ARWEN & ARYA’S 1st Birthday Party | Game Of Thrones X Lord Of The Rings

GUYS.

Aaaaaaarggghhhhh I’m freaking out!!!
Arwen and Arya turned 1! One. Year. Old. Out of the blue. 😱
I haven't even gotten the chance to blog about my wedding, birth story, life with twins (and everything else in between) and yet, they decided to sprout 🌱 just like that.

Arwen dressed as Arwen Undomiel from Lord Of The Rings | Arya dressed as Arya Stark from Game Of Thrones | Myself dressed as Galadriel from Lord Of The Rings | Ant dressed as... himself -_-

 

Anyway.

I apologize in advance if the timing of this post is not quite right. As I'm typing this (25 July 2020), the world is still struggling because of the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic, and there is no known cure or vaccine for it yet. A lot of people and businesses (ours as well) have been affected quite badly, and overall, 2020 has been a very weird year for us all.

Most of us, I believe, are also trying our best to stay alert and avoiding any kind of activities that might cause the virus to spread, e.g. traveling, meetings, or any kind of gatherings, including a birthday party like this (which was held on 16 February 2020 ~ the first confirmed case in Indonesia was on 2 March 2020).

Feeling this meme 100%... swap the cat with two babies dangling around and voila, it's me!

As for myself, I'm eating clean, taking my vitamins daily, trying to stay positive (quick reminder: stress could reduce our immune system!) and of course, I'm staying home most of the time with the kids, so I figured, heyyy, isn't this the perfect time to blog? Right here right now. Kinda miss blogging like this, though!

By all means, I hope when you're reading this, you're doing okay (and your family and friends as well), and if somehow you're not, I hope this post could at least lighten up your day and make you feel like you're part of Arwen and Arya's party. 🤗

So, without further ado, I welcome you to:

Arwen and Arya's

1st Name Day

Welcome, M'Lady! M'Lord!

Let me take you to our first destination, THE decor. 🎊

Is it just me, or do you also think this is really, REALLY COOL!!?

And how cute are those mini Iron Thrones!!!?!??!!?!?? 😱💘💘💘

I was so psyched the moment I saw this 3D backdrop because:

1. It's SO BIG, like, it's 3x3m y'all!

2. It's even better than the initial design

3. It's totally the way I want it:

A combination of Lord Of The Rings (where I got the name Arwen from) AND Game Of Thrones (where I got the name Arya from), but still with kiddy touch, because it's babies' birthday party, afterall. 😂 I've browsed around for GOT and LOTR party inspirations, but most of them are dark, very serious, and some of them are even gory! 😱🩸 As expected, though, especially from Game Of Thrones (referring to beheaded Ned's Cake Pops and more).

So, after I reluctantly told Febby from TuttiFruttiParty about all those tricky details I wanted in the party, and presented her with these images I've found on Pinterest, Google and Instagram:

I wanttt those Arya & Arwen Funko Pops!!!

...She said she could do it, yay!!! And she has really outdone it, I must say! 😍👏👏👏

Let's just say it's the CUTEST version of #GOTxLOTR party theme!

Next, we have the CAKE! 🎂

I started by sketching out the idea of how I wanted the cake to look like, took it to Photoshop, blending some images I found online so I could explain it better to the cake decorator:

Anddd, tadah!

I love that it looks really similar to my design, BUT, to be honest, the color didn't turn out like this. I had to purposely photoshop this picture of the cake, so the color can at least... look the way I want it to be, right here on the blog. The real color of the cake - you can see it later as you scroll down - was too neon-ish (especially the green and blue), and the base was red-black(?), not grassy green like how I wanted it to be. 🙃

Pardon the OCD side of me. 🙏 I'm very particular about color, so... 😭

Like when Febby sent me a preview of the decor:

I was SHOCKED because the color of the tree was REALLY DARK, unlike the initial design we agreed upon. But what truly impressed me was, she didn't shrug 🤷‍♀️ and let it be the way it was, because it was freaking 2 hours before the time of the party, right? Instead, she FIXED IT and boy, I was so grateful that here I am basically blogging about her hahaha. Anyway, if not for the color, I was actually pretty satisfied with how the cake looks! It's cute, right? It's from Cakenoir.Art, by the way. 🎂

Now, it's time for...... the FOOD!

Loveee this dessert table, so much details befitting the theme, also by TuttiFruttiParty!

This is the food inspo I sent them:

Aren't we lucky to be living in Pinterest era?

