I am happy to welcome Lara Shriftman and Lucas Bacardi Shriftman today to share Lucas’ 5th Birthday Magical Excursion! Lucas really knows how to celebrate.  (Next year, I want to join, Lucas!)
Remember we shared his birthday celebration that was hosted by Dylan’s Candy Bar?  Well, the festivities didn’t end there.  Read on for all the fun details from Lara and Lucas themselves!

 

 

 

Kids in front of the posters for the David Copperfield show that we saw from the time we left LA to the time we landed in Las Vegas so the kids were really excited to see the show.

The kids with David Copperfield at the Hollywood Theater after the show

 

Treasure Chest at Serendipity 3

Inside host Thea Andrews, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Lara Shriftman lead a group shot on the tram back to Southwest in the Vegas airport

 

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By: Lara Shriftman Author of Party Confidential, www.partyconfidential.com, www.hs-pr.com, www.luluflynn.com

Lucas’ 5th Birthday Party, Las Vegas
Lucas saw a video of David Copperfield and asked him if he could go to his show in Las Vegas. The rule was Lucas had to be five to see the show so Lucas told David he would wait until he was five but he wanted to bring five friends when he could come as soon as he met the age requirement for the show. Lucas wanted to invite his friends to join him for the day so we planned a small and intimate day-trip excursion to Las Vegas to see the show.

Invitations
I asked my favorite design duo Anders Ruff to create a one-of-a-kind invitation to set the theme for the party. I guided them to create a personalized letter, something tongue –in-cheek, but that still explained what we were doing. They created an 8 x 10-sized themed invitation as well as return and mailing labels that looked beautiful and also explained the story behind the party. We filled in each guest’s name to personalize the invitation to look like a letter and Lucas signed each letter at the bottom.

Transportation
Because we were going away to Las Vegas I wanted to make sure the flight was as easy and comfortable as possible. I booked a group flight for everyone with Southwest Airlines. We flew in and out of Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport because it is an easy airport. You can drive there from LA and valet or park your car. For the flight I gave each child a Croc’s Crocband backpack as an airplane bag. I like them because they are lightweight and durable. We filled each with a little toy, VitaCoco, Pop Chips, and candy for the flight.

Entertainment
We planned a day of lunch followed by a showing of David’s show, “Intimate Afternoon of Grand Illusion with David Copperfield.”
Because we were going with a big group, six kids and twelve adults, we got a black shuttle bus from Executive Las Vegas to take us around for the day.

Our first stop was a surprise. we stopped at Krispy-Kreme-Doughnuts for a treat since they don’t have any shops near us in Los Angeles and Lucas loves their “HOT,” fresh donuts and he wanted to share them with all of his friends. It was exciting for the kids because they got to see the donuts being made. It is about 10 minutes from the strip, so not your typical Vegas attraction.

After Krispy Kreme we had a drive by of the pirate ship at Treasure Island. You can see the ship at Siren’s Cove at the front entrance of Treasure Island from the strip.

Then we went to the Fountains at Caesar’s Palace . The fountain shows are located in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. They are Roman-themed and come to life in a seven-minute show featuring special lighting effects and smoke. I brought a bag of 100 pennies for all the kids to make wishes and throw the coins into the fountain. Caesar’s was a great stop because they also have a replica of Michelangelo’s David statue at the Appian Way Shops and the kids are just learning about Rome at school right now.

Then we went to Serendipity 3 in Caeser’s Palace for lunch. I had my fifth birthday at Serendipity in New York and it has been a longtime favorite of mine. I have always incorporated their Frrrozen Hot Chocolate into personal events here in LA as well as Miami and even in my first book, Fete Accompli, and they are always a big hit. Serendipity is one of the classic New York restaurants. It has been open since 1954 and is a favorite of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Tom Cruise. Serendipity in Las Vegas is great because it is in a separate building in front of Caesar’s and you can see their bright pink sign and logo from far away. We had a long table outside on the terrace and had everything brought out family style to share. Their menu is very fun with unique takes on familiar dishes. It has the typical “unhealthy” Las Vegas items like chicken and waffles, but also some healthy choices like their Orchard Salad.  For the kids we had sliders, and for the adults we had Serendipity’s Margherita Pizza and White House Pizza to share and everyone ordered their own main course. For dessert we all had our favorite Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. We also had Serendipity’s Treasure Chest, a chocolate Chest Box filled with Assorted Ice Cream, Cookies, Berries and Cakes. The kids loved the treasure chest and they all passed around the chocolate.

