Public relations guru, Di Petroff shares, “”I’m a pro when it comes to luxury events, executing dinner parties, client press days, etc for brands like Serena&Lily, Wolffer Estate Vineyard, HUNTER Boots, NYC BIG FLEA among others, but the most stressful event is always a kids birthday party! This year my son turned five and I was given specific instructions that he wanted a Monster Truck cake with GRAVE DIGGER [I had no idea Grave Digger was a very important truck!].”  Check out all the fun details and Di’s great tips in this NEW KDHamptons Party Diary, below:

Di shares: The last birthday “event” [and it was quite an event- like planning a wedding! stress!] was when Maxwell turned 3 and we hosted the party at an indoor basket ball court with bouncey houses, athletic coaches, scooters and every kind of activity the team could offer to keep almost 100 little people active/happy/and busy before dinner was served .

This year I decided to have the party in Southampton so many of his summer friends could be part of his birthday. We’ve gone to some of the most incredible kids birthday parties in the Hamptons held at private homes. I almost fell into hosting 40+ kids at our home in Southampton until Maxwell said something so pivotal in my party planning after he played a round of mini golf in early June. He said “ he loves going to the golf driving range” and I had my AHA MOMENT!!

Unfortunately, I had already sent out paperless post invites to everyone with party details to be at our home. I’ve never used Paperless post invites before for any personal events and thank goodness I had because I quickly moved the party from our home to the Southampton Golf Range. Had I sent out the usual letter press invitations I wouldn’t have been able to change locations 2 weeks prior to the Birthday Party.

One thing I’ve learned over the years from being a professional kids party attendee is that all kids like to run around. There’s nothing worse than for boys to go to a birthday party and have to sit and make beautiful arts & crafts no matter how cute you think the activity is. Boys and girls want to run around, since they have to “focus” during the day at school or preschool so when it comes time to a party- they want [and I think need] to be able to run around in a “structured” environment.

The thought of being an event planner for my 5 yr old son’s birthday in the Hamptons was daunting. I was coordinating everything from a bounce house to the pizza truck to a children’s tent in case of rain. Once I had my “AHA” moment, however, it would be ONE STOP SHOPPING- the Southampton Golf Range had all the activities we needed in addition to the adorable and authentic snack bar serving Nathan’s hot dogs!

I was SOLD. Being in PR- I’m very particular about events especially my own so of course I channeled my inner “Bronson van Wyck” for the kids table decor in the snack bar, but at least I didn’t have to decorate an entire landscape if the party was held at our house. One of the biggest pieces of advice I have for enjoying your child’s birthday party is to hire a professional photographer. Why should you run around like a crazy person trying to get good photos of your friends and their kids while you can and should be enjoying them, not to mention the added stress?

My go to for all personal family events from holiday cards to birthday parties and various family moments is Jay Ackerman.  Jay is a father of three boys so he’s familiar with family dynamics, not to mention he used to shoot for various publications like Glamour magazine.  It’s worth the investment and you end up having gorgeous photos that will keep you from having to deal with another red button item on your daily Type A personality punch list. 

Now I can focus on my new PR firm …. one birthday party down… Di Petroff PR