And they came up with THESE!

Hobbit Cookies! 🍪 Red Wedding Cupcakes! 🧁
Sadly, I didn't get to try any of those because I was busy during the party, and some of the leftovers were taken home by my mom and most of them were given away to my family. 🥺 I'm sure they taste just fine, though!

In case you're wondering, those appetizers 👆 are:

- Elf's 'Lembas Bread' (sandwich wrapped in leaf) 🥪

- 'Theon's Favorite Toy' (chopped sausages with bbq sauce 🤣) 🌭 and

- 'Gandalf Magic Mushroom' (deep friend champignon mushrooms with tartar sauce) 🍄.

Moving on to the main course!

Mordor Lava Pasta (spaghetti bolognese) 🍝, Kings Landing Chicken Feast (marinated fried chicken) 🍗, Wildling Beef (sous vide beef cuts) 🍖, White Walker Rice (butter rice) 🍚 all provided by SRSLY Coffee. They really sell the beef and the chicken menu, tho, and they taste amazeballs. 🤤👍 They were crowd's favorite too!

Anddddd... My favorite Iced Honey Latte was presented as 'Elvish Honey Latte Elixir' 😻🍯💫

Die hard fans might notice that the house sigils (the symbols) next to the food and beverages' names are kind of mixed up. I know, I know, no Starks have ever set foot on Mordor, let alone try its famous Lava Pasta. But maybe... Mordor is west of Westeros? I guess we should wait until Arya (Stark) got back from her latest journey, huh? 😉

But seriously though, In my defense, I planned for this party in less than 2 weeks, so some details were bound to be missed. 😂 Initially, I wanted to celebrate at home, you know, something just like this (which we did, on D-Day, 14 February 2020):

But then I thought, "Ah, screw it, it's the girls' FIRST BIRTHDAY, for goodness sake! Put on some effort!!"
Hence... This impromptu yet pretty satisfying party! Mainly thankful to TuttiFruttiParty for being able to create the whole party ambience in such short notice WHILE complying with my complicated request(s), brava!!!

Now of course...

The one, I mean, the TWO we have all been waiting for........

Drum roll, please....... 🥁
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M'Lord, M'Lady, may I present you...

Princess Arya and Princess Arwen~~~~~🥰🙌🙌🙌💖💖

SRSLY??? I couldn't stand the cutenesssss OMG 😍😍😍😍😍😍

Princess Arya was held by Mamma Galadriel, and Princess Arwen was held by Mima (my mom). 🥰

Ok, now let's talk about Arwen and Arya's cute medieval dresses, shall we?

So, for a #GOTxLOTR party, of course the girls have to dress up as their counterparts in the movies, yes? In this case, Arwen as ~Arwen Undomiel~ from Lord Of The Rings, and Arya as ~Arya Stark~ from Game Of Thrones. But the thing is, Arya's costumes are all too boyish, and Arwen's too girly, so this was a challenge for me as well!

First thing I did was deciding what type of costume I want the girls to wear? A dress / a set of top and pants / a jumpsuit / etc.? I've decided on a DRESS. So again I consulted my best friend Pinterest, and found this cute medieval baby dress on the left:

I mixed it with each Arya Stark and Arwen Undomiel's style in Photoshop, and *poof* we got those two dresses on the right!

Sent the design to Lisa from Bentencesa, and she finished both dresses in just. two. days. 🙀👏👏👏 

...And look how adorable they are. 😍🤧😍

Totally befitting the theme while looking super cute and dolly, and the materials are comfortable as well. I specifically requested cotton for the inner layer so the girls would feel comfy wearing it, and it WAS as comfy as it can be. Thanks a lot, Lisa! You and your team are super helpful and talented! 🤗

The party started with this video (which I made the night before the party, which reduced my sleeping hour to... merely 3 hours 🙃), projected on SRSLY Coffee's wall:

The video basically shows the characters behind the girls' names, and the *good virtues* that each Arwen Undomiel and Arya Stark has, which of course, I'm also hoping that Arwen and Arya would possess as well, later when they're older. 🥰 You can click the video 👆 and watch it on Instagram!

Next, we proceeded to pray, blow the candles and cut the cake 🥳🎂

Finally Ant is wearing his Legolas costume!

After that, guests could mingle, eat and drink to their heart's content!

