean first birthday shindig.  And yes, it was quite crazy, only because I'm the mommy and I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to greet all the guests; keep Luna occupied, fed, and happy; and still keep my composure in a dress, too-much makeup, and heels. Overall, it went fairly well despite my crazy and pitiful rantings about how I wanted to do it my way and whatnot.  I was pleasantly content with what I was given and Husband was fairly satisfied with the service of the venue.

My little princess was indeed a princess.  She was dressed in a white dress (as all little Korean birthday/mini-wedding protagonists should be) and stomped around in matching shoes that were all provided complimentary by the venue.  Her little pigtails and her big personality were no match for the numerous tables and chairs that dared to stand in her way.

From food, decorations, Masters of Ceremony (MC), to slideshow, it was all provided by the venue. All we prepared were birthday favors, photographers for the event (our friends), giant paper mache letters of LUNA, her booster chair, and mommy adornments. In weeks prior to the event, we went to a self-studio where the studio provides the studio, clothes, and camera (at a price, of course) and Daddy took the pictures.  It isn't professional photography, given that we are not experienced photo-takers but it was good enough for us.

Luna did the traditional doljabi the non-traditional way since Koreans like to use their space efficiently.  That means that Luna didn't crawl or walk up to one of the objects to grab it, but little miniature versions of the doljabi was placed on a tray for her to pick up.  For those of you who are not Korean, doljabi is a traditional event during the birthday party where different significant objects are placed in front of the child.  The object that the child picks up will be determinant of what the child's adult life would be like.  Normally, the objects are money for wealth, a ball of string for a long life, stethoscope or a medicine bag for becoming a doctor, book for becoming a scholar, some sort of musical instrument for becoming a musician, and whatever else you want to add.  You can add a ball for an athlete, a kitchen utensil for a cook, etc. The sky is the limit really.  Some choose to go a totally different route where they print pictures of famous celebrity women for a birthday boy to choose as his wife. lol

We are not superstitious whatsoever and actually wanted to go with Bible characteristics but that meant that the MC would need to know the Bible well in order for him to MC well, so we ditched that idea.  We are also not one of those parents that practice the doljabi for weeks at home to train the child to pick up a certain object. haha So when it came time for the doljabi, Luna was essentially given a bunch of strange objects (from her perspective) that doesn't belong to her.  Luna is a smart, careful baby.  She doesn't grab at things that she doesn't know.  In fact, she pussyfoots A LOT. At the doljabi, she kept touching the things, poking it quite a bit, but not grabbing any of it.  After two tries, we propped up the money on its side so its more visible and that's what she went for--she went for paper. hahahaha Paper is something she is very familiar with. She plays with it everyday! She loves flipping through her books and sometimes even ripping out pages.

Alright, so where did we hold our birthday party?  We booked a place called BOM Party in Bundang (Sunae Stn) like three months prior to the event.  The woman thought I was crazy for booking so late.  Apparently, parents book birthday venues when the kid is like three months old.

BOM Party is a small venue with two banquet halls, one seating from 60 to 80 people and the other seating from 70 to 100.  They really do have the place set up to look like a wedding and you can easily do a wedding there because it is quite pretty.  The flowers are all fake though.  I actually stood in front of the flowers and even stuck a little bit of tulle in between the flowers without noticing that they were fake!  Goes to show how much money they put into these fake floral arrangements. Their buffet is set up within the banquet hall so you're not going to a buffet line with the other party's guests. And their food is quite okay.  It's not hotel food, but good.  There is no minimum number of guests you have to pay for; you pay for the number of people that show up for the party so that's really great too.

 I got the makeup and hair done by a place called SuDa at Sincheon Station.  I swear, if I had the time to do it myself, I probably would have done a better job...and I am no make-up artist!  In some of the pictures, it looks like I have a lazy eye, which I don't.  But, that's how they did the make-up and in some pictures, my left eyelid looks droopy.  The makeup or eyelashes must've moved around or something.  Never again!  Also, I should've gone with my instincts and worn glasses.  By the end of the day, bags underneath the eyes and the puffiness comes out and so I look really really tired in the photos.  Also, the lady didn't know what the heck to do with my hair.  A seasoned stylist will know what to do even if the person getting the hair done doesn't.  Because my hair is short, the woman was at a loss and when I said, do something cute, this is what I ended up with.  I specifically told her that I was not wearing a hanbok, and she put my hair in a fashion where I should've been. ugh. Whatever.

We got the self-studio photos done at BeBe Story.  The place was close and the facilities were pretty good, though I have nothing to compare it to.  The clothes that are available aren't phenomenal but you're not there to take phenomenal photos of the clothes, but of the phenomenal child in those clothes.  The rates were decent, but I would definitely recommend taking your own camera because trying to use a camera you're not used to all within an allotted time is not cool...that is of course, unless your camera isn't a DSLR.

LISTEN UP!! I'M SPEAKING!! 

 BUTTONS!! 

 I am definitely getting use out of my shoes...for my wedding and this mini wedding for Luna.

I don't know if I'm leaving anything out, but at this point, I'm too tired to think of anything else. Bah. Time to sleep.  

P.S. the links page has been updated

Next up: Home-made toys for Luna