Mom turns 65!

Back in January my mother started dropping hints about what a BIG birthday it was for her to turn sixty-five this year.  Being the observant family that we are, Dad and us daughters decided that we'd better do something special for her to celebrate and went into planning for her Diva Diane Party.  Three months later, everything was in place and it finally happened last weekend.  And what a success it was!  Trish and I left our families at home, boarded planes, and landed in Victoria a couple days before the party to help put together the final details.  This was no small task, and included making props for a photobooth area, making caramel wrapped chocolate-dipped pretzel favors for 70 guests, getting decorations and picking up the most "Diva" cake you have ever seen.  Oh... and getting manicures and pedicures of course!  Here we are making around 180 pretzels (two for each guest and then extras to bring home to our families).  Don't you love the cute zebra-print favor bags Michelle found?

Saturday was the day of the party, and in the morning our Aunt Cathy joined us to go decorate the banquet room at their golf club.  It was a beautiful facility with an amazing view.  We decked the room out in complete Diva style, with black, white, hot pink and zebra-print decorations.  Even the table's were numbered as different divas.  We were sitting at the "Cher" table!

After decorating, we went back to Michelle's place to relax and get ready.  We were so nervous about whether or not she had figured out our surprise.  Obviously we weren't the only ones excited, because when we arrived 15 minutes early there were already quite a few people there waiting for the hostesses!  Guests arrived at 5:00 and our mom was scheduled to be there at 6:00.  So while we were waiting, guests enjoyed some cocktails and got their picture taken at the photo booth that I was running.  The photo booth was such a fun idea, and it was a great way to capture pictures of everybody who was there sharing in that special day.  And everyone had such a blast with our diverse array of photo props, including US!

When it was time for mom to arrive, Michelle watched from the front door of the golf club and then ran back to the banquet room when she was spotted.  Everyone got quiet and waited for her to come through the door and then shouted "Surprise!"... at which point the DJ started playing "Happy Birthday To You".  And we are happy to say that she was DEFINITELY surprised!  Here's her expression as she walked in!

And here's her expression when she saw Tricia, who had flown in from Ottawa!

From there on the party really got rolling.  There was a fabulous buffet dinner, a complete dessert buffet and, of course, Mom's amazing Diva cake!  We were all so happy how the cake turned out! 

After dinner we had speeches and a short open mic time.  Mom got up and thanked everyone for being there and shared her misery over the last couple months when she assumed that everyone forgot her "big" birthday.  She was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case.  Here she is making her speech.  Behind her you can see the slideshow that I put together that ran all night with over 200 pictures of mom's life... from birth to the present.  It was a huge hit and everyone got such a kick of watching it!

After the speeches we opened up the dance floor and enjoyed the tunes rolled out by the DJ.  I was so happy that everyone got up and dancing.  It was so much fun!

At the end of the evening, all that was left were my die-hard relatives.  It was especially nice to catch with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents!

It was really special to have so many of them there in one place that I forced them to get together for a picture.  I'm so glad I did that!

 

It was truly a fabulous evening and I know that my mom left feeling very loved and very celebrated... which is exactly what we were hoping for!