This grandma became a “princess” for a day to celebrate her 90th birthday!
The beloved grandma, fondly called “G-Ma” by her family, welcomed her ninth decade with a royal celebration. The cheerful matriarch looked like a queen as she wore a pink tutu and plastic crown, all smiles for the camera during her birthday photoshoot.
G-Ma’s family set up a throne, cake, balloons, and biscuits in the shape of her face. They also made a custom t-shirt for her that read, “It took me 90 years to look this good!”.
It was G-Ma’s grandaughter, Stephanie Perkins, 33, who came up with the idea of a princess-themed photo shoot. It took her two-and-a-half weeks to organize everything for April 24.
“My grandma is very special to me and during the pandemic and quarantine, we did not get to see much of her,” Stephanie said. “I knew her 90th birthday was coming and we wanted to do something special just for her.”
Their family had been vaccinated, so they felt like it would be safe to celebrate G-Ma’s special day together.
Stephanie had seen people online do photoshoots for first birthdays and even 30th birthdays, so she thought it would be cool if G-Ma would experience the same for her 90th year.
Luckily, G-Ma was game!
“She was very happy to pose and do all the things we asked her,” Stephanie said. “She was smiling and laughing the whole time. We all had a lot of fun celebrating G-Ma.”
Photographer Melissa Denny, 37, who went to high school with Stephanie, snapped G-Ma’s princess birthday photos in Reynolds Gardens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“We had the best time, talking, laughing, dancing – G-Ma was a great sport and down for anything,” Melissa said. “She has a sweet, happy spirit about her and she gets up out of a chair faster than I can!”
“Her family clearly adores her, they were all so happy and laughing with her,” she added.
When asked whether she would be interested in doing the shoot, Melissa said she was more than willing to do it.
“What an amazing opportunity to spend time with a sweet, 90-year-old, wonderful lady, making memories and having fun celebrating her milestone birthday,” she said.
G-Ma was joined by her daughter Debra, her son-in-law, and her two granddaughters during the shoot. Everyone partied with her and joined her in some of the photos.
Stephanie said their whole family celebrated with G-Ma because she is the matriarch of the family.
“She is so important and special to each of us and we all wanted to be there to see her shine on her special day,” she said.
On the day of the shoot, a bunch of prom-goers pulled up and wanted to wish G-Ma a happy birthday. The celebrant was grateful for their kindness.
The shoot was only the first part of G-Ma’s birthday celebration. The next day, the grandma also had a drive-thru party where her other friends could safely wish her a happy birthday.
Here are more photos of G-Ma rocking her pink tutu.
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