The Night I Became Princess Jasmine

All my life I've been infatuated with Disney.

The Princesses enthralled me, the Heroes thrilled me and the happy endings left me smiling for hours. So when it came to choosing the theme for my 21st, it was a no-brainer. My dream was to be surrounded by Disney characters, and who better to be those characters than my closest friends and family?

The party planning consisted of three months of scouring the internet, talking my family's ears off, and countless stress headaches. But the night itself was a success. A very blurry success.

One of the most stressful elements of the party was my costume. You might not think it, but Princess Jasmine actually has a very hard costume to find. Maybe it's because she's not as conventional as the other princesses, ditching the ball gown for naval-bearing, balloon pants. Whatever the reason, I realised that I couldn't rely on the internet or costume shops to fulfil my vision of the ultimate Jasmine.

I decided to take matters in my own hands. I bought a cheap, basic costume from eBay, then hit Spotlight to find all the add-ons to make it shine. My goal was the picture on the right, and thanks to my talented Auntie, we made it pretty close! The jewels and material we found combined perfectly with the original costume to make a brand new outfit that I absolutely loved.

Every Jasmine needs her Aladdin, and luckily my boyfriend fell into the role effortlessly. Complete with his own Abu, I couldn't have asked for a better Prince, especially when he surprised us all by singing "A Whole New World" to me during his speech. 

Life-size cardboard cutouts brought a touch of Disneyland
to the party.

When I thought about Princess Jasmine's makeup, the first thing that came to mind was her huge almond eyes. Unfortunately since I'm not a cartoon character, I don't have eyes as wide as my arm. But I do have a bathroom full of makeup. 

For my eyeshadow, I blended gold with brown and purples, mainly using the Too Faced Naturals palette and the Urban Decay 2 palette. I managed to draw on some long, precise wings using Kat Von D Tattoo liner, and a pair of thick Priceline lashes topped it all off. The Elf Eyebrow Kit helped me shape and darken my eyebrows, and MAC's Chili Lipstick was the perfect lip colour.

My wig was intensely heavy, but thanks to about

a thousand bobby pins, it stayed on until it

was time to start the serious dancing

My wonderful, creative Glee Club.

Some of my fabulous cousins.

The best friends a Princess could have. 

I had the most amazing night, and I was so overwhelmed by the amount of love in that colourful function room. Disney has its faults, we all know that. My unrealistic expectations of romance can almost definitely be attributed to the love-at-first-sights, grand-gestures and happily-ever-afters that are so very common in Disney films. Now that I'm grown, I see the shortcomings and irrationalities that I missed as a child. But they don't come close to erasing the feelings of happiness and hope that flow through every scene and song. 

The childhood memories will never fade, and now, as an official adult, I've made my own Disney memories that will last me a lifetime.