Desiree’s 8th Birthday Party

I recently covered Desiree’s 8th birthday party. A majority of the birthday parties I shoot tend to be for children celebrating their 1st or 2nd birthday; so this shoot made for a pleasant change.

An interesting thing about this party was that it was a “party with a cause”.  Desiree’s mom, June, in an effort to teach Desiree compassion for others, had convinced her to support a local charity where instead of receiving presents for her birthday, party guests could make a donation to the chosen charity. The charity selected was Club Rainbow (hence the rainbow colours on Desiree’s birthday cake above). Club Rainbow provides emotional, educational, social, financial and informational assistance to families of children who suffer from major chronic and potentially life-threatening illnesses.

The guests were extremely generous and $510 was raised for Club Rainbow. Many guests still bought presents for Desiree in addition to their donations.

The party was held in their home and Desiree’s parents did a fantastic job decorating up the place.

The party featured a picnic theme and green carpets stood in for grass in the living room.

In the weeks leading up to the day of the party, Desiree and her younger brother Darius hand decorated and assembled picnic lunch boxes to be used by the guests. Guests were also able to let their creativity shine by making their own customized lunch boxes during the party.

The party was attended by Desiree’s friends and family. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

After the picnic lunch, the kids had fun playing various board games and toys and enjoyed a couple of rounds of charades.

The whole atmosphere of the party felt like a fun day out with close friends and family. Overall it was a really enjoyable and memorable shoot for me. It was very heartening for me to get the following text message from Desiree’s mum after she saw the photos:-

“Hi Derrick, the photos r marvelous! I like your style! And it’s amazing that u took sooo many photos without us realizing it :)”