For very special occasions

Two Corona del Mar moms have created a special space for families.

Parents Jordana Carroll and Kristi Munro have opened a small storefront near 17th Street and Harbor Boulevard for birthday parties and special events for families and small groups.

Called Occasions, the two-room facility next to the Country Inn Garden Café is designed to host family events and birthday parties for children. Munro said she and Carroll got the idea after speaking with parents who said they were tired of the available options for parties ? places like Chuck. E. Cheese’s or Boomers were becoming tiresome, especially when several kids in a class would hold their parties there each year.

“And then if you have the party at home, you have to clean up,” Munro said. “But now with Occasions, we’ll do all the cleaning for you.”

After several consultations and meetings with a business planner, the pair received funding for their project and soon launched their first parties.

“We wanted to create a place where the parent could enjoy the time with their family and not worry about putting on the party,” Carroll said.

The idea was to create a space for parties that would have the intimate feeling of an at-home celebration, without the inconveniences or picking-up afterward.

Designed to look like a giant living room with durable floors, large round tables and soft white walls, Occasions includes a full-service kitchen and large projection video system for movies and video games. There is also a closed-off parents’ room for adults to socialize in and enjoy drinks.

The pair charge $299 to host a party for 10 to 15 children, and $399 to host a party for 15 to 20 children, and offer add-ons from customized cakes to entertainment, including face painting, magicians and costume characters. Services they offer are listed on their website at OCOccasions.com.

Carroll and Murro help design all sorts of themed parties for families celebrating at Occasions. Besides sports and gaming themes, the pair do dance parties, alien encounters, Western showcases, tea parties, costume balls and the occasional sock hop.

“We just did a Jedi Knight party for a 5-year-old,” Carroll joked.

When the child shows up for their party, their name is painted on the front window, and Carroll and Munro decorate the space in the proper party theme. For the Jedi Knight party, it was all black like outer space, but they might have to change it to all pink the next day for a little girl’s tea party.

“The space is like an open canvas, and we can do anything with it,” Munro said.

The pair said they host all sorts of events besides kids’ parties. They have been approached to hold poker nights and guest lectures. A women’s group even gathers in the space once a week to hold meetings.

And when it’s not being used to host parties, Carroll uses Occasions to host her Missed Manners class, a three-part lesson on etiquette for youngsters. To help families who struggle with keeping good manners in these modern times, Carroll teaches youngsters social skills ? how to meet and greet others, set a table, write thank-you notes and answer the telephone.

“It’s everything a kid should know,” Carroll said.dpt.12-bizspot-C.2PhotoInfo1J1RSJ6O20060612j0px70ncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Jordana Carroll, left, and Kristi Munro of Occasions, a new location for parties and special events.