News and photos

Issue No 18:
15 April 2003

Happy Easter!

Welcome to our eighteenth newsletter. Just to let you know our news first:

• New Ordering System – we are switching to a multi-lingual, multi-currency shopping cart. We are also improving the download process. We will be putting the price up of our larger meet and mingle kits so if you would like one of these, you may like to order now before the new system goes live.
• New Invitations – when the new ordering system goes live, we will also be introducing new Word document versions of the invitations. In these you can alter them however you want and the font is much larger!
• Translated Kits – due to popular demand, we are in the process of having some of our kits translated into French.

• Further Work – our writers have been continuing their work and they have updated The Case Of The Missing Matchmaker and The Luck Of The Irish.
• Party Tips – we have added a new section to our web site called Party Tips. It contains suggestions for ice-breakers and for childrens and teenager parties and how to prepare for special occasions such as Saint Patrick's Day and Valentines Day. There are decoration ideas, menu suggestions, games to play and so on.

In this issue, we have articles about:

• Our photo competition winners
• Feedback on "Mystery In The Library"
• Feedback on "The Love Letter"
• Special decoration prize.

Our photo competition winners

This time we received some wonderful photos. It was very hard to make a final decision. Thank you to all the entrants for taking the time to enter. The three winners are:

• Joan Camire (USA) for photos from her Mystery In The Library party
• Sue Lovelace (USA) for a photo from her The Love Letter party for her daughter and her friends
• Tom Guillot (USA) for a photo from his
  The Balmy Bahamas Cruise party.

We are commencing a new competition with a closing date of 1 June 2003 (see photos.htm for details).

Here is Joan's photo of the group from her "Mystery In The Library" party (click on the photo to see more photos):

Joan sent in this feedback:

"Stephanie,

We had our Mystery in the Library event this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Thought you might enjoy seeing the photos by visiting our family web site. We had a great time and I think that getting ready with the costumes was half the fun.

Joan Camire"

Here is Sue's photo from her "Love Letter" party (click on the photo to see a larger version):

Sue sent in this feedback on her daughter's party:

"What a great 13th birthday party! Our daughter, Anne, and her friends anticipated her party for a month, and had a wonderful time dressing up as Victorian ladies, being served a formal dinner by mom and dad, and using their active minds to solve the mystery. Thanks for such a positive, thrilling party! Your product was full of good ideas and was very complete.

Sue Lovelace in Idaho"

See the right hand column for Tom's photo. Tom sent in this feedback:

"Stephanie

We modified the Bahamas Cruise for my wife Lynn's 40th birthday party. We had a catered dinner and a beautifully decorated house and yard.

It was just delightful for everyone involved. They all took it seriously and dressed up and played the part with room for ad lib.

I am enclosing photos from the party. We also videoed the event.

I am glad that I found out about you and will recommend it to everyone.

Thanks,
Thomas Guillot, LA"

Feedback on "Mystery In The Library"

Mary Tibbetts from the USA used the Mystery In The Library kit for her party:

"Hi!! I ordered Mystery in the Library for my 16th birthday. I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was!! Everyone got so into it!! We had incredible costumes, from a dirty, smoking, Huck Finn to a glamorous Little Red Riding Hood. Every time an important clue was read, we all start screaming and pens would fly as we jotted it down. Thank you so much for helping to make my "sweet sixteen" birthday so memorable.

Sincerely yours,
Mary T."

Feedback on "The Love Letter"

Robert and Laurie Sages held The Love Letter party for their daughter:

"Dear Stephanie, Thank you so much for the creative genius behind a marvelous party. Our daughter and 8 of her friends really dressed and acted their parts - they were really into character. As a party favor for each girl, my husband took the first attached digital photograph before the party began. During the first course, he printed copies, and placed them in frames, then popped them into the gift bags that had all been set up ahead of time. We gave a prize to everyone at the end.

This type of party really was perfect – we did not do it on our daughter's birthday, so there was no one guest of honor – a great equalizer. They all had a chance to experiment with a formal table setting, dinner party chat, formal introductions, and so much more. Learning has never been so much fun!!! They want to do another one right away! Thank you again!
Robert and Laurie Sages"

Special decoration prize

Chris Cope (Australia) ran a Who Killed Santa? party and sent a photo of the chimney they constructed for Santa's dead body. We have decided to reward their efforts with a special decoration prize of a free kit. Here is some feedback she also sent us:

Hi Stephanie
Just thought I'd drop you a line and say "THANK YOU". The Santa Meet and Mingle was a huge success.

With a very diverse group of friends, it was the best thing we could have done to ensure that everyone mingled and no-one was left out. I have attached a couple of pics... The Santa one is self-explanatory.

Thanx again, we have had some fantastic feedback from this night and a lot of enquiries as to where this came from. We will be planning another party around July so will contact you closer to the time for another one.

Cheers
Chris Cope
(AKA Mrs Claus)

Here is Tom's winning photo from his "The Balmy Bahamas Cruise" party (click on the photo to see a larger version):