The 80s Ladies Dance Party

Themed parties have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, my Brazilian mama has always made a HUGE deal over parties and she’s AMAZING at them. When I started blogging about parties I remember thinking how great it was to share my passion with the people of the inter-webs and simultaneously create a career out of it. But after nearly four years of “photoshoot parties” which generally don’t involve actual people just the party tablescape and backdrop, and when they id involve real people, the guests had to pose and smile repeatedly for the camera… I realized that my passion for parties was being overtaken by photoshoots and curating parties, just to “get the shot” and then take it all down. It felt more like work and less like the thrilling parties I enjoyed prior to that point. The part about creating memories, celebrating together and making people happy was only happening when I hosted actual parties, in real life… So I decided it was time to go back to doing what I loved in a way where people could ACTUALLY come and enjoy it with me.

Like most girls, I’m always open to ANY opportunities involving dancing. Basically if music is playing, I want to move my body (it’s a Brazilian thing). I can literally dance anytime or anywhere if good music is provided… Just ask my coach or the girls at my gym. Ha, we’re ALWAYS dancing! Speaking of which, I’ve also lost over 80lbs over the past year-and-a-half from going to the gym and eating better. When you lose a significant amount of weight it usually comes with big changes in activity levels as well as diet. I’m so grateful for my mentors and friends (shout out to my girl Veggie Lisa) who’ve helped me to stay on track and get closer to my fitness goals! There was only one problem… My new passion for healthy living didn’t seem to fit in with my life-long love of throwing and attending parties, where overindulging in cake, ice cream, candy and soda were always a big part of it…

A few months ago, I decided to try something different… I hosted a girls night and only had one rule: Whatever treat you bring to share must be healthy. Honestly, I was shocked that my friends actually made and brought only healthy treats! Everything from dehydrated fruit, veggie trays, date balls, greek yogurt parfaits, fresh fruit, dark chocolate, pita chips, hummus and veggies were just a few of the foods that we all enjoyed and I couldn’t get over how great I felt after a night of eating those healthier foods. We all felt AMAZING afterwards and still got to enjoy going “out” to a party! #WINNINGI thought to myself, “If I enjoyed an evening of healthy treats and hanging out with my girls this much, I bet other women would appreciate it too!” I LIVE to throw parties, it fuels my soul, it makes me feel SO. MUCH. HAPPINESS. and in a lot of ways the workload is the same whether I’m hosting a party for 5 people or 500 people. Some may disagree about the workload being the same for a large event (cough cough, my rockstar husband who takes the bulk of my party projects) but to me, I put in the same amount of thought, energy, love and attention to detail into all of my events.

I decided to host my first-ever Ladies Dance Party because A. Dancing is amazing and B. I had hit the milestone of losing 80 lbs and I just seemed right to celebrate it with an 80s themed party, obviously. And also because the 80s were totally awesome! As soon as I set my intention to have this ladies only dance party, it seemed like the entire universe started conspiring in my favor. I can’t even tell you how many things fell into my lap, I found a venue the NEXT DAY, so many friends and friends of friends were there to help (you know who you are xo),  brands new and old wanting to partner with me, all of the amazing women who came to support healthy living,  rocking those thong leotards to work the whole 80s theme and party with me. This event came together better than I ever dreamt it would and so much magic happened.

Here is a bit of my party thought process and how I put on this epic #80sLadiesDanceParty held at the GORGEOUS Falls Event Center at Trolley Square.The food had to be healthy, that’s my jam and the biggest message I could ever share is “eating healthy should be enjoyed!” So many wonderful companies came together to make sure we had yummy food. So I wanted to thank all of the amazing food companies who not only shared their amazing and healthy foods with all of us, but shared the same mission about giving people better food options when they go out.

SO from the bottom of my heart, thank you:

Aubergine & Co for making those AMAZING protein haystacks, they were so tasty!

Vive Juicery for keeping us hydrated with your delicious juice shots.

RXBAR for allowing me to send each woman home with one of your tasty and clean protein bars

ArcticZero protein ice cream, for going above and beyond to keep us cool and also giving the first 100 women a free pint coupon.
Remember my gorgeous friend Veggie Lisa mentioned earlier? Well, she became a High Fitness Instructor earlier this year and brought all of her High babes (including the founder, Emily) to come and teach a few routines to the ladies at my event. NEVER has there been a match made in heaven like an 80s dance party and High Fitness! I’m telling you, IT WAS MEANT TO BE! Those girls rocked the night and had SO many women smiling and sweating, it was beautiful!If you follow me on Snapchat (@Housewife2Hoste) you know how much I LOVE Salon Beleza. I feel like it’s my second home, I’m there all the time. The owner, Janelle (the blonde with the dreadlocks) was one of the first people/businesses I asked to help me with this event and she was 100% on board. She never stopped believing in and encouraging me, especially during the moments when I had my doubts and wasn’t sure if it would work, she always supported and had my back. If you ever have the chance to meet her, she’s one of those people who oozes love out of every pore, it’s infectious and it’s my favorite thing about her. She and her gorgeous steam of stylists came to crimp and Aqua Net everyone’s hair to make them look 80s flawless. #missionaccomplished
My friends from Posh Locks  did a phenomenal job adding a pop of color with hair extensions, to everyone’s hair who came. I was also wearing their hair extension ponytail piece (I’m in LOVE with it) as well as their colored extensions in my hair during the party. They have the best quality remy hair for the best price!
It’s also NOT a health and wellness event with out the DexaBody mobile unit. I had my first body scan earlier in the summer and learned SO much about my body composition and what was really going on in my body. Brandon and his team are AMAZING at what they do and can help you take your health and wellness to the next level. The 80s babes were all over it!To all of my friends who helped with set up, emergency ice runs, manning the photo booths, dressing up like Richard Simmons and making sure things were always running smoothly, you know who you are and I am SO grateful! Because of all of you this evening was a dream come true.
To all of my gorgeous guests who came, dressed up, had fun with it and allowed me to share my passion with you, THANK YOU! This event and all future events are for you! To give you and your friends a safe place to dance, eat healthy treats and remind you the importance of moving your body while surrounded by the energy of hundreds of other happy women. Wasn’t that the best feeling ever!?  To my best friend and soulmate, Nick thank you my love. He not only believes and encourages me to chase ALL of my dreams, he literally builds them for me. This giant 4  by 8 foot, 1,300 hand drilled holes Lite-Brite was just one of the many labors of love he had built for me. This thing is SO epic. Everyone LOVED playing with it, taking most of us back to our favorite childhood toy from the 80s.

If you want to see the amazing video of this event, major props to my friend George over at @MyWifesHusband, who is not only the star from the Discovery channel show: Jungle Gold, he is one heck of a videographer. Check out his recap video here:  https://www.facebook.com/Housewife2Hostess/posts/635640493275681
To my photographer of over a year who is my GO-TO and knows all of my good angles, thank you to Diana Putnam for always capturing my life the way you do.

Please feel free to share your favorite images from the night by using this link here: https://dianaputnamphotography.smugmug.com/80s-ladies-dance-party

Don’t forget to follow and tag @dianaputnamphotography when sharing!
The one thing I know is that women (especially moms) need a night off. A reason to feel the way they did before work, having kids, piles of laundry and housework to feel like we did in college. I know I need that, so if using these dance parties as my personal way to decompress is the only thing I accomplish, so be it. But until my next event on November 19th, thank you ladies for coming, being you and believing in me. This is just the beginning…