Planning your big 21st? Birthday girl Jess walks us through hers - check out how it went and her tips for making your own just as good!

Name: Jess Frankland
Where was the party? At home (no hire fee for the back yard!)
 

Did you have a theme? Yup, "Old School Hollywood Glamour" - everyone dressed up as someone from the 1950s or earlier, and we topped it off with decorations and 50s music.

Who was your inspiration? Marilyn Monroe

How long did you spend organising the night and what prep was involved? I spent a few months, designing and printing invitations, organising balloons, the cake, borrowing garden furniture from family and friends, organising food and booze, organising who would do a speech, making a floor plan of where all the furniture would go, making a music playlist and picking out the photos to make my photo wall.

Big party, or small intimate do? Big for a house party; 80 people. 

Did you stick to your budget? I took a zero-budgeting approach, I worked out how much it would probably cost, ranked what was most important and over a period of (three) months slowly bought everything, starting from the most important - booze and balloons - to less important bits like decorations or extra food - in the end I bought everything that was on my list.

What did you wear? I was dressed as Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (the white dress from the subway grate scene), which I ended up ordering from the States.

Any pre-party rituals? Not being ready on time.

How were the speeches? Very well-behaved, only a few topics were forbidden and that rule was stuck to, but otherwise very funny and with just the right amount of embarrassing snippets.

Did you do a yardy/21 shots or any other 21st traditions? Not in the end, although I was planning to organise 21 people do all do a shot at once.
 
Do you have a favourite photo? Certainly do, 'Marilyn' lying across the laps of some friends (I thought they were going to drop me momentarily).

What was on your playlist? Some 50s hits to start the night off with, then a mixture of cheesy classic 90s songs that everyone knows and current popular dance music hits as well as a few comedic/parody songs like the Lonely Island's ‘I'm on a boat’.

Any funny moments from the night? Watching my Mum and Nana being taught some classic dance moves like the lawnmower and the shopping trolley and then getting down on the dance floor to the Freestylers 'Push Up'.

Any advice for nzgirls planning their 21st? Have a plan for the day of the party, with a timeline of when everything is getting done plus where you have to be so that you don't end up late for your own party and embrace the embarrassing photos; no one's going to haunt you forever with them!

Don't be afraid to put cheesy classic songs in your playlist, they will get everybody dancing and singing along. Lastly, don't forget to warn the neighbours - giving them a few earplugs beforehand is a good idea too!

What was your favourite present? A trip to Sydney with my big sister and my cousin!

Any 21st-zilla moments? A few, one of which was about where my 'tiki bar' that I'd created should go, so as to optimise space - there was a small “It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to” (or rather, need to) moment.