Mompreneur Moment: Planning Luca’s Birthday Party
Being the perfectionist that I am, I love to go all out for birthdays. I love beautifully aesthetic things – I mean, we know this. I also love any opportunity to be creative. My kids’ birthday parties are no exception. In fact, I’m super passionate about hosting a party that’s fun for ALL the guests, kids and parents alike.
Now for the reality check: I have zero time to make all the magic happen myself. That’s where I lean on my fellow mompreneurs to pull off an epic bash for my son Luca’s 5th birthday party. Enter Bettie (owner of Dig PDX and Leka Playland) and Kate (Owner of Rodeo Queen). This is me giving them a massive shout-out and a huge thanks!
PLANNING THE PARTY
This was going to be Luca’s first REAL birthday party and I wanted to include him in the planning process. When I asked him about a theme, these were his thoughts in exact order:
Monster trucks
The color green
Star balloons
He definitely had a vision! Pinterest helped me find creative ways to stay true to his wishes and also create a cute aesthetic that I could get behind too. Once I had some ideas, I knew I needed help planning everything out. My nonstop schedule means I often procrastinate this kind of thing and then end up completely overwhelmed trying to pull it all together last-minute.
Enter one of my favorite mompreneurs, Kate, owner and founder of Rodeo Queen. She knew exactly what questions to ask and how to organize it all. Not only did she help me find party essentials on Amazon, she also helped me figure out where to put everything at the venue. Basically, she took over all the things that were stressing me out the most. Like the goodie bags, for example.
I knew I wanted the party favors to be something fun and sustainable, not a bunch of plastic that would get thrown into a landfill. Kate came up with the cutest idea – a paint-with-water monster truck book. She also sourced the felt Happy Birthday sign, which will definitely be reused for each kid’s birthday every year. For our family photo, I found Grave Digger monster truck shirts at Target on sale which made for cute family photos!
CHOOSING A VENUE
It was important to me to find a place that the kids would love, but that would also allow the adults to hang out without having to follow their kid around the whole time.
Dig PDX was on my radar before it even opened. To say it’s Oregon’s biggest sandbox is an understatement. And it’s filled with construction trucks, a million toys, and huge dinosaur fossils. I love it for so many reasons, but one of the main ones is that Bettie designed an incredibly thoughtful, open layout with a parents area smack dab in the middle of the facility. When I was juggling childcare and working at the same time, I was so grateful for the ability to let my boys go crazy in the sand while I checked in on my laptop only a few steps away. So holding Luca’s party here was a no-brainer.
Bettie went above and beyond to make our hosting experience easy and carefree. She provides beautiful black wood platters, bowls, serving trays, and even an adorable donut wall, which was perfect for Luca because he’s not a cake fan. So between her amazing venue and Kate’s fantastic decor ideas, it was the perfect team effort.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
We did all the prep work the night before, including party favors assembly and putting everything by the door for easy loading. Highly recommend putting things in large easy-to-carry tubs. Kate had me create an essentials kit that was super helpful, too. Here’s what was in it:
Zipties
Command hooks
Scissors
Tape
Extra large trash bags
Pen
Lighter or matches
Birthday candles
Large bag to put gifts in
I enlisted my entire family to help with setup. We only had a short window before the party started so we had to be efficient. All that planning and prep paid off! Everything was so organized that it only took us 20 minutes. To say the party was a success would be an understatement. Luca had the BEST time, and honestly, so did I. Even the cleanup process was a snap.
QUICK TIPS FROM KATE, OWNER AND FOUNDER OF RODEO QUEEN
Balloons are a great way to add color, volume, and height on a budget.
Go with paper table runners over plastic – they look so much better.
Use tulle as balloon ribbons and to cover up command hooks.
Look for party favors that are activity-based vs. sugar-focused.
Get creative with your centerpiece – I used a traffic cone and checkered flags for Luca’s party.
Command hooks are amazing for hanging banners and making balloon arches.
QUICK TIPS FROM BETTIE, OWNER OF DIG PDX
Party Must-Haves
A good tablecloth with a fun treat on it—simple, but it makes a big impact!
Ready-to-eat food that’s easy for kids and parents to grab.
Some basic decor to make it feel festive, like a Happy Birthday banner or balloons.
Things To Skip
Overly complicated setups (especially if you're doing it yourself!)—kids just want to play.
Fancy, time-consuming decorations that end up being more stressful than fun.
Over-planning activities—sometimes free play is the best part of the party!
