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5 Ways to have a Mermazing Mermaid Party (even during a pandemic)

Mermaid Party!

Last year my daughter decided her upcoming 8th birthday would be a mermaid themed party.  And I was determined to make her dreams come true -pandemic or not. So mermaid party it was! If you too are over the zoom calls, can’t do a street parade and or can’t do a front yard fiesta, read on to see how we SHELL-abr-8-ed!!

1). Limit guest count.

Only invite a couple or few besties whose families you trust have been acting in a Covid safe manner. We had an extremely small social pod that we ever so rarely met with through the past year. And from that mini pod, we invited 3 little girls and got lucky because right before the mini pod gathering, everyone had tested negative. Kids are less transferable and less in danger for catching and having any serious symptoms so it is with those facts we proceeded to celebrate on a smaller scale. (Click here for the 20 person 7th birthday recap from last year.).  As an additional measure, you can ask to ensure that their family members have not experienced any symptoms and or been in contact recently with someone who has had symptoms or covid. 

2). Make memorable mermaid decor!

We decided to host the party in our home ‘cuz living here in Manhattan, drive by car parades are not a thing and it was too cold in February to do anything outside. Plus I liked the idea of having my fully sanitized home be the private venue from which I could work for days on perfecting some extra special decor details.

Adding this splash of color felt like a happy burst of energy – the perfect thing to combat lockdown life.  Don’t we all need a little extra color these days?  Thank you to Chic Sugars for sponsoring our beautiful mermaid themed cake!  You incorporated the party colors perfectly and we adored all the mermaid fin toppers and ombre frosting!  Click here to see the Valentines cake they made for us last month!  Both were so so delicious and were the perfect focal point of our decor!  Based in NJ, they service the entire NY area too and can make ANYTHING you dream of. 

Check them out! They were featured on the Food Network and have an amazing portfolio!!   

Mermaid balloons, balloon garlands, DIY starfish chair accents, grand kiddie tablescapes, and teepee slumber party setups also created a wow experience for our mermaid squad! 

Special thank you to our event partner, Teepee in the City who brought in these adorable sleepover sets and helped set the scene for such a special night!  The set includes teepees, fairy lights, mattress, sheets, blankets, pillows, rugs, trays, lanterns, customized teepee labels, garlands, mermaid tail blankies, a birthday sign and load in/out!!  They can customize to your theme and have lots of options to choose from!  It was the first time sleeping over someone else’s house for a couple of our little guests and thanks to these sparkly night lights and super fun teepees, they did just great and were so excited to spend the night!  I highly recommend this company for all your sleepover needs.  They would make an extra special addition for a lockdown movie night as well! 

Click here for 4 tips on elevating your tablescape!  Thank you to our decor partner, Wish for allowing us the store credit to pick and choose from your amazing selection! Stay tuned for a separate blog post with links on where to purchase everything plus our recommendation on mermaid themed gifts, fashions and favors too!

3). Stagger drop offs and pickups.

I gave parents a 30minute range from when they could pickup and drop off their kids. And upon entering, kids washed hands and changed into their mermaid dresses. Matching mermaid costumes were given to all party go-ers and also to their 18” dolls care of Mini and Me official. The girls loved twirling in them and noted how they weren’t itchy like other costumes.  

We have a couple others from their vast costume selection and we just love their style, machine-washability and the fact that they don’t leave a trail of glitter everywhere like many other costumes do. 4). Entertain mermaid style

Swimming, mermaid bracelet making and mermaid TV shows were on our list of todos. But we also had fun playing with pretend makeup, and singing kareoke too! With a little creativity, it’s easy to add a themed twist to any kiddie activity. Sing songs from the Little mermaid soundtrack. Instead of passing the potato, pass a mermaid doll or instead of duck duck goose, play fish fish mermaid for instance.

We were lucky enough to have a private session at our pool since during the pandemic only 1 apartment is able to reserve the entire pool at a time. It worked out in our favor! The girls had a blast splashing around and trying on Juliet’s new mermaid tail. They had a such a swimmingly fun time that they begged to go back to the pool the very next day!

5). Provide under the sea themed foods & treats

For snacks we had goldfish in pretzel and classic editions (swimming in clear fish bowls). For treats, we made clams with pearls (Nila wafers with frosting and a huge pearl sprinkle in between). And for shell treats, we simply frosted lines on madeline’s that were shaped in shell form. It made for an easy and fun baking activity for Juliet to prepare pre-party! The next morning, I made mermaid bagels by taking our gifted rainbow bagels from Liberty bagels/midtown bagels and adding natural food coloring to the cream cheese spread. Lastly I topped them with mermaid sprinkles and a cute mermaid toothpick topper. The girls went crazy over their breakfast in bed!

5). Find FINtastic favors

besides the beautiful mermaid costumes (that by the way are so soft and comfortable many of the girls chose to sleep in them), guests left with lots of fun surprises!! “Look at this stuff; isn’t it neat??”  Each mermaid’s teepee hid a goody bag filled with: a flippy sequin mermaid tail purse, mermaid outfit for Barbie, mermaid pen, bracelet in one of the party colors, squishy coral slime, and a mermaid stamper. Plus each child left with a party balloon!

This couldn’t have all happened without a little help from my friend and professional party planner Xin from Le Petite Prive who came over the night before (masked) and helped me get the balloons made, and generally help setup backdrops for me.  Having this on-site assistance from a professional planner is something I don’t normally have so it was SO appreciated!  I loved bouncing ideas off her, and having a partner in crime as we secretly set up the decor away from my little who only saw it when she came out of her bedroom slumber the day of her birthday.  If you need full-on event planning, styling, install and the full package though she is available for all of that too!  Her calm nature, and can-do, positive attitude will help relieve any party planning stress you may experience.  Plus she has an incredible eye for events and her style is so elegant.  What an honor it was to work beside her!

Above photos are a mix of my iphone shots and images from Andrea Kay Images.  She specializes in weddings, family portraits and all sorts of event photography and works primarily in the Long Island / NY area. She’s a joy to work with and always returns stunning shots and will stay safely masked for you!!

Tell me in the comments below, what your favorite party of this party was!  And follow me on Instagram for more daily inspiration for celebrating the everyday in style!