For my daughter’s 3rd birthday celebration, we chose a dress up princess party theme with lots of sweet treats and balloons.
Roma’s Princess and Dress Up Themed 3rd Birthday Party
Our feisty, smart, strong-willed, funny, silly, and gorgeous daughter is 3 years old! We couldn’t be more proud of the independent, brave little girl that she is and we were happy to celebrate her birthday with a party fit for a princess!
Roma loves everything about dress-up, especially princess dresses and accessories. When I was thinking about her birthday party theme, I knew we had to have some level of dress-up and some level of princess. So, the party included a full dress-up station! We also had a balloon twister, a face painter, and Disney princess performances. And plenty of food, treats, and drinks for the adults who wanted to kick back *a little extra* while their kids played!
For the setup, we rearranged our furniture to accommodate all the people and make it more magical. We pushed our dining room table to the wall to make a food table. On this table, when people arrived, the food was already out. We used Whole Foods catering and got tons of grilled veggies, raw veggies, quesadillas, sandwiches, and fruit. We wanted people to be able to eat as they wanted. And of course, we had a basket filled with kids snacks for munching on the go, along with Honest Kids apple juice pouches and plenty of water.
We brought up our kids art table and set it up with these Melissa & Doug dress up characters for kids to hang out and play with while they waited to get their faces painted, balloon animals made, or while they ate. The kids loved this area and ended up hanging out there and playing with some of our house toys, too. In this area, we also had this princess tent for kids to play in, which was also very loved.
In the kitchen, we set up Roma’s Princess Punch for kids and on the other end of the kitchen island, we had a station with all of the adult beverages and the birthday cake on display (we figured this was safer than near the kids’ things) as well as the cupcakes and cookies.
Unfortunately, since it was drizzling a bit in the beginning of the party (from 11-12ish), we had to move the balloon twister and face painter inside, which made it a little packed and sweaty inside at first, but our guests were so understanding and since the kids were having a blast and no one minds a little drizzle, everyone still had a great time. After the skies cleared, we moved the balloon twister and face painter outside so people could have a bit of breathing room (my original vision was to have it outside so that people could dress up while they waited for their balloon animal or face painting turn.)
Outside, we had the dress up station. For a backdrop, the lovely Adriana from Balloon With Me created a beautiful display using arches and neutral pink balloons. With Roma’s name decal, it was the perfect backdrop for the dress up. I got this standing mirror so the kids could see themselves and basically loaded up on inexpensive dress up goodies for the kids (this was actually part of Roma’s birthday gift – accessories for her dress up collection!) There were superhero capes and masks, tutus, crowns, doctor jacket with stethoscope, sparkly princess capes, hair accessories, hats, glasses, jewelry, dinosaur tails, swords and shields for the knights, firefighter and policeman costumes, and more. The kids had so much fun with it!
Since we invited her school class which includes boys and girls, I tried to have the dress-up incorporate familiar characters for boys too while welcoming anyone to dress up however they’d like.
Speaking of Adriana from Balloon With Me, she also set up two balloon castle towers for me to use as inside decor and big letters (R, O, M, A and the #3) outside stuffed with balloons. I was obsessed and can’t wait to use her again for future parties! If you are local, definitely consider – she’s a teacher and does this on the side with the help of her husband and is so incredibly talented.
As for the princesses….
When people first entered, the plan was to greet everyone with Elsa and Roma, giving them a magic Rice Krispie treat wand and tons of bubbles. Since it was raining lightly for the beginning of the party, we left the bubble machine outside and moved Elsa inside and she gave out the treats for a bit (until Roma took her hand and wanted to spend time with her – which was adorable, unplanned, and made us so happy!)
Then, around 12:30pm, Belle arrived and she crowned Roma an official princess. Roma ate this up – she loved every second of it. I love the photos from this part of the party, because she was clearly in heaven. Belle danced with the kids, sung some songs, read stories, and gave prince and princess lessons. Luckily, by this point, it was no longer raining and the sun came out! Belle sang happy birthday and helped Roma blow out her candles!
We gave out goodie bags filled with playdough kits, lollipops, chocolate. glow bracelets, and superhero masks on everyone’s way out. Roma helped me say goodbye to her guests and then there was a little after party with her close friends while she opened some of her gifts. It truly was the perfect day, and I know Roma loved it all.
Vendors
I’d like to thank all of the amazing vendors who made this party the success that it was!
Sugartown Bakery: rice krispie treat wands.
Hudson Cakery: birthday cake and cupcakes
Double Dough: custom princess, crown, and 3 cookies
Once Upon A Princess: Belle princess character
Jersey City Party Characters: Elsa princess character
Magical Teamwork: balloon twister and face painter
Adriana of Balloon With Me: balloon decor and dress up back drop
All photos by Erin Dwyer Photography.
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