The brief
A fifth birthday at a Canggu villa with a pool, a lawn and shade under the frangipani. Swimwear party, mixed ages, and the sort of afternoon where children go in and out of the water all day — so the entertainment had to work in wet swimsuits and bare feet.
What we built
A unicorn set in pastel: her name and <i>5 Years</i> beneath a gold horn, ears and a crown of paper flowers, with a balloon garland running lemon, mint, blush and grape. A white bounce castle on the lawn beside it — white, deliberately, so it sits inside the palette instead of fighting it.
How the day went
The unicorn arrived in a rainbow tulle skirt and pulled the whole group off the castle. Then the bubble show, which is what this age is really for: bubbles blown over the heads of children who were already soaking, then one at a time standing inside the ring while a bubble closed over them — and, when the adults asked, two of the nannies crouched in there together and came out laughing. It finished the way the bubble show always finishes, with a sheet of flame across the tray and a four-year-old going very still.
What the parents got
A party that worked wet. Nobody had to be dried off, dressed up or moved indoors, and the photographs are of children mid-shriek rather than lined up in front of a wall.