1st pic: My Gen Z cousins 👻

2nd pic: Arya's deciding on how strong she wants her coffee to be 🤔

3rd pic: Arwen (not) trying her best to do a high five with Patrick 😂

During the partay, Arya was literally mingling around:

Arya: "That's right, I don't mind making friends (although technically, they're my family)"

"...As long as the gifts and angpaos are rollin, Aunties and Uncles! 🤩"

Justttt kidding, Aya! You're such a brave girl! 😂👍😍

Meanwhile, Arwen prefers the comfort of (more) familiar presence 🥰

Arwen with Mima, Thaima (my grandma), and Ciu Sen!

Awkwardly posing with my in laws 🙂:

Oh gosh, now I remember how hideous that Legolas wig is. 👹😂 No wonder Ant was feeling really hesitant to wear it! 🤣🤣🤣 We rented our costumes from Gading Kostum, by the way:

Look how nice the wig (Legolas') was supposed to look 🧝‍♂️🤣 I wonder what kind of hardship has happened to that poor wig before it landed on Ant's head... 🤧 My costume did not include the wig, by the way. I bought my wig here, and the elf ears here. 😄

While my and Ant's costumes are from Lord Of The Rings, Elle and Yansen represented Game Of Thrones!

Yansen dressing as Jon Snow, Elle as Daenerys Targaryen 🐉

Julius and Angie went GOT as well with their wolf (Stark) hats 🐺😍

Should've dressed my grandma as Olenna Tyrell and my mum as Margaery Tyrell... 😛

Somehow, Mima decided to have a sudden 'teapai' session(?) by giving Arwen and Arya these cutesy pink angpaos (money bags), that would later be carried around by the girls, but mostly Arya. 😂

...Like this:

Aya aya waeeeee 😂😭😂

Oh, if you're wondering why Ant's making that hand gesture, it's 1 for age 1, by the way! ☝️😂

Somehow, Arya and Arwen's relationship reminds me of Elle and I 😂

As you can see here 👆 I was kinda 'overpowering' Elle, like how Arya treats Arwen on daily basis 🤣 Not to mention that Arya really REALLY looks like mini me, and Arwen somehow looks like ie El? How come?? 😂

👭 My forever twinzie 👭

Happiest Mima loving her twin granddaughters 🥰🥰

Aquarians in my life casually hanging out together:

Ahh right, 5 months ago they still couldn't walk that well, and yet they were so eager to run here and there, so we had to hold them like how Mima and ie Len did here! 😂 Now, at 17 months old, they're practically olympic gymnast babies. 👶🏻🤸‍♀️🏃‍♀️💨

Initially, we wanted to invite friends as well, but because our family alone were a total of 70+ people, and SRSLY Coffee could only seat up to 80 people (it's plenty of seats, actually, but still, if we wanted to invite ALL our friends, combined with their partners and kids, there wouldn't be enough space), so we had to let it be a family-only party this time. 😂🙏

P.S. Huge thanks to Tiny Miracles Photography for helping us taking these memorable shots during this party! They also took these beautiful newborn photographs of Arwen and Arya, just before the girls went bald 🤣:

Awww, look how smol they were 🥺💞

Guests would bring home this cute canvas goodie bag filled with DELMORO Dark Chocolate inside:

..which is THE premium choco powder used at SRSLY Coffee for their yummy chocolate drinks, AND it's also what we use for our non-profit charity project Cokelat Peduli! 🍫💙

GIVEAWAY

Now, I know that not many people read blogs anymore (especially a long ass post like this 😂), so if you've been reading til this part, I just wanna say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! 🥺 As a token of gratitude, I want to create a little Giveaway for you guys ~e-guests of Arwen and Arya's 1st Name Day~ and 3 winners each will get this goodie bag from Arya and Arwen! 🥳 How to join? Simply:

1. Follow me @jessyamada and Arwen & Arya @jessbebes if you haven't already? ^^

2. Leave a comment here on the blog + on my IG post: ANYTHING you want to tell Arwen and Arya 🥰

3. I will pick 3 winners randomly on Sunday, 9 August 2020 and announce it on IG!

💝

All in all, I think the party was FUN!

Costume change for the princesses~

The girls enjoyed it for the most part, they cried a bit when they were sleepy, but that's normal. ☺️ The guests seemed happy as well, and for some of them, it even became sort of a family reunion haha.

Happy 1st Name Day, Arwen and Arya!

Mamma loves you girls toooooooo much! 🥰🤗😘

Thanks again for reading and see you guys on my next post! ♡

X

Jess Yamada

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