The brief
A third birthday at a villa above the rice terraces. Space, for a boy who had only just discovered it — and at three that means two things specifically: the astronaut has to be real, and the rocket has to be big enough to climb inside.
What we built
A full space set out on the deck: a pale blue arch carrying <i>LEON 3 YEARS</i> in metal letters, an astronaut floating off the side of it, planets, and a balloon garland running in chrome, silver and four different blues with foil stars and moons pushed through it. A white plinth studded with stars for the cake. Indoors, out of the sun, a cardboard rocket tall enough for a three-year-old to stand up in, under a paper garland of planets.
How the day went
The astronaut arrived in silver sequins, and from then on the party had two centres — the rocket inside and the lawn outside. They flew the rocket, opened presents in a heap on the floor, then went out for bubbles and foam and took a whole tray of it apart between six of them, with the rice paddies sitting behind them being scenery.
What the parents got
A set that does not read as a children's party in the photographs — it reads as designed. And the entire extended family in the last frame, waving, which is usually the shot that goes home.
