Live link: https://partyfornia.com/

Tools: WordPress, Elementor Pro, ACF + CPT UI, Acuity Scheduling, Rank Math SEO, LiteSpeed Cache, MailerLite, Hostinger

Natalia runs Partyfornia, a children's party character entertainment business serving Los Angeles and Orange County. She came to me wanting a Wix site — I built her something considerably more capable: a fully dynamic, SEO-ready WordPress system that could scale to hundreds of characters without a single line of hardcoded content.

The core business goal was simple: a parent lands on the site, finds their child's favorite character in under 10 seconds, clicks, and books. Every technical and design decision was made with that funnel in mind.

Challenge: ACF Free has no Repeater field — but the client needed up to 14 costume variations, and 3 cross-sell "Friends" per theme.

Solution: Registered all field groups via a master mu-plugin using flat numbered fields, keeping ACF Free while giving full flexibility.

Challenge: Elementor Loop Grid pagination would repeat posts on the final page when the post count didn't divide evenly.

Solution: Implemented unique Query IDs per grid with custom PHP query control via Code Snippets — eliminating duplicate posts entirely.

Challenge: ACF Relationship fields silently failed in Elementor Dynamic Tags with no error message.

Solution: Identified the root cause: show_in_rest must be true on field groups, and CPT UI's "Show in REST API" must be enabled. Documented this for future reference.

Challenge: Client provided "live event" photos — not studio-quality catalogue images for character headshots.

Solution: Delivered 200+ custom circular-cropped, color-matched headshot images as an out-of-scope extra — ensuring a premium, consistent visual catalogue.

Page builder: Elementor Pro

Custom fields: ACF Free + mu-plugin

Content types: CPT UI

Booking: Acuity Scheduling + Stripe

Email marketing: MailerLite

SEO: Rank Math

Performance: LiteSpeed Cache + Smush

Security & backup: Wordfence + UpdraftPlus

Hosting: Hostinger (shared)

Built 6 CPTs (Themes, Add-ons, Packages, Showtime Fun, Seasonal Offers) with all ACF field groups registered via a single master mu-plugin — giving the client a fully editable backend without any plugin dependency risk.

Characters were folded directly into Themes as flat ACF fields rather than a separate CPT — reducing query complexity and aligning with how the business actually operates (characters don't exist independently of their theme).

A theme_order ACF field drives menu_order sorting across all Loop Grids, allowing Natalia to reorder the entire character catalogue without touching any code.

Replaced Calendly with Acuity Scheduling (+ Stripe) for a more capable booking flow — including custom intake forms, deposit collection, and client agreement signing. Integrated with MailerLite for post-event follow-ups.

Full SEO keyword architecture targeting LA and Orange County, with character-specific pages (e.g. /themes/frozen/) targeting high-intent searches like "Frozen party characters Los Angeles." Rank Math is configured per page with the LocalBusiness schema on the homepage.

Discovery & architecture: Mapped the full CPT structure, ACF field groups, and booking flow before writing a single line of code.

Backend build: Registered all CPTs and ACF fields via mu-plugin. Set up Elementor Loop Grid templates for dynamic character display across Girls, Boys, Toddler, and Seasonal categories.

Frontend & UX: Implemented sticky "Book Now" CTA, costume variation modals, friends cross-sell via Post Object fields, and mobile-first design with Partyfornia brand colors.

Integrations: Connected Acuity Scheduling, Stripe, and MailerLite. Custom Acuity intake form configured with character selection and party details.

Image production: Created 200+ custom circular headshot images from live event photos — out of scope, delivered as an extra.

Formal delivery: Produced a PDF delivery report documenting all deliverables, out-of-scope extras, and a client handoff guide for content management.

“I am very grateful for this” - I sincerely appreciate the hard work you did for the project, delivery highlighting the extra image work, and the booking system setup as standout additions beyond what was scoped. — Natalia, Founder of Partyfornia