Initially, when I thought of planning my 30th, I wanted to invite a maximum of 10 people but when I put pen to paper and considered the location of my invitees I knew it was a no brainer. I live far away from my country of origin and I wouldn’t like to celebrate where I live at the moment because the weather is boiling hot and humid. Also, it would require a level of financial commitment from them and that would really be selfish of me. More so, I have never hosted a party before and I feared I would be too concerned about everyone else which would take away from my personal fulfilment.
My partner and I had a chat about it then I decided I was happy with just the both of us. We are used to travelling together, we enjoy almost the same things and I can be totally myself around him so why not. I trusted him to plan it without any input from me. When he asked what I wanted I told him I would like to be close to nature, a place that has rich history and architecture. I like classic and vintage things too. So, he asked me to leave it with him. I went ahead to get my dress and shoes to suit the occasion and trusted him to bring his A-game.
Couple of days to my birthday weekend, he told me he’d booked the Oyster Box hotel in Umhlanga. We’ve had dinner in that hotel before and I love the classic interior. The hotel dates back from the 1930s and was originally a beach cottage in 1869. I was very happy, the only fear now was if he had booked us the appropriate itinerary. So I kept stressing the fact that it was my 30th and It had to be perfect lol. I trusted him anyway but the perfectionist in me wouldn’t stop worrying.
On arriving at the hotel on the 13th June, It was as beautiful and opulent as I remembered it, I was welcomed with a glass of champagne so that’s a good sign. On getting to the room it was filled with ballon decorations with the cheeky 30 sign and another champagne already chilling in the ice bucket for my arrival.We had a good laugh about the colours of the balloons, then I stepped outside on the balcony, It was a stunning ocean and lighthouse view. It was perfect, I loved it. We then went for a lovely dinner at somewhere called the chef table.
Now it’s my birthday 14th June, we woke up to an absolutely stunning view of the ocean and the iconic light house with the waves crashing. We later went down to breakfast. It was a lovely buffet breakfast with oysters, cured salmon and free flowing champagne. It was already beginning to feel like a celebration, I tried to slow down on the drink as it’s going to be a long day of enjoyment. The weather was beautiful so we went to down to the pool which is equally stunning with the sea and lighthouse right in front of us. We chilled till it was sundown, we then went for a SPA treatment/massage that my lovely partner had booked for us, It was so relaxing and I was served a complimentary champagne so it’s a no sleep zone. Now it’s time to dress up for my birthday dinner/party which I thought was 1999 themed as he mentioned earlier so I had an outfit for that too. So there you go hahaha.
We had dinner at the Beverly Hills hotel which was next door to the Oyster Box. Great food! A couple of wine bottles went down too. We finished around 11pm then went back to the lighthouse bar to continue the celebration. We had a couple of cocktails before we called it a night.
On the 15th June, we had a formal dinner planned so I finally got to dress up my way, we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel which had a beautiful and proper classic British interior. It was exactly what I imagined so I was thrilled. I was privileged to be waited on by an experienced maître who has served the hotel for fifty five years, he had told us not as a showoff but to assure us that the service we’ll experience would be an epitome of professionalism when it comes to fine dinning. I marvelled at the height of detail and admired his dedication.
We started off with some complimentary canapés from the chef, a sorbet to clear our pallets then, we had our dinner which was paired with more champagne and Chenin blanc. We then had some dessert that was made right in our presence by the maître himself. Amazing experience!
On the 16th June , we had our regular free flowing champagne breakfast, chilled by the pool and took a drive to town where we had lovely lunch and dinner. Then, came back to the hotel for a walk around, enjoyed the piano being played at the palm court and took some lovely pictures for memories.
Overall, I was swooned by the level of detail and effort my partner put toward this celebration. He thought the entire process through. The venue, present, food, location and even the cards were well reasoned. Everything was perfect!
