Digital Birthdays

I must admit, I would have never thought that I would be spending my birthday enclosed in my house. But it is what it is and we must look for all silver linings.

Those who know me, know how much I like to keep myself and those around me on a positive note. If you exude good energy you will attract good energy and I am firm believer of that.

My birthday just passed and I had my hopes that I would still be able to celebrate it at a bar at a later time in June, however those hopes did not materialise. Living in London, we had to stay in this lockdown limbo longer than in other cities. But that’s OK, we had a plan B, and so should you.

Is your birthday coming and you can’t go outside? Bring the party home and share it with your friends online. How? Follow this simple steps we provide you with.

1. Pick up a theme for the night and put your friends in competitive teams. Everybody will make an effort and you’ll get higher engagement. From Hawaiian party to a Mad Circus, the options are endless. Ensure your friends are preparing for the night by giving them small tasks and providing them with few props for fun prior to the day.

2. Turn your house into a party venue. Just cause you are home doesn’t mean you can’t turn your house into a party venue. Zoom backgrounds are fun for the viewers but it is more fun to feel the environment you are in, too. You will be leading all the shenanigans so it’s best you are in that mode. You will also keep your friends wondering what is going in the house :)

3. Buy all the accessories needed for the night in advance. Given the current situation, delivery times are uncertain, so it is better to be over prepared than worrying on your birthday day. TOP TIP: Get yourself some fun props for the night (we got a piñata!) but also remember to get something silly for your friends. Involving the participants is key for greater engagement (and excitement).

4. Prepare some online games. We have all been invited to online bingo and quizzes, but surely there’s more than that? Think about your selected theme and what games could you put in place related to it. For example, in our Circus Night, we asked each team to come up with a show for the circus and gave them 15-20minutes on the night to prepare for it (in breakouts).

5. Get a cake but get your friends to blow up the candles. It’s your party, but it wouldn’t be the same without them.

TCB xx

A Guide To Celebrate Your Birthday like Royals

Chateau Life

A Guide to celebrate your birthday like ROYALS

Birthdays are special to us. There’s a tendency to hate celebrating growing old, but at TCB we believe on the contrary. Let’s celebrate life, let’s have a good time with those who we love the most. Always, in style. How? Becoming the king and queen of your day, in a Chateau.

Yup, you’ve heard us, in a Chateau. Unknown to many, plenty of wineries in the South of France have opened their doors to cater birthdays and special events. As we type, there’s at least 25 chateaus being advertised on Airbnb (link). If you love wine, we suggest Bordeaux as your location, and if you ask us more specifically, the Old Presbyterian in Langoiran is to dream for.

Now, there’s many things to think about before the big day.

Guests: Find out how many guests you’d like to invite and then look for the appropriate chateau. We suggest a maximum of 20 guest to not get things out of control. Usually chateaus can host up to 14 guests. Further than that you may need to look for an adjacent Maison next to it to house the rest of your friends.

Book, book, book: be quick on your decision, these beautiful properties tend to go quite quickly over the spring-summer months so you’ll need to act rapid. We suggest booking 6 months in advance.

Theme: Now you may find this silly, but adults love a theme party, too. It gives us purpose and excitement to go to a specific party and gets us generally more engaged. People may complain about it initially, but afterwards everybody loves it. Who doesn’t like to let go every now and then?

Transport: we suggest you book your chateau nearby a big airport. Bordeaux is a great choice, but Marseille and Lyon are other options. Once location and guests are sorted, make sure you book transportation from the airport to your home for the weekend, whether that is rental cars or chauffeurs. A smooth transition from point A to B is a great way to start your fabulous birthday weekend.

Budget: You really need to get a budget drafted for the event, otherwise things could get out of control. If you have a set budget, you can easily look things up according to it, otherwise you can get lost in a paramount of options you may not even be able to afford. And most importantly, you need to get a deposit paid to you ahead of time to secure your guest spots. Nobody likes to play the bad man, but it is essential to do this to avoid guests backing out without paying their share. Commitment is key.

Winery Guided Tour & Tasting: Bordeaux is one of the biggest areas of wine production, specially Red Wine. Finding a Chateau that provides a guided tour and a tasting won’t be difficult, it depends on what you are after. Our suggestion goes for Chateau Soutard, a majestic winery that not only provides a guided tour and a tasting but also a picnic by their vineyards. BOOM, what else could you ask for?

Visit a nearby town: if your guests like to stay active, along with a winery tour you could visit a nearby town. If you decided to go to Bordeaux, then Saint Emilion is a must, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, walking distance from Chateau Soutard. Literally the cutest french town around.

Now that’s all you need to do before heand, but closer to the time, you’ll need to think about…

Groceries: if you don’t want your budget to get out of hand, we suggest you have several meals at the Chateau. After all, being at home is part of the fun? If you are planning for a two-night stay (that is, from Friday til Monday night), we suggest all breakfasts and dinners to be hosted at the house.

Take advantage of being in France and get loads of French baguettes and pastries for breakfast, mixed up with charcuterie, cheese, fruit and plenty of coffee and juices. On the departure day, cook a fry-up to get people charged up before heading home.

As for dinner, we suggest making things pretty and simple: one dinner can involve rotisserie chicken and roast potatoes with salad and the party night can be pizza night. Easy, easy, easy. All you have to do is reserve those chickens a couple of days ahead of time (most supermarkets do rotisserie chicken in France) and scorch a pizza place near you. For breakfast, groceries store.

House décor, birthday props & games: in order to get into the spirits of the theme, we suggest decorating the house accordingly. Don’t go too crazy, just few details to make it look more like your house, rather than a stranger’s house. Prepping the dinner table always works a treat. Make sure there’s some cold champagne ready to pop, too!

As for birthday props & games, these are essential too. Put your guests in teams, it’s competition time! The more engaged they are, the stronger they relationship will be. Some game suggestions that always work well: hide & seek toys, the egg hunt relay, the hula hoop contest and ‘who wore it best?’

On your birthday party night, get all your teams dressed up according to a theme and give points to the team that made the biggest effort, performed the best. This activity can be one of the weekend highlights and makes people lose their inhibitions.

Now it looks like everything is set! As an organizer, yourself and your confident (whoever you want to take with you) should get there a day in advance, so that everything is set up and ready for when your guests arrive. And to have some champagne before the storm comes in.

Cheers babes!

TCB xx