We Threw a Harry Potter Party

Last year my good friend Monica threw an AMAZING Harry Potter birthday party for her daughter's 7th birthday. I remember that Mike and I were impressed by the invitation alone that we were joking about drawing straws to see who would be the lucky one to take Aidan to this party (We are Harry Potter fans). Aidan had such a great time at the party that afterwards he begged me to throw him one too. I knew my friend had put A LOT of time into prepping for her daughter's party, so I told Aidan that I would throw him a Harry Potter birthday party the following year for his 8th birthday (clearly someone had cast the Imperio curse on me). A few weeks later I found out that I was pregnant with Jaken, and I knew that prepping for this Harry Potter party was going to have to start early because it going to be a lot harder when the baby was born. So about 6 months before December , Mike and I were not only getting ready for our 3rd kid, but we were also like elves doing all sorts of things for this party in our spare time: sewing sorting scarves, making wand boxes, putting together costumes, making floating candles, creating Diagon Alley shops and signs, creating the various wizardry classes, making invitations, and designing the Hogwart's castle birthday cake.
We are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends that love Aidan, because it was with their help and participation that made this party truly a 5 star event. We definitely had a cast and crew for this party. My brother-in-law was willing to dress up as Hagrid to meet the kids at Platform 9 3/4  and show them through the "brick wall" to Diagon Alley, my friend Monica lent the sorting hat and taught the Care of Magical Creatures class where the kids hatched dragon eggs in their cauldrons, my brother Alex and his girlfirend not only helped me decorate the Great Hall but they also taught the Transfiguration class where the kids turned water into snow, my husband dressed up as Ollivander and ran the wand shop, I taught the Potions class where the kids made Felix Felicis potion bottle necklaces, Monica's daughter ran our Honeydukes shop, my mother-in-law bought and made the food for the feast in the Great Hall, my sister videotaped the party, my piano student, Sofia, lent us the house banners to hang in the Great Hall and her family bought the chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jelly Beans for our Honeydukes shop, my Tita Rosie took care of the baby during the party, and my honorary brother Andrew took pictures during the party. Whew! Listing that all off almost sounded like it could be a variation to the "Twelve Days of Christmas", huh? What can I say, Aidan is a special boy :)  But I must say, that as incredible and fun as it was throwing this party, Mike and I agreed that we will not being throwing something this elaborate for at least another couple of years! However, if you want to know exactly how we Muggle parents put this party together just click on the any of the links above and confirm your suspicions on  how nuts we are, heehee!