“This post is sponsored by; Seaquest & Oriental Trading Company, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Hi friends!
Recently Ivy and Aria had their second successful joint birthday party (read about the first one here). I enjoy throwing parties for them together for many reasons but mainly because it’s convenient and the two of them love it. This year’s joint party was under the sea theme, not mermaids or anything like that but adorable sea creatures instead. So take a dive in and let me tell you all about it.
The girl’s birthday party was held at a Seaquest in Folsom CA. Seaquest is an indoor aquarium and petting zoo. The first of its kind in our area. Since Seaquest opened a few years ago my family and I have spent a ton of time enjoying the facility (read about it here). Although Seaquest is more than a half-hour drive from us we were always willing to take the ride just to go. So a few months ago when Seaquest reached out to me about having a party there we were all so excited. We were also excited when our friends over at Oriental Trading decided to supply us with all the decorations and favors for our party. If you aren’t familiar with Oriental Trading they are your one-stop-shop for all things party! Under The Sea theme without mermaids is a little hard to find in retail stores. But I never had any issues finding cute stuff for our under the sea theme. I will talk a little more about these companies later but let me get to the party.
It was the day of the party and besides the fact that my kids kept continuously fighting, eh sisters. The day had started off great. We arrived at the facility 30 minutes earlier as we were supposed to decorate. The party before us was running late and we didn’t even get into the party room to decorate until 2:55 pm, our party started at 3:00. No big deal we assumed. Some of my girlfriends help me set up before we let everyone in. To my surprise, Seaquest came and put up a curtain dividing the party room into two sides. When we booked our party it was initially for the entire room. Unfortunately, it turns out that Seaquest double booked our party and we had to share the room. Even though we were promised a full room and got half we made the best of it and our guest didn’t seem to care too much. Finally, everyone was there including Dayjhan with the pizza’s. Our hostesses was great! he allowed the girls to choose an animal they wanted to come to their party. Our hostesses brought in the turtle the girls choose and them and all of their friends gathered around to pet him and take photos. After that, it was time for pizza and cake. I accidentally forgot our candles at home but our amazing hostess was there with spare candles and even a lighter. Once pizza and cake were done our guests were then free to grab a party favor and cookies. Our party favors were the cutest thing ever! mini beach buckets with sand toys, beach ball, and sunglasses. Oriental Trading provided them (check the favors out here). They were also generous enough to provide the dishes and candy for our candy bar (check out dishes and candy here and here). Our cookies came from the one and only Sweet Flour Bakery. Lisa the owner brought my vision to life with the most adorable and girly glittered sea creature sugar cookies. Per usual, her cookies were a hit. Our pizza from Cost Co and our cakes from Raileys. When the guest were done with their goodies they were free to explore the aquarium, visit, feed and pet some of the other animals. After the party was done my hostess helped us clean up and get our gifts to the car.
My honest review of Seaquest is that it’s always such a fun time being there and seeing the animals. However, I will admit I am very disappointed in the way Seaquest handled our party. When they reached out to us for a party and set everything up for us back in November of 2019 it was great. As the months trailed along Seaquest canceled our party three different times for non-payment when the party was sponsored, never returned any of my phone calls, and when they did return my emails it was a new employee every time that had no idea what I was talking about because he previous employee never left any notes for me. Although the hostess was fantastic and the manager was somewhat apologetic in person I felt like Seaquest was very unprofessional through the entire party booking process. Would I have another birthday party with Seaquest? Probably not. Would I refer a friend to have a party there? Well, that’s totally up to them or you reading this. This was just my personal ordeal and I wouldn’t be an honest blogger if I didn’t tell the truth. However, my girls had the time of their life and had an absolutely wonderful birthday. In the end, that’s what matters the most.
I still would like to thank Seaquest for the party and thank you also to Oriental Trading for the decor. Also a big thank you to Lisa for the cookies and thank you to Tammi over at Bop Bop Bowtique for creating the costume bows for the girls. They are gorgeous! Also to everyone who asked the dresses are from Amazon.
Thank you guys for reading my review.