 

After lunch we walked over to the Bellagio through the bridge to see the Fountains of Bellagio water show. Every thirty minutes a new show a new fountain water show is performed to music and lights. From there we ran into Sponge Bob Square Pants on the street.

At 4pm, we headed over to the MGM Grand to see David Copperfield: An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion. David is the most awarded magician in history and holds 11 Guinness World Records:

1. Most tickets sold worldwide by a solo entertainer.
2. Highest career earnings as a magician.
3. Highest Broadway gross in a week.
4. Largest Broadway attendance in a week.
5. Largest international television audience for a magician.
6. Most magic shows performed in a year.
7. Largest private collection of magic artifacts.
8. Largest work archive for a magician.
9. Highest annual earnings for a magician.
10. Largest illusion ever staged.
11. Magician holding the most world records.

David is more than a magician. He is, first of all, a creator. He writes, develops, and carries out all of his projects himself. Each of David’s illusions takes over 2 years to conceive and develop. David has created a new understanding for the word “magic” and forever changed the future of the art. He has re-written the book and shown that there are no limits, shattering all expectations and proving that magic is as vast as the imagination. His illusion are spectacular and entertaining theater- form the largest stage illusion to intimate sleight-of-hand performed right in the middle if the audience. He combines mystery, storytelling, and humor in his grand illusions that brings a sense of awe to his audiences. The magic of David Copperfield is David Copperfield himself- the greatest magician of all time.

In this show David Copperfield performs a mix of his newest illusions and some favorites that include levitation, locking himself in a shrinking box, predicting lottery numbers onstage, making audience members disappear, and a variation on his legendary Great Wall of China trick in which he walks through a solid metal sheet.

It was the first time all the kids had seen the show. It was amazing because there were a lot of new illusions in the show so all the kids were really mesmerized. The show was in the Hollywood Theater and we sat in three of their separate red booths. All the booths have a great view and the theater has a vaulted ceiling and red velvet curtains. The Hollywood theater is also really great because it is intimate and only seats 740 people. It was really fun because three people in our party were randomly selected to be in the show because there is a lot of audience participation. Everyone was blown away.

David is one of the best entertainers in the world. He loves sharing his magic and is really funny and charismatic. He even has his own tropical retreat in Musha Cay in the Bahamas called the Islands of Copperfield Bay. It is available for private rental only comprised of 150 lush and beautiful acres on 11 islands with 40 secluded sugar sand beaches.

David Copperfield’s Tips to Being a Great Host (Taken from Society Diaries)

• Don’t ever miss an opportunity to WOW the guests with details and make each event better than the one before.
• Every time a guests makes a comment about how they thought that they would arrive and the island would have been an illusion… smile and laugh like you’ve never heard that joke before.
• Every interaction with a guest provides an opportunity to make a life-long impression.
• All of our food counts as 0 calories, so indulge.
• Golf carts are not toys… make sure all guests have proper driving instructions and then cross your fingers.
• Make sure the bar is strong enough for 24 guests to all climb up and dance on it.
• Karaoke in a private environment always makes for an interesting evening.  Once engaged, plan on serving snacks followed by breakfast.
• Always make the guests feel at home, so constantly find ways to personalize the guests experience by picking up on little facts about what they like and surprise them by making it happen.
• Always challenge yourself to make unforgettable events, all while keeping it simple and letting the natural beauty of the islands lead the way.
• Try to create a new dining and cocktail experience every night, in a different location.  Don’t just change the settings, change the entire experience.
• When guests are departing, make sure to count heads.  Most guests never want to leave.
• You can never have enough Patron.
• When guests are cooling each other off by squirting Champagne, try to put out the Moet and hide the Dom.

 

*****

Luxury, fashion and lifestyle expert Lara Shriftman co-founded Harrison & Shriftman in 1995. The agency specializes in public relations, marketing and events for high-profile luxury brands. In addition to serving as a correspondent for Extra with her own segment, Party Confidential, Lara has authored four books on entertaining, Fete Accompli , Fete Accompli Workbook, Party Confidential and Party Confidential: New Etiquette for Fabulous Entertaining.

www.partyconfidential.net

www.Hs-pr.com

www.Luluflynn.com