A Brazilian Birthday Party

Grace and I attended our first Brazilian birthday party yesterday. Although I would not call it a birthday party as much as I would a birthday event. This party (for a six year old) was more like a wedding than a child's birthday party we think of in the US. I had heard about these parties so I decided to bring the camera, knowing this would be a blog-worthy event.

We have received a lot of birthday invitations. In general, people here invite everyone they know to these parties and there have been times that Grace brings home an invitation from school and we have no idea who the party is for. We could go to parties almost every weekend.

Scattered about Rio, you see these places specifically designed for birthday parties. No Brazilian hosts a birthday party in their own home. The one we went to yesterday had a movie theme, which you can see in the photos below.









The invitation said 11:00 but of course we’ve been here a while and know that nobody is going to show up for a party at the actual start-time. Grace and I got there around 12:00 and there were very few people there. By the time we left, I would say the crowd had reached about 250 people.

There were waiters handing out an assortment of appetizers and drinks as we arrived. Of course there was a fully stocked bar as well as freshly squeezed fruit juice, water, and soda. Lunch was served around 2:30 and there was a complete buffet plus a carving station. There was also a dessert buffet with about 15 different kinds of desserts.







The birthday girl and her family were followed around all day by professional photographers and a videographer.

There was a DJ there the entire time playing music and playing games with the kids. There was also a magician who did a complete magic show. There was a make-up, hair, and nail station where the kids could get makeovers and face-painting was also available. There was also an area where the kids could pick a pair of Havaianas (famous Brazilian flip-flops) and decorate them. At each of these stations there were four professionals taking care of the kids.









The party center itself had a playground, a trampoline, a play kitchen (based on the kitchen in the movie Ratatouille), a soccer field and two pools. There were also about 8 characters from different movies walking around. As if this wasn’t enough, a huge inflatable slide was also available.











We stayed until about 4:00, then we had to leave. The cake still had not been cut and the party was still going strong. A friend told me they left around 5:00 and they still had not cut the cake.



We would estimate this party probably cost in the ballpark of $10,000. If this is what a sixth birthday party is like, can you imagine what a sixteenth birthday party is like?