For Rula Rabah, the best part of planning a celebration comes at the very end: seeing a child’s face light up when they walk into the room. As the founder of Party Plan by Rula, she creates events shaped around the people they are for, from children’s parties and family gatherings to corporate experiences. She handles the concept, décor, activities and suppliers, then brings all those pieces together on the day.
Turning a creative interest into a business
Before starting her company, Rula was focused mainly on her family. She was also exploring design, styling and the idea of running a small business. Event planning gave her a way to put those interests to work and create something of her own.
What drew her in was the process of taking a simple idea and making it real. A celebration might begin with a theme, a colour or a conversation with a parent. Rula enjoys working through what that idea could become, down to the details guests will notice when they arrive.
“I’ve always loved creativity, bringing ideas to life, and creating special moments for people,” she says.
The details that make an event feel personal
Rula starts by learning what her client has in mind, then develops a concept for the occasion. Her work can include décor and styling, interactive activities, customised packages and coordinating the suppliers needed to bring everything together. She also makes many elements by hand, so the finished setup reflects the people celebrating rather than a standard package.
That approach works across different kinds of events. For a children’s party, she thinks about how the children will take part, as well as how the room will look. For a family gathering or corporate activation, she adapts the concept to the audience and the occasion. Her aim is for guests to enjoy the experience and for the client to recognise their own ideas in it.
Rula says she wants to create a complete experience. She can help develop the event concept, design the décor, plan interactive activities and put together a customised package. She also coordinates suppliers and manages the event through to execution. The balance of those tasks changes with the occasion, but she enjoys staying involved from the first idea to the finished result.
Many of the elements she creates are handmade. That gives her room to respond to a client's preferences instead of relying entirely on standard items. She wants the finished event to reflect the person or family celebrating. A favourite colour, a child's interest or a detail that means something to the host can all provide a starting point for the design.
Personalisation takes listening as well as making. Two clients might ask for the same type of celebration and picture completely different experiences. Rula spends time understanding what each person wants before deciding how to use the space, which activities to include and which details will make the greatest difference.
Parties for children of different ages
Children's birthdays are a particular source of satisfaction for Rula. Her kids' birthday planning listing covers first birthdays through teen celebrations. It describes themed setups, balloon backdrops and custom styling, giving families a starting point that can be adapted to the birthday child.
A party for a toddler calls for a different kind of planning from a celebration for a teenager. Rula enjoys thinking about the children who will actually be there, not only how the room will look in photographs. Interactive activities form part of the experiences she can develop, alongside the décor and setup.
Parents arrive at the planning stage with different levels of certainty. Some already have a theme and a collection of ideas. Others know they want to mark their child's birthday but need help working out how to bring it together. Rula's role can begin with turning those initial thoughts into a concept, then organising the pieces needed to make it happen.
The best part comes when the child sees it. Rula says their excitement is one of the strongest reminders of why she chose this work. She also enjoys watching parents and other family members take in the finished setup and recognise the ideas they shared with her at the beginning.
Baby showers, flowers and family occasions
Party Plan by Rula also has a baby shower and balloon styling listing and a floral design and party décor listing. Her floral listing includes bridal showers, graduations, anniversaries, birthdays and gender reveals. The business profile also mentions engagements, receptions, mini weddings and grand openings.
Those occasions bring different people together for different reasons. A baby shower might be an intimate gathering of family and friends. A graduation celebrates an achievement; a corporate event serves another purpose altogether. Rula begins by understanding the occasion and the client's vision, then works out how the styling and activities can support it.
Balloons, florals and backdrops appear across her listed services, but she does not see them as a fixed formula. Her handmade details help her change the look and feel to suit the people involved. She wants guests to remember how an event felt, as well as what it looked like.
Her PartyPlatform listings say she serves locations across the UAE. Planning for a particular venue and location adds practical questions to the creative work: what has to be delivered, how the space will be used and when suppliers can set up. Those questions have to be answered before the final reveal.
Learning to manage the whole event
Running a small events business means Rula has to move between creative and practical work every day. A concept needs a budget. Suppliers need clear timings. Even when the setup is planned, something can change close to the event.
She describes managing all of those responsibilities at once as one of the toughest parts of building Party Plan by Rula. Last-minute changes and delivery timings can make the final hours particularly demanding. Experience has taught her to stay calm, make decisions quickly and keep a backup plan ready.
It can be easy to overlook that work when guests only see the finished celebration. Rula has to keep track of conversations, budgets and timings while protecting the idea the client first brought to her. If something changes close to the event, she has to decide what needs attention immediately and what can wait.
She says that responsibility has made her more organised and resilient. Starting a creative business meant learning how to run it at the same time as doing the creative work she loves. Each event has given her more experience in coordinating people, handling pressure and keeping the client informed.
Those busy moments make the reveal all the more satisfying. Rula says seeing families react to a finished setup, especially the excitement on children’s faces, is what makes the work rewarding. It is a reminder of why she began: to use her creativity to make an occasion feel special to the people at its centre.
Rula has made room for that creativity in an industry where practical decisions can take over the day. She remains hands-on with concepts and details, including the pieces she makes herself. To her, the personal touches are part of the reason a client chooses a small creative business.
She began Party Plan by Rula because she loved turning ideas into moments people could enjoy together. She still measures a successful event by the reaction in the room. After the setup is finished and the guests arrive, the plan becomes their celebration.
